This is an old house we passed on our one and only drive in Tennessee.  What a waste....another that you can just imagine the excitement when it was built.  Another one I wish that had the ability to tell its tales.  I cannot help but wonder how many children grew up within its walls.
************
I am in a mood.  We watched The Dust Bowl on PBS....I really liked it.  There was one line in the very beginning of the first episode...I cannot recall the exact wording.  But it was saying something along the line that the farmers plowing up all the land was looking for easy money....whoever heard of farming being easy money?  Does that strike you almost as an oxymoron.  True, they were wanting to make money, but I just do not associate farming as easy money.
***************
This of course got me to thinking of our childhood...how every little bit of money was scraped together.  We raised 4 hogs almost every year that I remember.  And I do not remember once having ham to eat that we raised.  We sold them, but Neal thought we had eaten them, too.  So, I had my SIL ask my other brother...he is the authority that Neal and I usually go to for stuff like this.

Well, he said that we did have ham every now and then, but it would have been when I was too young to remember or before I was born.  So, I guess Neal and I are both right in one sense.

I could remember one person that always bought one of our hams, and he could name another that always bought one.  He also said there were several others that bought them.  And the reason we sold them was because we could get more for one ham than would be paid for a whole hog.  They were salt cured...I do not know how people fixed them.
*******************
At one time we had a small strawberry patch and sold strawberries....I was pretty young and don't remember a lot about that.  Or maybe I don't remember much because we didn't have them long.  We also always raised extra green beans....sometimes some of my aunts bought them.  But others either dad or I would call around to the produce markets till we found someone that would buy them.

Another year we had a big patch of okra that we sold...sometimes to local people, sometimes to the produce markets.  I can't remember if we sold anything else that we raised...but any little bit extra was a help.  And anything we sold, we sold top quality. 

In addition to what we raised, we would pick blackberries...they grew wild down there.  I wonder now if someone had originally planted them and they spread here and there or were they there from the start.  I can remember a few favorite places that had them hanging down big, not in exactly a cluster, but like grapes.  Well, actually, I remember two places.  I remember reaching above my head to pick them...and them hanging down so big and dark....

And we hunted ginseng...I can remember when it went to $56 per pound.  We sure thought that was something.  I don't think we always found a pound per year...that is a lot of bunches of ginseng.  And we only hunted it a bit in our spare time for fun.  Now it brings hundreds of dollars...
*************
I need to get busy...Lorelei went home Sunday evening...I just cannot get into anything when she goes home.  So, slow to start blogging again.  In fact, this may be my only post till after Thanksgiving sometime.  Lo and her Mommy are coming back Thursday...her daddy has to work.  Not sure how long the two of them will stay...but looking forward to them being here.

Life don't get a lot better than this...

I met Sarah today at the halfway point...picked up Lorelei.  She has played around all evening.  Her Papaw went hunting, and when it was time for us to eat she got sad for just a minute...said she missed her Papaw.  Then she thought and said she miss her Mama, too.  And that is what she calls Sarah about half or two-thirds of the time...Mama.  Such a sweet word.  If she is mad/aggravated, it is done 'OH, Mom!'

Anyway, good to have her here for a day or two...makes life worth living. 

To tickle your funny bone....

I came across this...have seen them before but they made me laugh till I cried...whether any are true or not I can't say.   But I would bet money some, if not all are true....

Actual call center conversations!
Customer: 'I've been calling 700-1000 for two days and can't get through;
can you help?'
Operator: 'Where did you get that number, sir?'
Customer: 'It's on the door of your business.'
Operator: 'Sir, those are the hours that we are open.'

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Samsung Electronic
Caller: 'Can you give me the telephone number for Jack?'
Operator: 'I'm sorry, sir, I don't understand who you are talking about.'
Caller: 'On page 1, section 5, of the user guide it clearly states that
I need to unplug the fax machine from the AC wall socket and
telephone Jack before cleaning. Now, can you give me the
number for Jack?'
Operator: 'I think it means the telephone plug on the wall.'


----------------------------------------------------------------------

RAC Motoring Services
Caller: 'Does your European Breakdown Policy cover me when I am
traveling in Australia ?'
Operator: 'Does the policy name give you a clue?'


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Caller (enquiring about legal requirements while traveling in Europe )
'If I register my car in France , and then take it to England ,
do I have to change the steering wheel to the other side of the car?'


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Directory Enquiries
Caller: 'I'd like the number of the Argo Fish Bar, please'
Operator: 'I'm sorry, there's no listing. Are you sure that the spelling is correct?'
Caller: 'Well, it used to be called the Bargo Fish Bar but the 'B' fell off.'


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Then there was the caller who asked for a knitwear company in Woven.
Operator: 'Woven? Are you sure?'
Caller: 'Yes.. That's what it says on the label -- Woven in Scotland ...'


----------------------------------------------------------------------

On another occasion, a man making heavy breathing sounds from a phone box told a worried operator: 'I haven't got a pen, so I'm steaming up the window to write the number on.'


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Tech Support: 'I need you to right-click on the Open Desktop.'
Customer: 'OK..'
Tech Support: 'Did you get a pop-up menu?'
Customer: 'No.'
Tech Support: 'OK. Right-Click again. Do you see a pop-up menu?'
Customer: 'No.'
Tech Support: 'OK, sir. Can you tell me what you have done up until this point?'
Customer: 'Sure. You told me to write 'click' and I wrote 'click'.'


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Tech Support: 'OK. At the bottom left hand side of your screen, can
you see the 'OK' button displayed?'

Customer: 'Wow! How can you see my screen from there?'

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Caller: 'I deleted a file from my PC last week and I just realized that I need it.
So, if I turn my system clock back two weeks will I get my file back again?'


----------------------------------------------------------------------

This has to be one of the funniest things in a long time. I think this guy should have been promoted, not fired. This is a true story from the WordPerfect Helpline, which was transcribed from a recording monitoring the customer care department..............
Needless to say the Help Desk employee was fired; however, he/she is currently suing the WordPerfect organization for 'Termination without Cause.'

Actual dialogue of a former WordPerfect Customer Support employee.
(Now I know why they record these conversations!):

Operator: 'Ridge Hall, computer assistance; may I help you?'
Caller: 'Yes, well, I'm having trouble with WordPerfect .'
Operator: 'What sort of trouble?'
Caller: 'Well, I was just typing along, and all of a sudden the words went away.'
Operator: 'Went away?'
Caller: 'They disappeared'
Operator: 'Hmm. So what does your screen look like now?'
Caller: 'Nothing.'
Operator: 'Nothing??'
Caller: 'It's blank; it won't accept anything when I type.'
Operator: 'Are you still in WordPerfect, or did you get out?'
Caller: 'How do I tell?'
Operator: 'Can you see the 'C: prompt' on the screen?'
Caller: 'What's a sea-prompt?'
Operator: 'Never mind, can you move your cursor around the screen?'
Caller: 'There isn't any cursor; I told you, it won't accept anything I type..'
Operator: 'Does your monitor have a power indicator?'
Caller: 'What's a monitor?'
Operator: 'It's the thing with the screen on it that looks like a TV.
Does it have a little light that tells you when it's on?'
Caller: 'I don't know.'
Operator: 'Well, then look on the back of the monitor and find where
the power cord goes into it. Can you see that??'
Caller: 'Yes, I think so.'
Opera tor: 'Great. Follow the cord to the plug, and tell me if it's
plugged into the wall..
Caller: 'Yes, it is.'
Operator: 'When you were behind the monitor, did you notice that
there were two cables plugged into the back of it, not just one? '
Caller: 'No.'
Operator: 'Well, there are. I need you to look back there again and
find the other cable.'
Caller: 'Okay, here it is.'
Operator: 'Follow it for me, and tell me if it's plugged securely into
the back of your computer..'
Caller: 'I can't reach.'
Operator: 'OK. Well, can you see if it is?'
Caller: 'No...'
Operator: 'Even if you maybe put your knee on something and lean way over?'
Caller: 'Well, it's not because I don't have the right angle -- it's because it's dark.'
Operator: 'Dark?'
Caller: 'Yes - the office light is off, and the only light I have is
coming in from the window.'
Operator: 'Well, turn on the office light then.'
Caller: 'I can't..'
Operator: 'No? Why not?'
Caller: 'Because there's a power failure.'
Operator: 'A power .... A power failure? Aha. Okay, we've got it
licked now. Do you still have the boxes and manuals and
packing stuff that your computer came in?'
Caller: 'Well, yes, I keep them in the closet..'
Operator: 'Good. Go get them, and unplug your system and pack it
up just like it was when you got it. Then take it back to
the store you bought it from.'
Caller: 'Really? Is it that bad?'
Operator: 'Yes, I'm afraid it is.'
Caller: 'Well, all right then, I suppose. What do I tell them?'
Operator: 'Tell them you're too damned stupid to own a computer!'