The Contest Starts

Kindness meter. Fourteen people have performed thirty-eight acts of kindness. There is now 7 days left to complete sixty-two more acts of kindness. Also welcome to the blog a long time friend of mine and former co-worker Suzie. She posted yesterday on the Happy Birthday/100 Acts of Kindness Thread. She currently is happily married and works as flight attendant.

NOW THE CONTEST!!

You have nailed the sample questions, now it is the real thing. You have to guess what each of the three items mentioned in the twenty-five questions have in common. The one that gets the most of the twenty-five questions right will win their choice of a $25 Starbucks Gift Card, a $25 Home Depot Gift Card, or a stained glass "angel on bridge valued recently at over $100. An eligible participant for the contest is anyone that posted a comment on The Dahn Report between May 27, 2009 and this morning before the official contest started. If you are an eligible participant you have until 7 AM Pacific Daylight Time on June 17, when the contest officially ends, to submit your entry or entries. Eligible participants may enter as many times as they like. If more than one entry ties for first place, all entries tying for first place will be put in a hate and the winning entry will be drawn from those entries.

Eligible particpants for the contest are Dona, Pat, DR, Suzie, Red Whistle, Kim, Bev, Kaye, Mary, Mary Z, and Connie!

EMAIL THE ANSWERS TO WILLIAMJDAHN@AOL.COM

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!!

QUESTIONS

1. A court room, a dugout, a park.

2. Dr. feel good, chain of fools, Respect. Besides being songs.

3. Julius Caesar, Robert Kennedy, John Lennon. Besides being famous.

4. Eggs, Bricks, Carpets

5. Dick. Ted Turner. Tarzan.

6. A car. A Tree. An Elephant

7. Pinocchio. Geppetto. Jonah.

8. The American Queen. On Golden Pond. The Philadelphia Story. Besides being movies.

9. Judy Resnik. Sally Ride. Kathryn Sullivan.

10. Popeye The Sailor. A Martini. A Greek Salad.

11. Errol Flynn. Sean Connery. Kevin Costner. Actors but that doesn’t count.

12. Florida. A piano. A Jailor.

13. A person. An artichoke. A Deck of Cards.

14. Martin Luther King. Patty Duke. Jack Lord.

15. French. Eskimo. Hershey’s.

16. Sabrina Duncan. Jill Monroe. Kelly Garrett. Besides being women's names.

17. Ducks. Debtors. Congress.

18. A checkbook. A tire. A scale.

19. Porky. Spanky, Alfalfa.

20. A song. A Heart. A Poliecman.

21. Julia Grant. Lucy Hayes. Laura Bush. Besides being women.

22. Samuel Benedict. Sylvester Graham. James Salisbury.

23. Mickey Rooney. Artie Shaw. Frank Sinatra. Besides being actors.

24. Debbie Reynolds. Elizabeth Taylor. Connie Stevens. Besides being actresses.

25. A kite. A dog. A storyteller.

Around The Sunday Paper

Kindness Meter: Eleven people, including four strangers, have performed twenty-eight acts of kindness. Eight days left to perform seventy-two more acts of kindness.

One of the acts of kindness was a stranger sending me a link to a web site about acts of kindness. I guess it is an actual movement! Here is a link with examples of seven hundred and ninety-three acts of kindness:

www.aunitedworld.org/allpifpages.asp

The answers to Friday's sample questions are: Robert Lowery, Adam West, and Michael Keaton all played Batman. “The Crooner”, “Chairmen of The Board” and “Ole Blue Eyes” are all nicknames for Frank Sinatra. Since the contest starts tomorrow there are no sample questions today. As of now eligible participants for the contest are Mary, Mary Z, Bev, Dona, Pat, DR, Kaye, Red Whistle, Kim, and Connie. If you want a chance to win your choice of a $25 Starbucks gift card, a $25 Home Depot gift card, or a stained glass angel valued at over $100 post a message anywhere on The Dahn Report between now and when the "what do these three things have in common" contest starts at 7 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time on Monday, June 17, 2009. For more about the rules of the contest read my post from June 12, 2009.

OK, did anyone notice that they no longer have analog TV? Did the switch from analog TV to digital TV go smoothly in your house and your city? Frankly, I wouldn't have noticed any difference had there not been so much news about it!

Now a couple of stores from today's Oregonian. You can always read the Oregonian at oregonlive.com

Dateline, Nicktown, Pa. "In 29 years of enforcing sewage laws in Pennsylvania. Jack E. Crislip has never faced violators more adamant or more pleasant to deal with than members of the ultraconservative Swartzentruber Amish sect." The basic story is that for over two years Crislip has trying to get members of the Amish sect to upgrade outhouses next to a school house on land owned by Andy Swartzentruber, one of five elders that guide the twenty family Amish set. Elder Swartzentruber was scheduled to be released from county prison today, after spending ninety days behind bars for failing to correct county violations at the outhouses. This Amish sect shuns all modern conveniences such as cars, television, telephones, and running water in their homes. The sect did agree to upgrade their outhouses by adding a 250 gallon holding tank and treating the waste with lime. However, they determined that the county's request of a five thousand gallon pre-cast concrete tank and allowing someone certified by the state to use an electronic meter to test the waste content as being to modern for their beliefs. In response a judge has ordered two homes and their barns padlocked forcing those two families to move in with relatives. Which side of the sewer debate do you land on? The Amish own the land that the outhouses are on, shouldn't they be able to do what they want with their own property? However, the county is worried about health issues and disease, don't they have the right to protect their residents?

Dateline, Prague. "When Petra Kalivodova, a 31 year-old nurse, was considering whether to renew her contract at a private health clinic, the offer of special perks helped clinch the deal: complimentary German lessons, five weeks vacation, free liposuction, and silicone breast implants." She stated she would rather have plastic surgery than a free car. As the Czech health care system faces a dire nursing shortage, clinics and hospitals are resorting to unusual incentives to retain talent. Health care officials have stated that they view free tummy tucks or remodeled breasts no different than one shot signing bonuses. Where Kalivodova works, as a surgical nurse, the offers of plastic surgery has increased the number of applicants by ten percent in the past three months. Supporters of the bonus plan say that the nursing shortage is hurting patient care. Critics say the offer of plastic surgery demeans what is largely a female profession. Where do you land on the issue? Bonuses of plastic surgery, rewarding or demeaning?

What is the most unusual bonus that you have received? (I've never received anything but money, a turkey or a ham.) Like the Amish going to jail because of their beliefs, do you believe in anything strong enough to go to jail for? (The only thing I can think of is I'd *probably* go to jail rather than to indict someone I love.)

Your Day

You can win your choice of a $25 Starbucks gift card, a $25 Home Depot gift card or a stained glass angel called “Angel On Bridge” recently valued at over one hundred dollars by winning the “What Do These Three Things Have In Common” contest starting right here on The Dahn Report at 7 AM Pacific Daylight Time on June 15, 2009. The eligible participant that answers the most of the twenty-five question between the time the contest starts and the time the contest ends at 7 AM Pacific Daylight time on June 17, 2009 will be declared the winner. If there is a tie for the most answers among eligible participants, all of the tying entries with the most answers will be put in a hat and the winner will be drawn from the hat and declared the winner. The winner will be announced by 7 AM Pacific Daylight time on June 20, 2009 but may be announced earlier than that. Eligible participants can enter the contest as many times as they please between the time the contest starts and the time the contest ends. As of now eligible participants for the contest starting at 7 AM Pacific Daylight Time on June 15, 2009 right here on The Dahn Report are Mary, Mary Z, Bev, Dona, Pat, DR, Kaye, Red Whistle, Kim, and Connie. Post a comment any where on The Dahn Report between now and the time the contest starts and you will become an eligible participant too!

Today’s sample questions? Other than being actors what do Robert Lowery, Adam West, and Michael Keaton have in common? What is the link for “The Crooner”, “Chairmen of The Board” and “Ole Blue Eyes”?

Today you all know the drill. Tell me what is going on in your life, how all those that you love and/or care for are doing. Telling me about events attended or attending. Tell me anything or everything that is going on in your life. Introduce yourself if you so desire. Post about anything you damn well please! This is your blog today and every day but today it is officially yours to post about what *you* want to post about.

My updates? I’m still in touch with the old friend that found me through Facebook. We are enjoying getting to know each other again. Mom still is talking about going to Utah but the timeframe has been reduced from three weeks to two weeks.

Now the big update. If you remember with my birthday is coming up June 21 I asked that everyone perform one act of kindness between now and June 21. Then once you perform the act of kindness email me at williamjdahn@aol.com and tell me what you did. My goal is one hundred acts of kindness by June 21, I don’t have to know you, if you read the blog and think it is a great idea it would be El Dorado for me to have a stranger email me and tell me they performed an act of kindness for my birthday! To date Pat, DR, Mom, a stranger that heard mom and I talking about it, and myself have performed fourteen acts of kindness. We and everyone have 10 days (till midnight June 21) to perform eighty-six more acts of kindness. The reaction so far has been amazing. One person said that it made them think more about the acts of kindness they do every day. Mom has said it motivates her to call people rather than to sit there and wait for people to call them. In my case I changed a little too. As most of you know I sold my practice a couple of years ago so I am not in the market for hiring employees. Once in a while I will get resumes in the mail from people looking for a job. Normally I just toss the resumes. I got one in the mail this week, before tossing it I stopped and asked myself what would be the kind thing to do be? So I called the guy to let him know that I got his resume but had sold my business and wasn’t really looking for help. I also wished him luck in his search.

OK, it is your turn. Tell my anything about your life you wish to share. Post about anything you want to post about. Ask any questions that you want to ask. Introduce yourself if you want. Tell me about an act of kindness if you want. And tell me what other than being actors that Robert Lowery, Adam West, and Michael Keaton have in common? Also tell me what links “The Crooner”, “Chairmen of The Board” and “Ole Blue Eyes”?

Top Chef Masters

Kindness meter: 8 done, 92 to go, 10 days to reach 100. Contest meter: 4 days until the official “what do these three things have in common” starts.

The original Star Wars in Theatres, Roots on TV, and Annie on Stage all happened in 1977. Christmas, Easter, and Virgin are all islands. Other than being movies what do East of Eden, Rebel Without A Cause, and Giant have in common? What do other than being colors what do Mr. Green, Miss Scarlett, & Colonel Mustard have in common?

Was I the only one that watched Top Chef Masters last night? I actually enjoyed this more than the last two series of Top Chef. Top Chef Masters pits 24 famous chefs against each other with the winning chef winning a hundred grand for their favorite charity. It is going to be done tournament style with 4 chefs each for the next six weeks competing. The winning chef of the four each week then will move into the championship round. Each week there will be two challenges, the quickfire challenge and the elimination challenge. The scoring system is so much better than the regular Top Chef. The scoring system is based on a star system with the diners and the judges having equal votes!

You can see the bios of the hostess, the judges, and the twenty-four chefs here:

http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef-masters/season-1/bios

My life’s lessons from this week’s Top Chef Masters were that you have to be adaptable. Even the pros will make simple mistakes. It isn’t the mistake you make it is how you recover from it and move on.

The four famous chefs for this week were as follows:

Michael Schlow, owner of Radious in Boston as well as other restaurants. Playing for the Cam Neely Cancer Foundation.

Hubert Keller - Owner of Fleur De Lys restaurants in San Francisco and Las Vegas. Was a judge on season one of Top Chef. Playing for Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Christopher Lee - Executive Chef of Aureole Restaurant. Playing for Autism Speaks.

Tim Love - Owner of Lonesome Dove Western Bistro in Texas. Playing for The March of Dimes.

Quickfire Challenge? In sixty minutes make a great desert to be judge by four Junior Girl Scouts. Yup that is right, four Junior Girl Scouts were the judges. Watching these pros react to criticism from these young ladies just made you love these guys. They took the criticism in such fun and good spirits.

The scouts gave Keller’s Chocolate Mousse Swan with a whipped cream mouse five stars, they gave Christopher’s French toast and Tim’s strawberries three ways three and a half stars each. Michael’s milk chocolate cake came in last with two and a half stars.

The elimination challenge was to cook a three course meal for Pomona College Students and three critics. The tricks were is that they had to cook the meal in a dorm room and all they had to cook the meal was a microwave, a hot plate, and toaster oven. Yup, these famous chefs used to using the most sophisticated cooking equipment were reduced to being back in college to compete for twenty stars (fifteen from the judges, five from the diners)

The highlights of the elimination challenge was that Tim confused a freezer with a fridge all his ingredients were frozen. He turned a lemon into lemonade and made a pretty good dish. The other highlight wass Hubert using the shower to first cool the pasta with cold water and then heat with hot water.

Michael’s salmon crude, cabbage soup, and pork a’la apicious garnered three and half stars from the college students, seven and a half stars from the judge, and added to the quickfire’s two and a half stars gave him the low score for the night. 13 ½ stars.

Tim’s scallop cappaccio, squash pozole and strip steak earned three stars from the students, eight stars from the judges, added to three and a half quickfire stars gave him the second lowest score. 14 ½ stars.

Christopher’s red snapper, creamy risoto, and pan fried pork chope earned him four stars from the students, eleven and a half stars from the judges, added to the quickfire’s three and a half stars gave him the second highest score for the night. 19 stars.

My man Hubert’s Scottish salmon, macaroni and cheese, and carrot pea soup earned him four stars from the students, eleven and a half stars from the judges, added to the quickfire’s five stars gave him the highest score of the night. His 20 ½ stars earned him ten grand for his charity and a place in the championship round.

Questions for today. Are you adaptable? Do you recover easily from mistakes? . Other than being movies what do East of Eden, Rebel Without A Cause, and Giant have in common? What do other than being colors what do Mr. Green, Miss Scarlett, & Colonel Mustard have in common

Ditch It & Shred It

Kindness meter: 4 done, 96 to go, 11 days to reach 100. Contest meter: 5 days until the official “what do these three things have in common” starts.

A Cape Lion, A Labrador Duck, and a Dodo are all extinct. Tweedledee & Tweedledum, Castor & Pollux, & Minneapolis-St. Paul are all twins. Today’s questions? What do the Original Star Wars in Theatres, Roots on TV, and Annie on Stage, have in common? What do Christmas, Easter, and Virgin have in common?

One of the questions I get asked a lot in my business is, “how long do I have to keep my records?”, followed by “what should I shred?” I thought I would share how I usually answer those questions.

A few things first. Laws are often different by state so before following any advise that I give you here check with a local professional. Second, there are two main reasons that you would keep records and those are for tax purposes and for legal purposes. I am not a lawyer, nor do I want to be one so before shredding or throwing out documents for tax reasons check to make sure there aren’t any legal reasons that you should keep the documents. One glaring example of a legal reason to keep records is a lawsuit where wages might come into play, if you had your w-2 forms for ten years it would give a nice history of your earnings and a possible projection of what you might make in the future. A legal reason to keep the documents ten years, when for tax purposes you could have ditched them long before.

Also follow the when in doubt rule. Also known as the better safe than sorry rule. If you aren’t sure if you should shred a document or just throw it away, shred it. If you are not sure whether or not to keep a document, keep it.

For tax purposes, documents fall into two main categories. Fixed Documents. Annual documents. An example of a fixed document would be the settlement statement when you purchased a house or the contract when you purchased a car. Examples of annual documents are W-2 forms, annual mortgage interest statements, annual pharmacy statements and so on.

The IRS can audit your tax return for three years after the due date of the return. For instance your 2008 tax return was due 4-15-09, the IRS can audit your return until 4-15-12. UNLESS, FRAUD IS INVOLVED. UNLESS YOU FILED AN EXTENSION. If fraud is involved the IRS can audit it forever. If you filed an extension of time to file your return you willingly gave the IRS an additional six months to audit your return. Since I love everyone here and know that none of you would ever consider defrauding the IRS you should keep all *annual* records that you used to prepare your 2008 tax return until 4-15-12 (or 10-15-12 if you filed an extension.) Keep all *annual* documents that you used to prepare your 2007 return until 4-15-11 (10-15-11 for extension filers.) For 2006 returns keep all *annual* records until 4-15-10 (or 10-15-10 if you didn’t get your chit together and filed an extension.) Assuming that you didn’t file an extension you can now ditch all *annual* records used to prepare your 2005 and earlier tax returns.

Fixed documents, like house purchase records, car purchase records, etc should be kept for four years after the year the asset in question is either sold, given away, retired, reported lost, or stolen. Sold your house in 2008, keep both the purchase and sale documents of that house until at least 4-15-12,

What should you shred? Basically everything with an address, a name, a social security number, or an account number on it. A bank account number, a credit card account number, etc. About the only thing I don’t shred are credit card receipts. In Oregon, the law requires anyone accepting your credit card to show ONLY the last four digits of your credit card number on the credit card receipt. Since it would be almost impossible for anyone to figure out your credit card number with just the last four numbers, I just cross out the name on the credit card receipt and ditch it. Your homework today is to check your last credit card receipt and to see how many of your account numbers appear on that receipt and then report to me what your state does.

Any questions? You may be tested on this later. And what do the Original Star Wars in Theatres, Roots on TV, and Annie on Stage, have in common? What do Christmas, Easter, and Virgin have in common?

Happy Birthday/ 100 Acts of Kindness

Six days until the official “What do these three things have in common” contest starts. As of now eligible participants for the contest starting at 7 AM Pacific Daylight Time on June 15, 2009 right here on The Dahn Report are Mary, Mary Z, Bev, Dona, Pat, DR, Kaye, Red Whistle, Kim, and Connie. Post a comment any where on The Dahn Report between now and the time the contest starts and you will become an eligible participant too!

What do a storm, a needle, and a potato have in common? They all have eyes. What do Princeton University, Exxon Oil, and Frosted Flakes have in common? They all have tigers as a mascot. Today’s questions? Two really hard ones. What do a Cape Lion, A Labrador Duck, and a Dodo bird have in common? What do Tweedledee & Tweedledum, Castor & Pollux, & Minneapolis-St. Paul have in common.

I really couldn’t find the entire column where I got the idea for what I want for my birthday but you can read a partial column here:

http://www.oregonlive.com/weblogs/pacifictrail/index.ssf?/news/oregonian/margie_boule/index.ssf?/base/living/1237938909121070.xml&coll=7

One hundred acts of kindness. My birthday is coming up June 21. Every year Mom gives me money, sis & bro give me clothes, and friends give me gift cards. This year I don't want any gifts and am informing friends and family that for my birthday I want them to perform one act of kindness. And I am asking all of you here to do the same to help me have a very happy birthday, perform one act of kindness between now and June 21. Help me reach a goal of one hundred acts of kindness being performed for my birthday. It doesn’t have to be anything major and I would prefer it not be a cash donation. It can be something like any of the following:

Calling a friend that you haven’t heard of for a while just to check on them.

Stop by a nursing home and give a rose to a resident that usually doesn’t have visitors, you can ask at the nursing station what patient needs a pick up.

Pay for the coffee of the person behind you in the line at Starbucks or for the meal of the person behind you in the drive-up window at a fast food restaurant.

It can be something simple like saying hi to a stranger that you wouldn’t normally speak too.

Cook an extra desert and take it to your neighbor.

Have a neighbor that isn’t able to do yard work? Get a couple of friends and pull the weeds for them.

You choose what you want to do. Remember it doesn’t have to be big, it just has to be kind. One hundred acts of kindness between now and June 21. Then email me at williamjdahn@aol.com or post on the blog here what you did and how it made you feel.

Kissing & Adjusting

A tent, a baseball, and a horseshoe all can be pitched. Two questions today since there will be no blog entry tomorrow. What do a storm, a needle, and a potato have in common? What do Princeton University, Exxon Oil, and Frosted Flakes have in common? Two readers have asked that you not post your answers on the blog but that you email them to me at williamjdahn@aol.com. Please trust I will do nothing with your email address other than read the answer, I won’t even respond to the email unless you ask me in the body of the email to let you know if your answer is correct. I have several email addresses of posters here and I am sure they will verify that you can trust me with your email addresses.

Kenny Chesney was quoted as saying. “We were lower-middle class and everyone I knew was --- we didn't know there was anything different," says Kenny. "This is a bit of curveball, but people who are really good kissers never have anything given to them. People who can't kiss had everything given to them. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm a helluva kisser." Then I must be a helluva kisser too! Do you agree with his theory?

Most of us here have elderly parents that take up a ton of our time. Some of us to the point that we have lost our dreams and lost a lot of our lives. The thought occurred to me that one day we will wake up and they will be gone. That begs the question, what are you doing to adjust to life without your parent when that day happens? This is what I am doing:

Distancing myself from Mom slowly. Taking more full days when I don’t go over there. Of course, I am available on call should anything happen.

Getting healthy. Walking more. Building up arm strength. Do a lot more physical activity.

Getting out more. Just going to a coffee shop and read, for example.

Dating more. Yes, I’ve been on a few dates but not with anyone I met online. I’m still hesitant to put my profile one a dating site. I’m getting really good at first dates though. Now I need to try second dates!

Making new friends.

Trying new things.

Doing a lot more freeway traveling. I live in a community where I can walk to what I need. Movies, grocery stores, restaurants, libraries, etc are all in walking distance. The longest required trip for me is Mom’s four miles away with no freeway involved. I’m a really, really good driver according to people that ride with me. I just haven’t driven the freeway for a while. I figure once I get familiar again with the freeway I’ll be more comfortable traveling. This morning got up early and hit the freeway. Purposely took a route over and under overpasses etc. The seminar that I am going to tomorrow, I purposely scheduled in another city to get more freeway driving in.

Here are the questions for today and tomorrow. Do you agree with Kenny Chesney’s theory on kissing? What are you doing to adjust to the day that you wake up, your parent is gone, and you have all that time on your hands? What do Princeton University, Exxon Oil, and Frosted Flakes have in common? What do a storm, a sewing needle, and a potato have in common?

Do You Have A Double?

Today’s question. What do a tent, a baseball, and a horseshoe have in common?

As of now eligible participants for the contest starting at 7 AM Pacific Daylight Time on June 15, 2009 right here on The Dahn Report are Mary, Mary Z, Bev, Dona, Pat, DR, Kaye, Red Whistle, and Kim. In order to be an eligible participant for the “what do these three things have in common” contest you must post a message anywhere on The Dahn Report between now and when the contest starts. In the contest you will be given twenty-five questions, each question will have three items and you will have to guess what the three things have in common. You will have until 7 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time on June 17, 2009 to complete the twenty-five questions. The eligible participant with the most correct answers of the twenty-five questions will win the contest. The prize will be your choice of a $25 Home Depot credit card, a $25Starbucks Card, or the Stained Glass “Angel on Bridge.” If two or more people tie, the names of all the winners will be put in a hat and a winner will be drawn for those that tie for first place.

The answer to yesterday’s sample questions are: Mary Queen of Scots, Marie Antoinette, and Lady Jane Grey were all beheaded. James Dougherty, Arthur Miller, and Joe Dimaggio were all married to Marilyn Monroe.

Just to let everyone know, Monday there will not be a blog post. I am at a seminar that day and the seminar is about ninety minutes from here, starting at 8 a.m. When the seminar is complete then I will be headed to Mom’s. That just doesn’t allow enough time to do a post that day.

Yesterday Mom got the OK from the doctor to travel as long as we stop every hundred miles to allow her to stretch. YEA.

I am reading a book about an interesting subject. Catherine Coulter’s DOUBLE TAKE. It is running on the theory that everyone has a double. Someone that looks like you. Once in a while I’ve seen someone that looks a little like me and once in a while I’ve been mistaken for someone else. But I am not sure anyone but twins really have a double.

The questions for the day? Have you every run into someone that you think looks exactly like you? Have you ever been confused for someone else? What do a tent, a baseball, and a horseshoe have in common? And to everyone but Pat and DR since they were the only ones to update us, get off your duffs and tell us about what you are up to.

Updates And A Thank You To The Posters Here

The answer to yesterday’s question? Kim was right, they all run. Today other then being queens what do Mary Queen of Scots, Marie Antoinette, and Lady Jane Grey have in common? And since this is a special day a bonus question as a thank you to all of you for convincing my mom to try Utah! What do James Dougherty, Arthur Miller, and Joe Dimaggio have in common?

Another week bites the dust and it flew by. Update Day is here again. You know the drill. I want to know about everything going on in your life. The pains. The joys. The concerns. The questions. The events you either attended recently or are going to attend. How are you elderly parents doing? How are you children doing? How are you doing? Any jokes you want to share? Want to vent? Want to confess to anything? I need some excitement in my life so tell me a secret that would curl my toes. Or if you haven't posted lately, just stop by and say hi. If you have never posted come on and introduce yourself!

I owe all the posters here a lot. Thanks to all of you I changed my mind about Mom going to Utah. After your comments I changed from thinking it was a bad idea to thinking that it would be a great idea because if she does this trip successfully then it will open up doors for her. Doors to travel, for instance, to go see her brother in Arizona. And after reading your comments Mom has already decided to go to Utah for three weeks and told sis to pick the date. Mom has gone from being negative about the trip to being excited about it. She has already expanded her thinking to going there every three months. Sis and her husband would come up here for a week, then take mom to Utah for three weeks, bring mom back and stay a week here, then go back. Which would give me my life five weeks every three months. That would do so much for me! I honestly could expand my search to other cities for the one. I could explore classes in other cities. Or I could just stay here and be emotionally free for five weeks every three months. First baby steps. Let’s get this trip out of the way first and hope it is successful. This trip will just be three weeks. I will take Mom to Boise where we will meet sis and her husband. Then they will go on to Utah and I will come back home to do whatever I damn well please for three weeks for the first time since 2001. OK, everyone put your prayers, good vibes, positive thoughts, what ever you can muster my direct, Mom’s direction, and sister’s direction that this will happen! Not only happen but turn into a once every three month event!

Last week: Some pulling weeds, a little work, three days - two nights at mom’s and a few things that I am forgetting because I am so excited about the above!

Next week: Mom to the doctor early this morning where one of the questions will be “Is, mom OK to travel?“, my car to the doctor for her three month checkup, a seminar on Monday, three nights - four days at Mom’s, a couple of work assignments, exploring self-hypnosis, some reading, some freeway test driving, and some walking.

OK, your turn. Fess up. Tell me everything going in in your life! And give me the answer to what do the Mary Queen of Scots, Marie Antoinette, and Lady Jane Grey have in common. And what do James Dougherty, Arthur Miller, and Joe Dimaggio have in common?

Once again thank you all for being friends enough to give me advise and for your honesty!

"Keep Crying, Baby, Keep Crying"

The answer to yesterday’s question was “The Three Musketeers. You guys are getting to good. Today’s question is “Candidates, Track Stars, and Pantyhose, what do they have in common?

I don’t have much to write about. I have a ton to write about tomorrow on Update Day but I am a little short on things to write about today.

Need a really good cry? Here is an article in today’s Oregonian that will give you just that. I was struck by the words in the article “I kept saying, keep crying, baby, keep crying.” Read the entire article here:

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/06/police_release_time_line_in_th.html

It wasn’t the economy that caused this awful act, it was revenge. Revenge isn't always sweet. In fact, I think it never is. I also think what goes around comes around so it isn’t necessary to seek out revenge because eventually someone will do it for you.

That is it for the day. Tell me what you think of the above article. Where do you stand on revenge? And what do candidates, track stars, and pantyhose all have in common?

A Busy Day.

Yesterday’s question was an easy one. The answer is that they were all nicknames for a commode. Let’s try a really hard one today. Athos, Porthos, Aramis. What is common about them?

I read Mom the blog post about the struggles I am having about her going to Utah. Then I read all the comments to her including mine. I also shared an instant message that I was having with one of the women here that in that message she suggested that Mom and I needed a break from each other. I really don’t want to mention names without permission but Mom knew of the lady because the lady had sent mom a really nice gift that she had created. It was a very touching thing for that lady to do and Mom was very touched by it. So touched that Mom sent her a nice thank you card. After the comments and the instant message, Mom is now leaning towards going to Utah. She wants me to make the decision as to when she goes but I think that should be left up to mom and sis. Oh, and by the way if anyone wants to instant message me they can do it two ways, through Facebook or through Aim or AOL as williamjdahn.

Busy day ahead today. I am at Mom’s today as part of my two night, three day weekly gig. While there I have to get the dining room ready for Mom’s bridge club which is meeting at her house tonight. Even if I have to stay there tonight, we don’t know if my nephew is back from Chicago yet, the bridge club being there frees me up to go out tonight if I desire.

I also have two work assignments. The firm that bought my business are tied up on a long project and one of my old clients would like to have his returns done by Monday. That involves a partnership and a corporate return. He has a legitimate reason for wanting the returns done, he wants to pay the manager of one of his businesses his bonus. That is where I come in. They called and want me to prepare those returns. I have to pick up the work this morning. It is nice to have the extra income.

Then there is a very much needed haircut. Sometimes I am tripping over my hair now. They may have to use a lawn mower to cut it. I figure if I get a haircut I will be ten pounds lighter. So there is an hour with Sandra planned for today.

Also on the platter is taking mom out for lunch, cooking dinner for Mom tonight, and some shopping for the bridge club tonight. Mom wants some new cards for the game tonight. And she needs a few snacks, etc. for the game.

Any comments today? What do Athos, Porthos, Aramis have in common? They are not all colognes.

A Bad Movie and Nice Legs (?)

The answer to yesterday's question is that they were all Jack Lemmon movies. Today's qustion is: Head, can, throne, what do these three things have in common?

Just as I was going to ask for prayers that they find the missing Air France Jet I read this story on AOL: http://news.aol.com/article/air-france-plane-missing/505817?icid=main|htmlws-sb|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Fair-france-plane-missing%2F505817. A British Airliner spotted parts of a plane in the Atlantic Ocean.
My heart goes out to the relatives of the passengers and crew of the missing French Airliner.

I went to a movie this weekend and frankly the movie would have to improve to be awful. "Ghosts of Girl Friends Past" starring Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, and Michael Douglas. I’d give it a minus five footballs. One minus football for a stolen story line. One minus football for a terrible waste of acting talent. One minus football for sexiest comments throughout the movie. One minus football for casting Jennifer Garner as a Doctor, which would be like casting me as Casanova. One minus football for cheesy lines like “spooning is good but forking is better.” Basically don’t waste your time.

I never did wear shorts before but lately I’ve been going out of my comfort zone. I went out and bought a pair of shorts and started wearing them. Wore them when I worked on Mom’s yard. When I came back in Mom and the caregiver both said “do you know you have really nice legs?” That kind of stunned me. Then when we went to the casino last week it was a nice so day so encouraged by the caregiver’s comment (I ignored Mom’s because that is a mother who is required by the mother code of ethics to say nice things about me) I wore shorts. When I was gambling my sister came by and said “you have really nice legs.” Whoa ignoring the wondering if moms and sisters should be looking a son’s or brother’s legs it did kind of build up my confidence a little. So I went out and bought another pair of shorts. And I am going to wear them more often now. Another case of trying new things. I do have a question for the women here, do women really look at things like men’s legs? I know us men look at women’s legs. It is in our genes and part of our job description. Am I going to have to start checking my butt out in the mirror before I put my profile on a dating site?

Other questions for today, seen any good or bad movies lately? Read any good or bad books lately? What do head, can and throne have in common?

May this be a great day for everyone with people saying nice things about you!

Yesterday A Vent, Today A Plea For Advise.

The answer to yesterday’s question, what do a fish, a ball, and a cold have in common? They all can be caught. Today’s question is what do the following movies have in common: The Odd Couple, Dad, Some Like it Hot, Movies is not the answer.

Been a busy weekend. I’ve been really doing a lot of yard work. Spent four or five hours outside yesterday. Pulling a lot of weeds. Damn I should have never let it get that much out of hand. However, when you are working four jobs (care giving, my own business, two CPA firm jobs) there just isn’t enough time in the day to the things you really need to do. You go to work when it is dark and come home when it is dark. You don’t even see your yard let alone see what needs to be done. Some of the weeds out there would be good additions to the Redwood National Forrest. Some of the weeds pull easy, some require the winner of the World’s Strongest Man contest to pull. I’m half done. It won’t be done today though. I have a business lunch meeting. Then there is the first of two nights at Mom’s.

Speaking of Mom I need some advise here. My sister wants Mom to come to Utah for three weeks in July. I really love sis. I know as long as sis is alive I will never be either alone or homeless. I also know how hard it is for them to pack up every two months and come up to give me a break. It is really above and beyond the call of duty. Certainly a lot more than what my clueless brother does. Having mom go to Utah for three weeks would make it easier for them and give me a break. A break where I would be free to travel. Go doown to the LA area to explore winter homes, maybe connect with Russ, maybe have lunch with Pat. However, I am not sure three weeks in Utah would really be the best for Mom or Sis. Sis and I care for mom in different ways. Who is to say which way is better, sis or mine? We just care for Mom differently. I let Mom make all her own decisions. I trust her to take all her medication (I do monitor it but do it so mom doesn’t know I’m monitoring). Since Mom and my politics are in line with each other, whatever discussions we have are friendly discussions. When Mom turns up the TV because she can’t hear the program I just bite the bullet and watch along with her even though it does hurt my ears. I let Mom make most of her decisions and the other ones that I make for Mom I let Mom tell me what she wants before I make them. With sis, the politics of her husband and her and Mom’s are extremely different. That leads to arguments. Mom has had four heart attacks and four strokes. Arguments aren’t the best for her. Mom told me during the last visit that after one of the arguments she for the first time in a while took a nitro under the tongue. Sis has high blood pressure. The arguments aren’t good for her either. My solution would be just not to talk politics but that isn’t what will ever happen. Fox news will be on all the time. They will criticize every Democrat in the free world and basically blast everything Mom believes in. The only saving grace is that they will have the TV so low that Mom can’t hear it. So Mom will go into her bedroom to watch TV. In addition every decision is made for Mom, she really isn’t allowed to have any say in things like when and what medicine to take or what and when to eat. If they decide Mom doesn’t need something, they throw it out without asking her if she still wants it. It really is kind of demeaning for Mom. The good thing is that mom loves the same books as sis, she loves having someone around all the time. They do have many good moments.

Here is my dilemma. I honestly think Mom going to Utah would be very unhealthy for both Mom and sister. In mom’s case with all her health issues it may even be deadly. I’m not overstating that. In sister’s case it could really be bad for her blood pressure and emotional well being because truthfully Mom a lot of times isn’t really easy to be around. Mom will at times say mean things that cut to the core. Things that are hard to recover from. It could be really hard for sister to recover from three weeks with Mom. So what do I do? Be very selfish and strongly promote Mom going away for three weeks? Or discourage the trip because I think it would be unhealthy for everyone involved but me. Thanks for your help.

A Vent.

Yesterday’s answer was an easy one that everyone got. The names all had names of cities in them. Let’s try a little bit of a harder one today. A ball, a fish, a cold. What do those three things have in common? The words all being four letter words is not the answer.

Yesterday I got tired of something. So this is Bill vents day. I’m tired of being hit up for donations everywhere I go. Safeway. Wendy’s. Doesn’t matter. At the checkout stand at Safeway when they check you out the question is “would you like to donate a dollar to the, insert name of charity here? And if you don’t you are going to look like a cheapskate to this long line behind you at the check stand.” Then you go to Wendy’s in the drive up window to get chili for your mom and her caregiver so they don’t have to cook dinner that night, when they tell you the cost of the order the additional question is “would you like to donate a dollar to, insert the name of the charity here.” What I want to say to them is “what I would really like to do is to be able to do normal daily errands without being guilted into donating money every where I go.”

Look I believe in charity. I’ve won awards for donating my time to several different charity organizations including abused women shelters, children hospitals and cancer research. I’ve given money willingly to several different charity organizations. I’ve done it from the heart. I do it as often as I can afford. Can’t I just have some peace when I grocery shop or go to a restaurant?

I mean what happens if you are in line and behind you is this attractive woman smiling at you. Oops. That never happens to me. What if you are desperate and this woman old enough to be your grandmother is behind you in line smiling and winking at you? That smile is going away if you refuse to donate a dollar to breast cancer research. And it isn’t just a dollar because it happens every damn time you go to the store. Being responsible for the grocery shopping for two households and with a mother that often leaves items off of her grocery list (staples like milk and bread) that is several trips a week to the store.

So come on retailers and restaurants! Let me shop in peace. Let me order off of the value menu in peace. Let me choose what charity I want to give to. Let me choose when I am going to give to that charity. Let me choose how much I give to that charity. Instead of embarrassing me every time I am paying for my order put a sign on your door “we believe in charity but we appreciate your right to shop in peace and not be embarrassed when you checkout. So we won’t ask you for your hard earned money. However, if you want to donate to our favorite charitable organization please tell the checker when you are at the check stand before he or she rings up your order.” That I could live with. End of vent.

Where do you land on this issue? Do you mind the plea for donations when you are shopping?

Another Sample Question, You Choose The Prize

As of now eligible participants for the contest starting at 7 AM Pacific Daylight Time on June 15, 2009 right here on The Dahn Report are Dona, Pat, DR, Kaye, Mary, Mary Z, Redwhistle, and Bev . In order to be an eligible participant for the “what do these three things have in common” contest you must post a message anywhere on The Dahn Report between now and when the contest starts.

The sample question for today is: What do the names John Denver,Tony Orlando, River Phoenix have in common. The answer is not celebrities. Neither is the answer them all being dead.

As you all know I've really been working hard cleaning out my garage and my house. Trying to clean the clutter out of both my house and my life. I really have found some interesting things and some things that may be good prizes for the contests that I am going to hold here on the blog either monthly or quarterly. I'm thinking of offering one of my finds as a prize for the contest coming up June 15, 2009. However, what I am going to do is let you choose the prize. You can vote on what prize you would like to win in the contest from now until midnight Pacific Daylight Time on May 31, 2009. The prize with the most votes will be the prize offered in the contest. Your choices are:

A. Glassmasters stained glass art "Angel on Bridge."

"Though waters rage below them & dark storms gather above them, two small children on a bridge, two small children on a bridge are unafraidm protected by the presence of an angel in flowing pink and green robes." Size is 8 1/2 oval and includes a chain for hanging. A picture is at the end of this blog entry.

B. Your choice of Gift Cards

Either a $25 Home Depot Gift Card (Fathers' Day is coming up) or a $25 Stabucks gift card.

C. Offer the choice of A or B.

OK today's questions is what do the names John Denver, Tony Orlando, and River Phoenix have in common. And vote A, B, or C as to what prize you would like to win.

Click on the following pictures to enlarge them:

It's Your Day

Sorry, No Sample question today. St. Louis, McDonalds, and a foot all have arches.

As of now eligible participants for the contest starting at 7 AM Pacific Daylight Time on June 15, 2009 right here on The Dahn Report are Dona, Pat, DR, Kaye, Mary, Mary Z, and Redwhistle. In order to be an eligible participant for the “what do these three things have in common” contest you must post a message anywhere on The Dahn Report between now and when the contest starts.

As for today. You know the drill. It is update day. I want to know about everything going on in your life. The pains. The joys. The concerns. The questions. The events you either attended recently or are going to attend. How are you elderly parents doing? How are you children doing? Want to post a nice little message about your spouse because they have been so supportive of you? Go ahead. Want to vent about the health care system, they way customer service is no longer anywhere to be found, aches and pains, or just because you think a you need a goot event and it would be healthy for you to get it all out. Go right ahead. Want to bring some excitement into my life and the blog? Tell me a secret that would curl my hair. Or if you haven't posting lately, just stop by and say hi. If you have never posted come on and introduce yourself!

My week has been mostly cleaning. I'm getting there. I've thrown out tons of stuff. Given tons of stuff to Goodwill. Found some things that would be really great gifts. If you remember I confessed at one time that I collected music boxes. I found two muiscal jewelry boxes, one plays "love story" and one plays "raindrops". I had wondered what happened to those two music boxes. That makes about thirty music boxes that I still have.

Besides cleaning there was one church service, one hot dog barbecue on Memorial Day, one night at mom's, dinner at Rose's with sister, brother-in-law, and Mom, one lunch out with mom, a couple of cooked meals for mom, grocery shopping for two households, a dramatic and touching contact with an old friend, still a lot of hugging from waitresses/ grocery clerks and this week I did a lot of thinking. Sometimes when I think, I do it so rarely, that it causes headaches. I hope to keep thinking so my mind becomes used to me it.

One of the things I've been thinking about is writing. One of the things I found in the great garage clean out of 2009 is a computer program called "Writer's Tool Kit".
I had bought about a year ago and then forgot about it. I've loaded it on one of my two computers and it really looks like it will be quite helpful to my writing project.

That is my week. The blog is now yours. Tell me everything. Post about anything you darn well please. Would love to hear from all of you.

Another Sample Question and Two Amazing News Stories.

As of now eligible participants for the contest starting at 7 AM Pacific Daylight Time on June 15, 2009 right here on The Dahn Report are Dona, Pat, DR, and Kaye. In order to be an eligible participant for the “what do these three things have in common” contest you must post a message anywhere on The Dahn Report between now and when the contest starts. Yesterday’s sample question was “what do car tires, crops, and a roasting pig have in common?" They all are rotated. Between now and when the contest starts I will be posting sample questions for you to cut your teeth on. I won’t be posting sample questions everyday but once in a while there will be a question either at the beginning or end of the blog post. Today’s sample question? What do McDonald’s, St. Louis, and a foot have in common?

There were a couple of stories on the news last night that just had me shaking my head and asking the question, “how could people be that dumb?”. First up is a young couple playing a version of strip poker. They weren’t using a deck of cards, however, they were using rocks. Rocks thrown from an overpass down on to cars traveling on Interstate 5. Every time one of their rocks hit a car, a piece of clothing would be removed. In all before they were caught and arrested fourteen cars were hit and several people were injured. When caught the girl was down to her underwear. The two twenty year-olds are now facing several years in prison. They just didn’t think throwing rocks off of an overpass on to a moving car would hurt anyone. Doesn’t that just make you shake your head?

Another how dumb can they be story? A family got home from McDonalds. The youngest child’s happy meal didn’t have an orange juice in it. The oldest brother went back to the McDonalds who then refused to give the brother the missing orange juice or refund their money. So what did the twenty year-old brother do? He called 911. What did the McDonald’s employee do? Called 911. Who spent the night in jail? The oldest brother for making a non-emergency call to 911. There is so much wrong with this story that it just boggles the mind. Come on McDonalds have you ever heard the words “customer service”? How damn difficult would it have been and how costly would it have been to give the customer an orange juice? Come on oldest brother, just leave the damn store and don’t go back there. Maybe call the manager the next day. But to tie up 911? Even a twenty year-old shouldn’t be that stupid. What makes the story even more troubling is the family of the oldest brother doesn’t think he did anything wrong because the McDonald’s employee told him to call 911. And the family is still patronizing that particular McDonalds. Doesn’t that just make you shake your head?

What do you think of these two stories? Do the two love birds playing strip rocks deserve to spend several years in jail? Did the oldest brother deserve a night in jail and maybe even more time in jail if he is convicted of the crime of calling 911 for a non-emergency?

And last but not least what do McDonalds, The City of St. Louis, and Feet have in common?

Old Friends, Old Finds, & New Contest.

I've been kind of emotional since connecting with my old friend. He sent me a follow-up email about what he was doing, the trouble he had getting to where he is, and what he is doing now. He also wrote one of the most touching things that anyone has ever written about me. I handle my own suffering well. However, when someone else that I know has complications in life I soak up all the emotions around them and suffer right along with them. I'm also terrible at accepting compliments and it is extremely difficult for me to believe that I ever impact anyone's life.

After I lost touch with my friend he went on to have a very successful career in accounting going on to be a tax partner in one of the largest certified public accounting firms in the world. Then as life sometimes does, it dealt him a terrible blow in the form of colon cancer. He fought it, fought it hard. He beat the odds and although he is still on long term disability he is in remission. While in remission he has reconnected with his spiritual side and this last Sunday was the second Sunday that he gave a speech from the pulpit. The title of his speech? "The Image of God, or What Does it Mean that We Are 98% Genetically Identical to Chimpanzees?" He is now coaching, writing, teaching, and mentoring and considering going to theology school. He has turned a tragedy and a near death experience into a message of hope and a mission of doing for others. Still a role model not only for me but everyone he touches.

The touching thing he wrote about me?

"I remember you as a fine gentleman whose water ran deep and whose experiences were quite profound. You were a big part of helping me transition from being a crazy kid playing baseball to an adult building a career and a life. Not sure if you knew it, but you were a major example to me of how a man could be an accountant and still be a man. You also inspired me to expect difficulties and then expect to get through them. Oh, and you were a great example of being open and honest about reality, not regretting it, and not wanting to shut the door on it. I have always been grateful for your friendship and your example."

On to the next subject. I've been making great progress with cleaning out my house and my garages. Throwing things out. Getting things ready to go to Goodwill. Cleaning out my life. Clean out the clutter in my house and maybe the clutter in my life will fly away. I'm at the place now where I can actually see that I have a garage. Found some interesting things. My old Fort Apache set that I used to play with as a kid. Remember Rusty and Rin Tin Tin? Also found my electric sports games. Electric football and electric baseball games that I played with in junior high. Some memorable things about man's first landing on the moon. An eight millimeter movie of the actual walk on the moon. A historical book with pictures from take off to landing. Then there was the book commemorating the eruption of Mount St. Helens. A paper from the day JFK was assassinated. And so on. I really did get sidetracked reading that stuff.

Subject three. A Contest. There will be a contest that will start on The Dahn Report at 7 AM on June 15, 2009 and end at 7 AM on Jun 17, 2009. An eligible participant will be anyone that posts a comment anywhere on The Dahn Report between now and 7 AM on June 15, 2009. I haven't decided on a prize yet but it will be something like a DVD with a season of Friday Night Lights on it, a gift card, or a lottery ticket. The contest will be twenty-five questions. Each question will list three things. You will have to guess what the three things have in common. All questions will be worth one point each. The eligible participant with the most points will be declared the winner. A sample question:

Car tires - Crops - Roasting Pigs.

The answer will appear on the next blog entry.

The questions for today. Has anyone ever told you in writing or in person that you have impacted someone's life? Have you even cleaned out your house or garage and found old treasures? What do the above three things have in common?

Floundering & Old Friends

It was the late seventies in the Los Angeles area. I was floundering. No direction in my life. With the wrong crowd. Partying. Not real happy with who I was. Thinking I wasn't really good enough to have a higher quality life. My refuge was a night out on the down, well several nights out in a row. Did crazy things. On a mission to destroy. A mission to destroy myself.

At the time I was working in Long Beach for a company called "Inter-form". It was a temporary assignment. I had a woman boss named Pat. She was the first woman boss that I ever had and I loved her. She at the time was the best supervisor I had in my life. You could go to her about anything. She also didn't believe in overtime. Her philosophy was give me the employee that can get his or her work done in eight hours, I want that employee. However, she was really good at judging the workload. I was given additional assignments, to many really, so she looked for more help for me. At the time there was a temporary agency called "Kelly Girls". We hired a Kelly Girl. But it wasn't a girl, it was a man that had just graduated from U.S.C.. He was a baseball player. Most Valuable Player in College World Series that year. Voted one of the best players to play in the college world series in the seventies. He would later be drafted in the fourth round by The California Angels, now the Los Angeles Angels, and sign a contract with them. A really handsome dude. Also a very smart dude. Later he would go on to get his Certified Public Accountant certificate and go to work for one of the largest accounting firms in the world. He was also a talented musician. Loved blue grass music. He was friends with some pretty well known people. Anthony Davis, if memory serves me right, was one of the first athletes that Nike made a shoe for. Russ knew him well.

While working at Inter-form Russ and I became pretty good friends. He was fascinated by my story of learning how to walk despite all odds. I was fascinated by his many talents. He took me into his circle. A circle of friends that I never thought I was worthy of. They were just like you and I. Neat people. They just did a lot more fun things then going out on the town. Hoedowns? Had them. Blue Grass hoedowns. Damn they were fun. When Russ went off to the minor leagues he and I formed a business. R.B.I,, Russ, Bill, Incorporated. R.B.I is also a baseball term, Runs Batted Inn. We did tax returns for minor league baseball players. When he was in the minor leagues we would write, he would write a line of a song, and then in my returning letter I would write the second line of the song. When he played for the Angel farm club in Salinas, California I visited him. Attended the games. I stood up at his wedding. It was the first time in my life that I really felt accepted by anyone.

Had I not met Russ I am sure that I would have been successful in the mission to destroy myself. Russ changed my life. Changed my outlook. Made me feel better about who I was.

Why am talking about Russ today? We kind of drifted apart. Went our separate directions. Lost touch. It has been several years since I saw him. Several years since I heard from him. Well, that was until this morning. When I got up this morning there was a message from my Facebook account asking if I was "the Bill Dahn." It was from Russ. Damn it was so nice to hear from him. We are now Facebook Friends.

What person most impacted your life? What person that you have lost touch with would you like to hear from?

On Angel's Wings

Things happen to me sometimes that I am afraid to share for fear that people will think that I am one really weird dude. Well at least even weirder than they already think I am. However, I promised you that I would be honest about what is going on in my life even if you think lesser of me or wonder if what I am telling you is the truth. You already know that I have really vivid dreams but what you don't know is that sometimes I have visions. Real visions. They really aren't very often about the future, more often they are about the past or someone living or not longer with us. They are most often happy visions. Seldom sad ones. Always frightening, however, because you wonder why your sub-conscience is transcending to a higher level.

I saw dad today.

As you know our new minister visited Mom last week. Being blind it had to be a real effort for her to take the time to meet mom. Getting dressed can't be easy for her. The little things that all of take for granted have to be struggle for her. I so appreciated her making the effort to visit mom that I thought I should show her some respect and attend one of her services. So I did today. Put on my pink shirt (NY Times says it is OK for men to wear pink shirts), red tie, fitted suit and headed out for the eleven O'clock service. Abut half way through the hour service is when it happened. That is when I saw dad.

Dad and Mom have been members of the church for over thirty years. Dad always sang in the choir. Sister and dad were blessed with beautiful singing voices. Mom, bro, and myself couldn't carry a tune if our life depended on it. Because this is a holiday weekend there was no choir in the church this Sunday. Well, there was a choir of one. Dad was in the choir box, smiling, singing. Then the vision changed to dad flying out of the choir box. He looked so stunning in his white angel wings as he flew off. First he flew over Mom's house in King City. As he hovered over the house he once lived in he blew mom a kiss and told her how much he loved and missed her. Then he flew South and hovered over a city that I think was Los Angeles and as he hovered over a condo on a beach I heard him say, you eventually will live here. Then he flew off to his home in heaven.

I feel really comfortable now that my dad is happy, wherever he might be, because he was smiling his devilish smile throughout the vision.

Was the vision real? Or did I doze off and it was a daydream? Do you ever have visions or dreams that frighten or stun you?