Friday JohnKu – AKA- TGIF

March 13, 2015March 10, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 27 Comments

Well the sun finally came out and with it a few spring breakers. This year the spring break season started a week ago, but the weather was so bad no one showed up. Here is a picture of the beach I took last Saturday. Normally during spring break there would be mobs of people. Nest week I will post a picture of the same stretch of beach and I am predicting there will be a big change.

Today’s JohnKu (a term coined by Words4jp) talks about the quiet before the storm.

Sound of nothing now,

Changes with time and season. . .

Quiet driven out.

TGIF – AKA JohnKu Friday

March 6, 2015March 4, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 23 Comments

Friday is, here again, which means it is JohnKu (a termed coined by Words4jp) Friday or as most of the world knows is the day we thank God for its arrival. Yes, good old TGIF. This week has been pretty quick.

I am still averaging one thousand words a day on my Work in Process. I am currently at 69,500 words and I fully expect it to reach 92,000 when complete. So if all works well, I should be finished in twenty-four more days. That means at the end of March. Okay let’s just draw a line in the sand and say it will be so. This book is totally off what I would consider my normal track. In fact, right now I can quite pin the genre. It is a Mystery but not the classic who done it. It has some Thriller aspects but only a couple of twists. It has a lot of scope like a Literary piece, and it has some paranormal occurrences. Since I’m not planning this book to be published by my current publisher, I might just let a group of Bata readers give me some suggestions.

I do know I’m enjoying the hell out of writing it and so who knows its future. Today’s JohnKu is about making up one’s mind. I hope you like it.

A decision now,

Or else the world will collapse . . .

May be good to wait.

Friday JohnKu – AKA TGIF

February 27, 2015February 24, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 18 Comments

Weather Rant or what else is new?

As I sit here writing this post, I look like a character out of Dickens. I have never been so damned cold. I have several layers of clothes and wish I had fingerless gloves. The temperature is twenty-five freaking degrees below normal for this time of year. I have lost feeling in my index finger, and it is one of two that I use to compose. Now I know what one hand clapping means. Someone needs to do something about all of this weather stuff.

Can’t we get Washington to launch some kind of initiative to warm things up a bit? Sure would be a better time spent than arguing about stupid stuff like the budget.Of course, we all know if Washington gets involved the temps will go lower. The sad thing about the weather is everyone complains, and no one does anything about it. We also don’t have any single source to blame.

I know we could have the Executive Branch come up with a plan we would call Obama Weather. It would guarantee every home in the US would have weather coverage. If you fail to sign up for our weather coverage, you will be fined on your next Tax return. The beauty of this plan, we would have someone to blame if the weather is bad. Right now, there is no one to blame but nature.

Today’s JohnKu (a term coined by Words4jp) is about the government. Hope you like it.

The Government sits,

Waiting for the crisis to pass . . .

Or gets up and runs.

Friday JohnKu – AKA TGIF -Tuesday Early Publish

February 17, 2015September 20, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 18 Comments

It was bound to happen. My WP schedule had the wrong date. Sorry about that. No, it is not Friday and I hope you didn’t get confused. I know I did.

Friday is here and I know my real life job working friends are glad it is here. We have had some unusual weather here this week. The weekend was terrific with temps in the high 70’s and then Monday showed up with a cold front in the afternoon. We more or less got used to the warm and for the rest of the week had to remember it is still winter. Hopefully, the weekend will be a little better. I know the complaints from the south fall on the under ten feet of snow North and East deaf ears. Just thought you should all know us thin bloods are having a crappy winter as well. This week’s John Ku (a term coined by Words4jp) talks about comparison others and how some may think others are better off. I hope you like it.

Others have more fun,

Or at least it seems that way. . .

Till we wear their shoes.

Friday -AKA – JohnKu TGIF

January 23, 2015January 23, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 29 Comments

Friday is here and with it a great longing for a continuation of the Football season. Oh sure, there is the Pro Bowl this weekend and the Super Bowl on February 1st but that is still not what I would consider a continuation of the season. Once all the college games were finished I had this hangover like I had been to too many loud parties but like attending loud parties, I have some good memories. My teams (Notre Dame, Michigan State and Baylor) made the season last as long as they could, but it still came to an end with the victory of Ohio State over the Oregon Ducks. My pro hopes were dashed with the defeat of the Pittsburgh Steelers at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens (spit). I did watch the AFC and NFC championships without having a favorite. It is interesting when you are not emotionally involved in the game you can actually appreciate good plays on either side.(and keep the blood pressure under control) I enjoyed the Green Bay/ Seahawks game because of the come from behind effort by the Seahawks. The Baltimore Colts/ New England Patriots game was definitely

I did watch the AFC and NFC championships without having a favorite. It is interesting when you are not emotionally involved in the game you can actually appreciate good plays on either side.(and keep the blood pressure under control) I enjoyed the Green Bay/ Seahawks game because of the come from behind effort by the Seahawks. The Baltimore Colts/ New England Patriots game was definitely one-sided in favor of the Patriots. The Super Bowl should be a good game since I think these teams will give it their best effort. This week’s JohnKu (a term coined by Words4jp) is about football (you think?) I hope you like it.

August is happy,

The start of football is here. . .

February mourns.

Friday – TGIF JohnKu

January 16, 2015September 20, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 30 Comments

Friday at last. The weather has been so cold and miserable the days drag by. I know everyone is having a similar bout of lousy stuff this week. My only salvation is there is no snow. The rain has been pretty steady for a couple of days and at least the driving isn’t affected, unlike the northern areas. I guess we should expect this kind of treatment in mid-January, but it doesn’t make it any more acceptable. Is anyone having nice weather? Let us know about it so we can either be extremely jealous or happy to hear good thoughts. Today’s JohnKu (a term coined by Words 4jp) talks about the weather. Hope you like it.

January’s here,

To some it’s a big surprise. . .

Snow, ice, bitter cold.

Friday JohnKu- AKA TGIF

January 2, 2015January 1, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 13 Comments

Friday is here and the best of the year is behind us. 2015 is now a reality and hopefully it will bear the fruit of the promise which we have set out as resolutions. Since this is day two of the New Year, it will be interesting to see how many of the resolutions made on the thirty-first have already gone by the wayside. I hope those that have been broken are the little ones connected with some insignificant improvements we want to make in the superficial part of our life. Hopefully, the real substantive resolutions we wish for ourselves remain intact until next December thirty-first. Today’s JohnKu (a term coined by Words4jp) is about resolutions. Hope you enjoy.

Resolutions done,

Until weakness becomes strong. . .

Wait until next year.

Friday TGIF and JohnKU

December 19, 2014June 26, 2024 ~ John W. Howell ~ 16 Comments

Friday is the best day of the week. I’ll bet a lot of you are attending some kind of office or holiday party tonight. You may even be going to the boss’s house for a get together. If you are invited remember to wipe your feet at the door and don’t spill anything. I wonder who ever thought these things were fun. I remember one event where the boss had us all in for the holiday and I was standing admiring this large vase (pronounced VAHZE) on a pedestal. It was some kind of rare Asian art kind of thing and had its own light. I usually am impressed by things that have their own light. Well, long story short some oaf hit me from behind which caused me to carom into the base. This caused the vase (VAHZE) to begin to teeter back and forth in what could be the beginning of a death spiral Given the vase (VAHZE) cost more than I was worth alive, my life and employment passed before my eyes. When the vase (VAHZE) finally did its bow I caught it before it hit the floor. With shaking hands, I placed it carefully back on the pedestal. As I was adjusting it the boss came by and whispered, “Nice catch. You saved both our asses.” I loved that guy.

Today’s JohnKu (a term coined by Words4jp) is about holiday parties. Hope you enjoy.

Few days of worry,

Attending all the parties . . .

Paid back by the flu.

TGIF JohnKu

December 12, 2014June 26, 2024 ~ John W. Howell ~ 19 Comments

Friday is here again. The deadline for some of us oldsters to straighten out the medical coverage is December 31 and it keeps getting closer. (The regular Medicare deadline is December 7^th (ironic)). I am in a special group of people whose company has decided to off me from retirement medical and to allow me the luxury of finding my own plans. Well, at least I was given a little time to try to figure it out. Today’s JohnKu (a term coined by Words4jp) reflects some concern about looming deadlines on such important stuff like medical care. Its title is Time Bomb. Hope you like it.

The clock is wired,

To some big sticks called health care. . .

Tick, tock not much time.

TGIF – Friday JohnKu

November 21, 2014June 26, 2024 ~ John W. Howell ~ 21 Comments

Friday is here at last. Today’s margarita is going to be replaced by a steaming cup of mulled cider, I just can’t place an ice-cold drink in your hand when you have a glove on it. I suppose y’all have the same weather issues so we should be glad we can get into the warm to enjoy something hot as we begin to look forward to the holidays. Today’s JohnKu (a term coined by Words4jp) celebrates our ability to control our comfort but asks that we think of those less fortunate including the fur people. The title is Cold and hope you enjoy it.

The first of winter,

Creeps in on chilly footfalls . . .

To torture the poor.