Welcome eBay, Goodbye Surplus From Office

How long has the winter really been? I've done something I never have done before -- went through 6 face cords of firewood and the last two days it's been forage, forage, forage. You know you are getting desperate when you hope for a goodly over night wind so that you can gather up dead branches to act as a basis for getting a fire going.

Luckily, a couple of summers ago, a tree went down near the house and my "handy" guy came out and cut it up and stacked it along the garage. I am now going through that stack!

In an effort to keep up with incoming bills and the high prices of everything -- have you grocery shopped lately? -- I have begun venturing into the world of selling on eBay, and wouldn't you know -- instant beginners luck on the first item I posted -- the guitar pictured sold about a half an hour after I posted! I shipped it out to Rochester, New York this past Friday. Truthfully, I am nervously chewing my nails and hoping that it arrives in one piece since it's the first time I have packed a guitar for a long ride.

I know I lost some money on it, but that's the way it goes, I guess. The wood is really beautiful but the guitar has some problems including the need for a total neck reset and hopefully that would rid it of the buzzing at the 8th fret. I hope that it goes to good care and into the hands of an accomplished jazz musician some day.

I am starting to sell some of the football helmet projects I worked on over the winter as well. As to be expected, the more of them I turn out, the better I get at doing it -- and the more I can charge in selling them. There are some that I will never part with. I have a "Brett" Packer helmet, a Washington Redskins suspension helmet with the darker burgundy and spear logos, and a Dan Marino Dolphins helmet that is probably the best so far. These I will put on display here!

I am currently getting ready to do a Carolina Panthers, a Pittsburgh Steelers, (I have the helmets and decals on hand) and I have a really "tits" unscathed red Rawlings helmet coming in later in the month that will be a Kansas City Chiefs.

I have pretty much decided that the Carolina Panthers helmet will go to Shanty Boy, Jay Moore, the Carolina Swamp monkey, as a token of my esteem. Think he will wear it on the air?

If there is anybody out there that is in need of an entertainer, for God's sake, drop me a line! I am tired of sitting on my ass doing nothing and watching my savings completely disappear.

These are frightening times! I am thinking of putting together a nursing home tour if I can get paid even a bit for each home visitation.

Actually, 2009 is showing definite signs of promise -- but hey! That doesn't help the old psyche in 2008!

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Tuesday is tax day and my 67th birthday. Kim has been such a sweetie to me already this week. I am counting my blessings and Kim is definitely at the top of that list!

Hope you enjoyed the SUN today. It sent the remaining snow a-skitterin' at the compound!

Talk at ya' soon!

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It's A Mad World After All -- It's A Mad, Mad, World

Let's talk about the weather -- how really mundane! Woke up this morning to snow on the ground on April 12. Wisconsin residents have been looking at snow and gray sky for seven straight months now, and there is no doubt abut it, it messes with the psyche.

My wife Kim has noticed it in the class room with her kindergartners this year. They are, by far, the worst behaving class she has had. I think it can be blamed on the strange weather we have had for the past seven long months.

I know little kids are supposed to love snow! But not for seven months in a row! The world's weather patterns are changing with severe weather in the news almost every day. There are those that poo-poo global warming, I am not one of them. And I think we are past the point of turning this situation around.

We have screwed up the planet and now the planet will rid itself of enough of us to right itself.

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And how about the "haters" from Westboro, Kansas, Baptist Church who recently traveled all the way to the Stout campus, Menomonie, Wisconsin, to spread the word of "God" . Three Stout students died from smoke inhalation recently in an apartment fire, and according to the "Reverend" Phelps followers, they died: "for Wisconsin and Minnesota's sins."

Church members held signs saying "God's Wrath is Revealed" and "America is Doomed."

Nearly 1,000 students demonstrated against the church members Thursday outside the Memorial Student Center.

Students carried signs saying "God Hates No One," and "Hate is Sin in God's Eyes." If you want to get a good look at pure evil go to: www.godhatesfags.com, which is, hard to believe, but there it is, the Westboro, Kansas, Baptist Church's home page.

I SAY: JUDGE NOT, LEST YE BE JUDGED!

Sort of makes a guy want to go to Westboro and reveal a bit more of God's wrath. We are in an age where more and more of the nut jobs are coming out of the wood world.


How very embarrassing for the Baptist Church in general!

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We are beginning to work on booking rooms for a mini-tour of "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", a show that my brother Father John Heagle and I did some years ago with a great deal of success, so watch for further developments. Hopefully it will occur middle May, 2009.

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All's Well When My End's Well!

For those of you who have not undergone the "prep" of getting ready for a colonoscopy, be warned! It is like a chinese water torture. You are given a rather foul tasting powder which you must thoroughly mix with a gallon of water (that's 32 cups!) and then gulp it all down with in three hours and dedicate the rest of your day to sitting on the toilet and spewing it out the other end until your entire colon is totally clean and the passed water runs clear.

There is no solid food for the 24 hours preceding the procedure and I think all I had was one cup of warm chicken broth. Since they give you an IV introduced drug just before the procedure so that you are unaware of what is happening, you must have a designated driver drop you off and pick you up after wards.

My thanks to Ron Keezer for being the man today.

I don't remember hardly anything at all while the actual colonoscopy wasa being administered but afterwards I seemed to remember some "bad dream" discomfort.

The results of the test? Good report --some diverticulitis -- but I've had that all the while -- I remember the last time I had the procedure the doctor told me I had the bowel of a seventy year old -- and I said" "Well who is he and how did it get in my body? I don't sleep that well!"

No polyps -- no cancer -- and I can stop worrying for now. All's well when my end's well.

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If you are wondering why I took the photo I listed today, it's because wile I was typing away, movement caught my eye out of the window to my right -- and there he was -- a big old wild turkey -- making his way towards Hobbs Road. By the time I could get my camera out, he had proceeded past the large tree on the right where the snow is left from plowing. If you look really hard, you might be able to see him. Ah, the joys of a telephoto lens!

Well, this is it for today. Still goofy from the medication and I am going to head for the house and a nap.

America's Truckers Tired of Taking It "Up the Butt" -- Me, Too!

Last December while I was in Hayward, some "true patriot" removed my "Bush is a war criminal" bumper sticker, so this week I replaced it. Last time I checked, this was still a free country -- well, sort of, anyway -- so that Yahoo exercised his freedom. I was taught in civics class, however, that the right to swing your arm ends at another person's nose.

Then, just to add salt to the wound, I added the other bumper sticker which I first saw on a car parked in a supermarket parking lot. I liked it so much that as soon as I got home I "googled" it and sent away for a half dozen of them -- so Mr. True Patriot, tear away, tear away!
I went into the Marshfield Clinic to pick up the necessaries for my big day tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow is colonoscopy day!

And may I just say THANK GOD FOR THE COLONOSCOPY!

The first inspection I had of that particular nether region was a rigid sygmodoscopy. That's where they take 50 feet of garden hose, attach a three C cell battery operated flashlight to the end of it with duct tape, apply a liberal amount of KY jelly and tell you that you are going to feel "a little discomfort".

So today begins the difficult part of the whole ordeal -- the fasting on clear liquids and the drinking of a gallon (yes, you heard that right) -- A GALLON -- of the prep which makes you stay within 10 feet of a toilet at all times.

But this is all much better than not having the procedure done and dying of cancer.

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I am more than a little embarrassed about the letter I sent out yesterday to Mr. Sam Huff. the former NFL all pro linebacker. I was bidding on a beat up Riddell TK style helmet similar to the one that Sam wore when he played. In the letter I asked that if I won the helmet and sent it out to him, would he autograph it for me.

Because it is so beat up, I figured I could win the auction with a bid of $80 easily. This morning, after the auction had ended, I checked to see what it sold for. $510.00!!! FIVE HUNDRED AND TEN DOLLARS! Holy shit!

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And finally, for today's blog, I want to share an editorial by Barbara Ehrenreich:

Truckers Protest, the Resistance Begins
By Barbara Ehrenreich
Barbaraehrenreich.com

Monday 07 April 2008

Until the beginning of this month, Americans seemed to have nothing to say about their ongoing economic ruin except, "Hit me! Please, hit me again!" You can take my house, but let me mow the lawn for you one more time before you repossess. Take my job and I'll just slink off somewhere out of sight. Oh, and take my health insurance too; I can always fall back on Advil.

Then, on April 1, in a wave of defiance, truck drivers began taking the strongest form of action they can take - inaction. Faced with $4/gallon diesel fuel, they slowed down, shut down and started honking. On the New Jersey Turnpike, a convoy of trucks stretching "as far as the eye can see," according to a turnpike spokesman, drove at a glacial 20 mph. Outside of Chicago, they slowed and drove three abreast, blocking traffic and taking arrests. They jammed into Harrisburg PA; they slowed down the Port of Tampa where 50 rigs sat idle in protest. Near Buffalo, one driver told the press he was taking the week off "to pray for the economy."

The truckers who organized the protests - by CB radio and internet - have a specific goal: reducing the price of diesel fuel. They are owner-operators, meaning they are also businesspeople, and they can't break even with current fuel costs. They want the government to release its fuel reserves. They want an investigation into oil company profits and government subsidies of the oil companies. Of the drivers I talked to, all were acutely aware that the government had found, in the course of a weekend, $30 billion to bail out Bear Stearns, while their own businesses are in a tailspin.

But the truckers' protests have ramifications far beyond the owner-operators' plight -first, because trucking is hardly a marginal business. You may imagine, here in the blogosphere, that everything important travels at the speed of pixels bouncing off of satellites, but 70 percent of the nation's goods - from Cheerios to Chapstick -travel by truck. We were able to survive a writers' strike, but a trucking strike would affect a lot more than your viewing options. As Donald Hayden, a Maine trucker put it to me: "If all the truckers decide to shut this country down, there's going to be nothing they can do about it."

More importantly, the activist truckers understand their protest to be part of a larger effort to "take back America," as one put it to me. "We continue to maintain this is not just about us," "JB" - which is his CB handle and stands for the "Jake Brake" on large rigs - told me from a rest stop in Virginia on his way to Florida. "It's about everybody - the homeowners, the construction workers, the elderly people who can't afford their heating bills ... This is not the action of the truck drivers, but of the people." Hayden mentions his parents, ages and 81 and 76, who've fought the Maine winter on a fixed income. Missouri-based driver Dan Little sees stores shutting down in his little town of Carrollton. "We're Americans," he tells me, "We built this country, and I'll be damned if I'm going to lie down and take this."

At least one of the truckers' tactics may be translatable to the foreclosure crisis. On March 29, Hayden surrendered three rigs to be repossessed by Daimler-Chrysler - only he did it publicly, with flair, right in front of the statehouse in Augusta. "Repossession is something people don't usually see," he says, and he wanted the state legislature to take notice. As he took the keys, the representative of Daimler-Chrysler said, according to Hayden, "I don't see why you couldn't make the payments." To which Hayden responded, "See, I have to pay for fuel and food, and I've eaten too many meals in my life to give that up."

Suppose homeowners were to start making their foreclosures into public events- inviting the neighbors and the press, at least getting someone to camcord the children sitting disconsolately on the steps and the furniture spread out on the lawn. Maybe, for a nice dramatic touch, have the neighbors shower the bankers, when they arrive, with dollar bills and loose change, since those bankers never can seem to get enough.

But the larger message of the truckers' protest is about pride or, more humbly put, self-respect, which these men channel from their roots. Dan Little tells me, "My granddad said, and he was the smartest man I ever knew, 'If you don't stand up for yourself ain't nobody gonna stand up for you.'" Go to theamericandriver.com, run by JB and his brother in Texas, where you're greeted by a giant American flag, and you'll find - among the driving tips, weather info, and drivers' favorite photos -the entire Constitution and Declaration of Independence. "The last time we faced something as impacting on us," JB tells me, "There was a revolution."

The actions of the first week in April were just the beginning. There's talk of a protest in Indiana on the 18th, another in New York City, and a giant convergence of trucks on DC on the 28th. Who knows what it will all add up to? Already, according to JB, some of the big trucking companies are threatening to fire any of their employees who join the owner-operators' protests.

But at least we have one shining example of defiance of the face of economic assault. There comes a point, sooner or later, when you stop scrambling around on all fours and, like JB and his fellow drivers all over the country, you finally stand up.

If you would like to help support the truckers in any way, go to http://www.theamericandriver.com/files/TruckersAndCitizensUnited.html.

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Football, Baseball, Fishing, Too!

This is a Riddell helmet that I got months ago through eBay and let it just be while I decided which of the National football League teams logos I wanted to use. Since the seller had done such a great job painting the helmet white, I was determined that it should represent a team that wears a white helmet.

I considered the Tennessee Titans, the Indianapolis Colts, but ultimately I ordered the Miami Dolphin logos from 1990 to make a representation of Dan Marino's helmet worn during the "Silver Season" -- Don Shula's 25th year of coaching in the NFL.
I have always admired Dan Marino, another one of the National Football League quarterbacks that came out of Pennsylvania's mining country.

Marino held the completed passing record until this past season when Brett Favre outdid him with a slant to # 85, Greg Jennings, who took it in stride and ran untouched in for the score.

Marino went on to have an excellent career as a television star for HBO's "Inside The NFL". It is difficult to believe that with all his accomplishments, a Super Bowl ring eluded him.

As you can see, the helmet is still not finished. That's because it took me a really long time to locate the exact style face mask he wore and in the correct "aqua" color.

That mask is no longer being manufactured at this time. It is basically a line backer's mask. the type also worn by New York Jets QB Chad Pennington.

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Tis that time of year when my thoughts should be turning to baseball. Truth be told, it is difficult for me to get excited about major league baseball. Oh, I would imagine that there will be at least one trip to Milwaukee this summer to catch a Brewers game but that is more for the sociability than anything else.

Miller Park is a great place to watch a game. The design is such that when you walk in you say to yourself: "I'd best watch the game today because there is not a seat anywhere that a screaming foul ball would not be able to take your head off!" the park is laid out with an intimacy that I have only experienced at Wrigley.

But as I say, going to the ball game is more of a social occasion, be it with family or friend. getting there early and joining the others that are busy setting up their charcoal grills and laying out the brats and the beans and chips. And of course, the beer!

I am drawn much more to Carson Park to watch not The Express (too rowdy -- too many non-supervised brats running helter-skelter, thither and yon) but my favorite team The Cavaliers.

My mother, little Alice, God rest her soul, loved to be whisked out of the Clairemont in her wheel chair and out to the game where we always had a great time together -- making memories to cherish forever.

the other day, while I was cleaning the back room, I came across mom's diaries she kept the last couple years of her life. I couldn't read more than a page or two without finding tears rolling down my cheeks. Not a day goes by when I don't miss her. We were such good friends, she and I, in those last summers of baseball.

I am hoping to put the band back together to play an hour before one of the Cav games start. They set us up between the grand stand and the first base bleachers and we play not for money but for fun! Oh -- and for pitchers of Leinie's and hot dogs and brats.

It is worth it just to come out and watch Dave "Barney" Barneson eat a brat and drum at the same time.

I also have promised myself that this is the summer that I change the line on my spinning reel, oil it up, pack my little two man tent and talk either Jay Moore or my chiropractor Chad into taking an overnight small mouth fishing excursion on the Jump River near Jump River Rosie's club.

Enough already! got stuff to do!

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Collecting Football Helmets Puts Me In Touch With History

This is a Riddell TK style suspension helmet from the 1960's that I found on eBay last night and will be bidding on in a few days.

I get really excited when I see one of these come on line as they are fairly rare. I like them because they are from another era when football was played for a lot less money and a lot more heart.

As you can see, whoever has it, has hand painted it (and rather poorly I might add) to resemble a New York giants line backer helmet, as witnessed by the heavy duty face mask. It is a duplicate of Giants linebacker Sam Huff's helmet (albeit it has the wrong number painted on it -- #75 -- Sam wore #70), whose biography I just finished reading this past week.

So I did someting I thought I would never do. I wrote a fan letter to Sam. And here is what it says:


Larry Heagle
4888 Hobbs Road
Fall Creek, Wisconsin 54742


Mr. Sam Huff “the Man in the Middle”
P.O. Box 7070
Middleburg, Virginia 22117

Dear Sam:

I just finished reading your moving biography “Tough Stuff”. Not only did I find it difficult to put it down, but the closer I got to the end of it, the sadder I became that there wasn’t more.

I am 66 years old, and having been a Green Bay Packer fan all my life, I remember you very well from the glorious years when you played linebacker with the New York Giants and tangled with Jimmy Taylor.

I have always admired the way you played the game with your whole heart and soul. That was always evident as I watched you range back and forth behind the line of scrimmage.

I am an entertainer. Most of my work is making men and women of the business sector laugh after dinner.

I had the honor and pleasure of working two banquets with the late, great Ray Nitschke, another of my heros.

Now to the point: I have been collecting football helmets, mostly from your era, and restoring them.

Yesterday I found a helmet on eBay and I have enclosed the particulars with this letter. As you can see, it is very beat up and whoever painted it, obviously didn’t have a lot of good taste or he would have put the number 70 on it! (I have been trying to find out who #75 is, but cannot connect a name with the helmet.)

Here is my question. If I bid high enough to win the helmet and restore it to its orignal lustre, could I ship it to you and have you autograph it for me?

I would include a check for whatever you feel fair for your trouble plus the cost of shipping it back to me. Rest assured that it will bear the number seventy -- not seventy five!

What really caught my eye about this helmet is the face mask as I believe it is an exact copy of the one you wore.

I was so sorry to read about the break up of your marriage with Mary but I totally understand, having gone through a divorce myself.

My best to Sam Jr. and your grandson Nicholas, your daughter Cathy and, of course, J.D.

I hope your horses are thriving and continuing to give you a tremendous amount of sastisfaction.

God bless you, sir, and thank you for the many hours of sheer pleasure you gave me and all of us while you were “the man in the middle”.

Best regards,


Larry Heagle

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Should be interesting from a couple of aspects. Will I win the helmet? I am hoping that its condition will make it less attractive to other bidders. I find the challenge of restoring it something to look forward to and get my motor running. And secondly, will Sam take the time to answer my letter?

Anybody want to venture a guess?

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Took little nap earlier today and then walked outside to find it raining lightly. Is there a more delicious smell than the first Spring rains that awaken the earth's natural perfume?

Enough for today. Want to spend the rest of the afternoon with Kim. I think I will make a home made pizza for supper!

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Death And Taxes And Continual Money Drains

Today, on eBay, I won this Spalding Titanite football helmet for the amazing low price of $9.99! It harkens back to the days of the Heagle brothers playing tackle football in the back yard. I never thought that my bid would hold up but I am glad, just from a point of nostalgia, that it did. I don't know if I will leave it untouched or if I will transform it into an early Kansas City Chiefs helmet. That decision will be made after it arrives here. Is that a wondrous strange face mask or what???

What I am tempted to do is to put a defensive lineman's Dungard mask on it -- but after checking the price of the Dungard masks, maybe not!

At any rate, if I do make it into a KC helmet, it will be in the style of the helmets the Chiefs wore in their loss to the Packers in Super Bowl I. Remember Willie Lanier? Oops -- we're back into those expensive Dungard masks again!

Whatever I decide to do with it, there are three things I find very attractive about it. It is quite old, it is in very good shape for its age, and it is very different from the rest of my collection.

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We got that call which when discovered on the answer machine can set the blood running cold: "Your taxes are ready". So we drove out to H&R Block to pick them up -- prepared by my cousin-in-law Chuck Wysocky, workaholic detective with the Altoona Police Department who moonlights as a tax prep man.

Because we are family we get our taxes prepared for free. My kind of price!

As usual, Kim gets a pretty handsome refund and I get nothing as again this year I operated at a loss. In fact, I made over a thousand dollars less this year than last year -- thanks George W.!

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Speaking of money -- gotta stop blogging and start writing those "beginning of the month" bills.