WIXY's Gone Bananas

This is my first attempt to upload a video. I went to today's Memorial Day parade in Rittman. Unfortunately, I was at the end of the parade route. And I was holding the camcorder instead of using my tripod. Hopefully I can get better with some practice.

Cliff Note: Two years ago, the traveling Vietnam Wall was in Wadsworth, Ohio. We went there, along with the WIXYcam. I looked around, took photos, and was in awe of the general tone of respect. I wrote a whole week's worth of posts about the wall and the traveling museum. For this Memorial Day, I wish to repost one that I did about a friend of my cousin. This originally was written on May 31, 2008. There is one edit to make the post current. I was 13 years old at the time. I remember my sister showing my mom the Medina County Gazette this particular day exclaiming that Pat Duffy had died. During the Vietnam War, whenever someone from Medina County had died in combat, that would be the main headline of the day, complete with a large photo of this now deceased hero. I recall that one family in my town had been notified that their son had died in Vietnam, the story and photo had been run in the Gazette, only to have the story retraced the next day. It was, thankfully, a case of mistak...

As we get closer the official beginning of summer, we have been getting a preview. And the past couple of days, I have been babysitting my 3 year old grandson. My grandkids like going to the park and playing on the equipment. I found this park close to his brother's school which had quite a bit of stuff and restroom facilities. We had intended to go yesterday, but he fell asleep and by the time he woke up, it was time to get his brother from school. Needless to say, he was not a happy camper. Today was not a nap day. Silas had seen to it that he would be awake and alert. We then went to the convenience store that has a name similar to a ranch, got fountain drinks and hot dogs, then went to the park to eat them. After he took a few bites, it was time to explore all the equipment. The reaction wasn't the same as last week when I took him to Christmas Run park in Wooster, but it was a good one nonetheless. Usually I get more a workout than him, and today wasn't a day where I w...

For a couple of years when I was growing up, my dad had a gas station. Now let me digress a little. The gas station was leased from Gulf Oil. This company was bought out by BP. Now BP's biggest worry is gulf oil. Cliff Note: Though I appear to joke, I know the situation in the Gulf of Mexico is no laughing matter . Anyway back to the gas station. This was back in the days that you could get maps and air for free. Well maps at gas stations haven't been free for a very long time, and you have to pay for air at most places today too though some establishments are proclaiming free air as if it's the best thing since sliced bread. Today I gassed up at a convenience store whose name sounds like a ranch. After I fueled up, I went inside and bought a fountain drink. I got into my car and drove around the lot and was reminded when I passed the air machine that it accepted plastic. Funny that if you don't pay your credit card bill, you are being charged a high percentage of inte...

Those who follow me on Facebook are now familiar with Cliff's Facebook Morning Show . I originally used this as a tool to connect with those I went to school with. Neat thing about it is that I have others following it also. I also have a classmate following it with Larry's Second Edition , and my grandson has his own Morning Show. This is our chance to play VJ and give a little of our own background of why we chose the particular song. All of mine and Larry's songs are from the 70's. My grandson, being all of 7 years old, chooses mostly Miley Cyrus. No special reason to play this song except for the fact I liked the tune and it was easy to dance to. So now here's Paul McCartney and Wings with "Silly Love Songs" . Enjoy this and have a great evening.

For the past few days, the buzz in this area has been "Where will Lebron end up?" I say I really could care less at this point. As I get older, I become less of a professional sports fan. Matter of fact, I am getting very offended at these over sized crybabies getting the world handed to them on a silver platter because people bow to them. Part of the problem is the area in which I live. The sports teams promise the sun, the moon, and stars. They fall far short in what they deliver but ask the fan base to support them in years and years of nothing. But buy the t-shirts and show your support. They ask the fans to come to see them perform. But have they seen the unemployment rate lately? At my house it's at 100%. Back in the day, athletes knew what the general public had to go through as they worked real jobs in the off season. I think when the salary went up, they forgot what it was to be regular people. Today's athlete will sign a contract for 120 million over another...

When I blog, I am the voice of Cliff and no one else. I have no intentions of leading a mass boycott of Walmart stores. I go there for basically the same reason as everybody else, to save money. Dollar General and the IGA in Rittman are fine, but don't have the volume the stores in Wadsworth have. If I would shop at Target more often, I would probably have given them a nickname and wrote horror stories about them too. K-Mart? Don't kick someone when they're down for the count. Sears? I don't shop there. Haven't for many years because of their credit racket. I also have friends who work at Walmart. They worked there when I was there part time a dozen years ago. They tell me that it's nowhere near the same company I worked for. I have also applied for a job there, but I figure every time my fingers touch my keyboard, I reduce my chances even more of getting hired. But it's their loss. The Evil big Box Store(tm) stories are meant for me to blow off steam and t...