Clean the house
Clean the garage
Pay the bills
Think new thoughts
Treasure family and friends
Remember to feed the cats
They say "Meow" to Woogie.
TT

What a pleasant surprise it was when I opened a small present from our daughter Linda. She knew that I have long complained that the Graham Crackers currently available resemble stale cardboard. I have described to her how much I enjoyed graham crackers as a child and have missed the originals. I even wrote to Nabisco several years back and complained. Guess what? She discovered and obtained some Nabisco original grahams (fresh) and gave them to me for my Christmas. Thank God for small favors. If you would like some, go to Amazon.com and search in Gourmet Foods for "Nabisco Graham Crackers, Original, 14oz". They are $3.89 a box as of today. Now, if you will please excuse me, I'm going to pour another cup of milk and enjoy my Christmas treat. Thank you dear Linda. Hurry and I might share. Love, Dad (TT)

I was born and grew up in Alhambra, CA. General Patton was born in 1885 in adjacent San Gabriel, CA. His family played a significant part in the history of that region. You may have heard of the nearby Mt. Wilson Observatory above Pasadena. Mt. Wilson was named for Patton's grandfather. There are many interesting details in published biographies. I knew Patton's sister who lived in San Marino. In 1945 General Patton and General Jimmy Doolittle (air raid on Tokyo) visited the area and spoke in Alhambra in front of the city hall. They were accompanied by Marjorie Reynolds who had just starred with Bing Crosby in Holliday Inn, the movie that introduced the song White Christmas. The Generals arrived in an olive-drab 1942 Packard Clipper. As usual, I positioned myself front and center right next to the microphone. Patton and Doolittle delivered their talks to rousing cheers well deserved. Did you know that, at the end of the war in Europe, Patton recommended that we (U.S.) being all-powerful at the time, should take over the U.S.S.R. to bring about a peaceful world, and what's more, he offered to do the job himself in five days. (but the "diplomats" won out) It has been speculated that the subsequent Korean war, cold war arms race, Cuban missile crisis and the Vietnam war would have been avoided had his advice been followed. Of possible interest to you and to conclude my tale, when the appearance in Alhambra was over, General Patton went to a small church on Roses Road in San Gabriel where he participated in their Sunday School services. TT

SURROUNDED BY WOMEN! Well, almost.
I'm really blessed this Halloween to have a wonderful wife, one
daughter, two daughters-in-law, six (6) granddaughters, one great-granddaughter and two female cats, Sarah and Fluffy. That leaves my
salvation and minority votes, up to sons John and Jim. You do the math! Clearly outnumbered but loving it. Happy Halloween all of my friends.
TT

A Libby lesson? LEONARDO DA VINCI, speaking in about the year 1500 said, as rendered into English by Edward MacCurdy 1939: (No, he was not talking to me!) "This (the oyster) opens completely when the moon is full and when the crab sees it it throws a piece of stone or a twig into it and thus prevents it from closing up, so that it serves the crab for a meal. So it may be with the mouth when it tells its secret, that it puts itself at the mercy of the indiscreet listener." Leonardo / TT