Closing on the new house at 11 a.m. tomorrow! VERY happy. His Majesty is preparing final addresses for the Cats of Saddlebrooke/Hermitage, then he and the Royal Court will be off at the end of the week to invade and conquer the new land of Jonesboro/Nashville. Wish him luck; there is a very giant, very loud coonhound living behind our new house and this is gonna get very interesting. We’re buying earplugs.
Entitle This
Rep. Larson Slams GOP for Labeling Medicare and Social Security 'Entitlements'
Congressman John Larson (D-Conn.) scolded Republicans in a fiery speech on Thursday, criticizing their use of the word "entitlements."
"Newsflash! It's the insurance that the American people have paid for."Posted by IJR Blue on Friday, April 13, 2018
Moving to Donelson
On the road again …
Moving packing has begun! Heading back to Donelson (yay!) to a smaller house (yay!) with no…Posted by Steve Pollock on Thursday, April 12, 2018
Deer Tracks
With the recent freeze/heat weather cycle, the Saddlebrooke Deer Herd are a little pressed for food, it appears. The…
Posted by Steve Pollock on Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Goose's Most Favoritist Thing in the World
Goose loves when the sun goes down, because it makes great reflections off the phone, which is his MOST. FAVORITIST. Thing. IN. THE. WORLD!!!!! to chase. Tails are for pikers. He gets very excited, which in turn Wholly Displeases His Imperial Majesty The Roux, who is then bothered and obliged to Issue Verbal Correction to the Wayward Prince. They’re both quite mad, really.
Posted by Steve Pollock on Tuesday, April 10, 2018
Bosco Comes Home
Bosco came home today. He now takes his place next to Bayley, Feargal and Fred.
Thanks again to Lap of Love’s Dr. Regan…Posted by Steve Pollock on Wednesday, April 4, 2018
I Could But I Won't.
“You do know I can jump over there and grab that cheddar at any moment, don’t you? But I am a Very Good Boy and I won’t. I could if I wanted to, though. Just sayin’. Jerk.”
Posted by Steve Pollock on Monday, April 2, 2018
Sascha Says Goodbye to Bosco
She was not very willing (a little freaked out, I think—she knew things were not right), but I did get one last photo of…
Posted by Steve Pollock on Thursday, March 22, 2018
Memories of Bosco, Part 2
Here is a series of pics of Bosco (and Sascha) from the moment we first saw them in October 2015 as Belly Rubs…
Posted by Steve Pollock on Thursday, March 22, 2018
Memories of Bosco, Part 2
Here is a series of pics of Bosco (and Sascha) from the moment we first saw them in October 2015 as Belly Rubs…
Posted by Steve Pollock on Thursday, March 22, 2018
Memories of Bosco, Part 1
Some pics of a happy/sleepy Bosco. Always such a happy boy, until that last night. Farewell, Boscketty. Lordy do we miss ya.
Posted by Steve Pollock on Thursday, March 22, 2018
Farewell, Boscketty Bagel.
Our beloved Bosco is calling time and can now see the Rainbow Bridge and the finish line of a life well lived and well…
Posted by Steve Pollock on Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Dictionarialy Speaking
Want to know what words were recorded in dictionaries for the first time ever in the year you were born? Kinda…
Posted by Steve Pollock on Monday, March 19, 2018
S.T.E.V.E.
Finally, I have an identity. I am a "Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement." Strong. Thermal Emission. Velocity…
Posted by Steve Pollock on Monday, March 19, 2018
Hello Jeepy #8
Say hello to Jeepy #8, the newest Hound Mobile, Beagle/Basset Transport Device, Royal Carriage for Carriage of the Tranquilized His Imperial Majesty The Roux to the Veterinarian Facility, etc., etc., etc.
This one is the newly redesigned 2018 Compass. It’s like driving a sports car-lotsa fun. It follows our 92 Cherokee, 98 Cherokee, 01 Wrangler, 05 Grand Cherokee, 08 Liberty, 12 Grand Cherokee, and 17 Grand Cherokee. Remembering all that makes my brain hurty.
The hounds have not had a ride yet. They see it as a necessary evil; it brings food and Unca Frankie home, but transports them to the vet. A rather mixed bag.
Next up: new phones, and His Majesty, His Court and His churls will be moving to a new palace, from which He may conquer new territories and be outraged by the existence of new things. Stay tuned!Posted by Steve Pollock on Monday, March 19, 2018
We Want Dinner!
What happens when Unca Frankie goes to the store without first serving dinner to the Royal Family.
(Kinda funny/sad at the end is Bosco, who is now pretty much just lying around, but who still feels well enough to join in the howling. I think he’s turned another corner and we don’t have long. Lotsa pain pills, lotsa love. As Dolly Parton says in “Steel Magnolias,” “Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion!” Lotsa that around here lately.)Posted by Steve Pollock on Thursday, March 15, 2018
Scenes from Old Age …
From “Mail Call Three” episode of M*A*S*H (S6,E20; 1978, when I was 15), Radar complaining about his widowed mother having a boyfriend and maybe getting married:
“Old people shouldn’t get married. SHE’S ALMOST 50!!”
Get off my lawn, O’Reilly!
The Speed of Events Overtakes Me
“BREAKING: An armed teacher reportedly fired a gun in a school in Dalton, Georgia, police say. No students have been hurt. Police have the teacher in custody, who was barricaded inside a classroom.”
A. “Arm all the teachers!”
B. Welp, that didn’t take long. Oops.
C. “Well then arm all the janitors!”
D. Prez says “Confiscate all the guns!”
E. Crazy how many things can happen while you’re in the doctor’s office.
Sascha and Bosco Asleep
Bosco snoozing up next to his sister before his nail trim. Things have taken a turn and not towards the good. More pain pills on way. We’re waiting for his decision and being strong for him.
Posted by Steve Pollock on Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Happy 52nd!
“It burns! It burns!” Happy birthday to the better half! (Those candles were throwing off sparks which you can barely…
Posted by Steve Pollock on Tuesday, February 27, 2018
A Dressing Down
The Royal Photographer churl just got told off (and HOW!!) big time, so I snapped a quick one and ran. His Majesty likes…
Posted by Steve Pollock on Monday, February 26, 2018
Sprung
It’s in the 60s, the tree is blooming big time, and the crew down the street is mowing a yard. And sadly, two are dead…
Posted by Steve Pollock on Monday, February 26, 2018
Yawny Fergus
Fergus Beagle avoids the camera studiously, so I snuck up on him and caught him mid-yawn. Incredibly, he turns 11 next…
Posted by Steve Pollock on Monday, February 26, 2018
Sleepy Bosco
Bosco likes to sleep facing the wall, sun not required. (He’s hanging tough; while the osteosarcoma has spread from…
Posted by Steve Pollock on Monday, February 26, 2018
Elegant Queen Sascha
The ever-elegant Queen Sascha likes the sun as well.
Posted by Steve Pollock on Monday, February 26, 2018
Goose and His Elefunk
Some sun!!!! Goose and his Elefunk take advantage of rare sight in Music City: Light. He’s forgotten what it is, but he likes it! (Yes, I’m projecting.)
Posted by Steve Pollock on Monday, February 26, 2018
Simon Invades
His Imperial Majesty registers Royal Displeasure over an infiltration into the Kingdom by an insolent guerilla fighter from the K.A.T. organization, which only His Majesty’s keen eyesight can detect. (It’s white with some brown and three houses away and goes by the moniker “Simon.”)
Simon conducts hit-and-run raids at least twice daily, and His Royal Roux-ness, like LBJ with Vietnam, can’t figure out why His troops aren’t meeting with success in curtailing the insurgency. (Simon even has his own Ho Chi Minh Cat trail and has recruited four (!) additional K.A.T. guerillas to infiltrate the Demesne and Drive. The. Roux. Nuts.)
His Majesty is NOT amused!Posted by Steve Pollock on Monday, February 26, 2018
Arm Me With …
#ArmMeWith … so many other things than a Glock.
Posted by Steve Pollock on Saturday, February 24, 2018
Arm Us With …
#ArmMeWith …
Posted by Steve Pollock on Saturday, February 24, 2018
I've Got This, Thanks.
"I'll take care of this, thank you very much!"
Posted by Steve Pollock on Friday, February 23, 2018
Die weiße Rose
"Seventy-five years ago today, a group of young German idealists, students who had dared to speak out against the Nazis,…
Posted by Steve Pollock on Thursday, February 22, 2018
An Army of Teachers
Fact/gut check: Arming 20% of the nation's teachers would result in an army of over 640,000 men and women, as many as…
Posted by Steve Pollock on Thursday, February 22, 2018
Off for a Checkup
Bosco, on the way for a consult and nail trim. Blue Oasis of Mt. Juliet is a wonderful place. (Sorry for two previous…
Posted by Steve Pollock on Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Cuddled Up
Bosco is cuddled up against his sister. He’s breakkn’ our hearts. He’s hanging in there tough, but is now having a hard…
Posted by Steve Pollock on Tuesday, February 20, 2018
We Are … Human Shields
This is our reality … (another in a series): We are human shields.
Posted by Steve Pollock on Tuesday, February 20, 2018
This is Our Reality Now
This is our reality … (another in a series):
Posted by Steve Pollock on Tuesday, February 20, 2018
This is Our Reality, Teachers
[Yeah, it's long and snarky. Yes, again. Read and think or move along.] A teacher's perspective:
This is our reality,…Posted by Steve Pollock on Friday, February 16, 2018
January is a Killer Month
It's the Mirror, so not exactly the greatest source, but the stats they cite are valid. We have now lost four men who…
Posted by Steve Pollock on Tuesday, February 6, 2018
Pics of David
Just some pics of David Garms I happened to find easily while waiting for sleep to arrive after this truly horrible…
Posted by Steve Pollock on Thursday, February 1, 2018
David's Obit
David Andrew Garms, 50, died the morning of Wednesday, January 31, 2018, in his home in Hermitage, TN, from a sudden illness.
Arrangements are pending with the Hermitage Funeral Home. There will be no interment.
David was born March 31, 1967, in Chicago, IL, to Rosemary and Carl Garms. He spent his childhood in Eugene, OR, and his teen years in Melbourne, FL, where he graduated in 1984. He graduated with a perfect grade point average from the DeVry institute in Irving, TX, and received a B.S. in computer science. Besides those cities, he also lived in Pleasant Hill, San Francisco and Brentwood, CA; Denver, CO; Ann Arbor, MI; and Nashville and Hermitage, TN. He was a computer analyst in account security/fraud prevention for Wells Fargo Bank, working with teams in Charlotte, NC, and San Francisco.
Survivors include his mother, Rosemary Garms, of Hood River, OR; two brothers and sisters-in-law, M/M Allan Garms of Dallas, TX, and M/M Steve Garms of Hood River; his two housemates Frank Lester and Steve Pollock of Hermitage; and the five hounds of the house, Fergus, Bosco, Sascha, Roux and Goose. His father preceded him in death.
______________
“When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
“When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.”
-Khalil Gibran
Farewell David
Frank and I are beyond sad and shocked to have to announce the death this morning of our longtime housemate David Garms. (This is not about me, and apologies there are so many “I”‘s in here, but I canNOT believe I’m writing this.) David was 50. This was an unexpected sucker punch. And so I’m writing at length from a broken heart about him and his role in our lives.
David and I (and Frank from 2000) had been apartment/housemates for 24 years, since we met in 1994 in Dallas, when he was tired of homeownership in Carrollton and I needed to leave Oklahoma but wasn’t really in a position to pay big city rent on my own. We had shared apartments in Plano and San Francisco and the townhouse in Ann Arbor and the houses in Brentwood and Nashville. He had been here with us since 2009.
Most importantly, he was one of our best friends. We sometimes got on like a house afire. The two of us and then the three of us occasionally drove each other crazy. But somehow it seemed to just work out. He supported us, we supported him. I couldn’t balance a checkbook, he couldn’t mow a lawn. It worked.
In October 1994, I talked him into driving down to Kemp, Texas, out in the country, and picking out a seven-week-old beagle puppy. David is the one who picked his name, Bayley Murphey Beagle. Our history with hounds began with David and Bayley.
The hounds, including those we’ve lost, Bayley, Feargal and Fred, loved their Unca David. Fergus has been his shadow. Like us, they drove him nuts sometimes, but he adored and loved and spoiled them as much as we do. One of the last things he ever did was to order them a big ol’ box full of bags of Blue Dog Bakery biscuits, along with a bunch of Pill Pouches so Bosco would take his pain meds. It’s gonna hurt to get that delivery.
He was very private and kept things “very close to his vest.” I’m pretty sure he would not want me to write what I’ve just put down. Don’t care; needs to be done.
He worked from home for Wells Fargo account security/fraud protection. I usually do my sleeping between 7ish and noonish to 2ish. Ish. It kept me from bothering him while he conferenced and kept the dogs up there so their barking at squirrels wouldn’t be heard from Charlotte to San Francisco.
Today I came downstairs and helped Sascha outside, then brought some stuff down to the laundry room next to David’s room. I rounded the corner and saw his feet in his doorway. Piecing loose ends together and from what his coworker told me, we think he got up at 6 a.m., sent a work e-mail at 7:01, then was online with work until 8. He then appears to have gone to shower and dress for a conference call at 9, but never called in. I found him lying on his bedroom floor at 12:20. It does not appear he fell. He looked asleep at first. While I was CPR-trained for teaching, I had no idea he was in trouble. I yelled his name and felt for a pulse but nothing. While 911 was ready to help and first response was enroute, I pretty much knew I was too late. That will haunt the rest of my life.
I tell this long story for this purpose: Not the usual tell your loved ones you love them thing, he knew all that. No, I share it because we’ve begged him to go to a doctor for a checkup for at least the last three years. The last time he had seen a doctor? May 1997. Almost 21 years. I now wish I had handcuffed him to the Jeep and driven him to our primary care. I usually nagged him to do things that he needed to get done. I wasn’t successful on this one and it’s too late.
Yes, tell your loved ones you love them, hug ‘em hard, etc., etc. But sometimes … you need to be a bully and aggressively advocate for their needs … to them OR for them. There were issues and warning signs, but for reasons of his own I’ll keep to myself, he refused.
Frank got here within 30 minutes, but the dogs were barricaded outside for three hours while the police/detectives/medical examiner processed the scene. They are stressed and feeling it. We’re pretty sure Fergus beagle was in there on David’s bed when it happened, that was his usual thing, to spend hours sleeping while Unca David worked. Fergus seemed stressed and was shaking this evening. He seems fine now. We’re going to miss David terribly and this upends our lives beyond what we can even process. We were getting prepared for losing Bosco (who is still hanging in there as tough as can be), but we were not prepared for something of this magnitude. Not even close.
All of our friends have been beyond supportive of us and we appreciate that so much. Our neighbors were here hugging me within minutes and they’re planning food deliveries already. Carol Miller Stewart … superwoman. Also here within a half hour and held my hand with all the details and funeral home stuff. Beyond grateful.
But please also extend thoughts and prayers to David’s mother, Rosemary Garms, who last week, while on the phone with David, fell and broke her hip and is hospitalized in Hood River, Oregon. David was her baby, the youngest of her three sons. His father Carl died a few years ago of cancer. She and David talked pretty much every day for hours. His middle brother Steve will be here from Oregon in the next day or so. He too is devastated and has his hands really full. And David’s oldest brother Allan, in Dallas, had a similar heart attack six years ago, also at age 50; his wife happened to be in bed with him when he began having issues and she got the chance to keep Allan alive with CPR until help arrived. So your support for us is wonderful, but please add all of David’s family … they are very close and really hit every bit as hard as us.
I’m numb and scatterbrained. I’m also never at a loss for words and that’s why I’m rambling on. The writer in me just goes on autopilot. So apologies for the length if you’re still reading. And thank you.
My god, David … one of my four “brothers from other mothers” along with Stan Bedford and Jay McGinnis and Tim Cronian! We’re gutted. We love you so much and are very grateful for all you did for us. Rest easy and hug Bayley and Feargal and Fred for us!
[And thank you each and every one of you. Your love and support comes through and helps us all. It is greatly appreciated. I wish I could hug all of you.]Snow at Hermitage Station
Hard to tell in this pic, but it’s snowing to beat the band in Music City. Thoughts and prayers to grocery store workers…
Posted by Steve Pollock on Monday, January 29, 2018
Shanghai'ed Yet Again
His Majesty has been, yet again, drugged and shanghai’ed off to that den of iniquity, the vet’s office, for an ear…
Posted by Steve Pollock on Friday, January 26, 2018
Face Mapped
In need of some … lighter moments around here, we checked out the new Google Arts and Culture Face Map app to see what…
Posted by Steve Pollock on Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Bosco is Limping
Bosco started to limp today, indicating a spread of the osteosarcoma to his joint. He also just had a long episode of tremors, so now we’re on our way to NVS to try to get help to get him through the night. And snow is beginning in Nashville. So. You know. Yeah.
[And thanks everyone for all the support! It is much appreciated! He’s holding his own and the pain pills have him sorta drugged but there’s no pain. We’ll keep him in comfort until he decides to let us know what he needs. Hugs back from Hound House!]Ice Lights
We got snow over ice … at least on our patio lights. Don’t want to know about the streets.
Posted by Steve Pollock on Friday, January 12, 2018
On Shitholes
Every single day is a new low. How low can we go? There is no bottom. So pretty goddamned low. Shithole low.
God’s Destiny for America has a Pottymouth
[Once again, my conscience overflows and will not give me rest without giving vent to something political/religious. So skip/block/defriend to your heart’s desire; just don’t say you didn’t get a trigger warning.]During a lengthy sleepless (yet again) night, the above pictured “breaking news” started popping up on websites whereever you happened to be looking. The Presidential utterance was met by the usual silence from Graham, Dobson, Falwell, Jackson, Metaxas and Trump’s personal spiritual advisor Paula White (who wants your January paycheck or else God’s consequences will be visited on your head. Give her your 8% and you … get a Mercedes or something. Funny, but I thougth tithing was supposed to be 10%? Mercedes from God at a discount, I guess.). Meanwhile, Dallas First Baptist’s Jeffress doubled down; his only regret? Being a pastor doesn’t allow him to use the same phrase. We should refuse “shitholers” and bring more Norwegians into the country! Amen! Preach!
Then this afternoon came the Post’s «interesting analysis of what, to borrow the Presidential phrase, a “shithole” Norway used to be», and why it’s now THE place from whence our immigrants should come. This graphic is key to the article:

So I earned something today: We should move to Norway if we want a higher quality of life away from pottymouths. The problem with that plan? They don’t take people from morally and economically vacuous “shithole” countries like ours.
Duly noted.
This country has not only slid downwards in domestic product, it’s been sucked into a vacuum of moral leadership. What are Franklin Graham, James Dobson, Jerry Falwell Jr., Bishop Harry Jackson, Eric Metaxas saying today? Dead air. They got tax cuts, the IRS was called off their backs and Bibi is happy. Was it just over 20 years ago that the same suspects were gnashing their teeth over merely how to explain the term “blowjob” to their children? We used to call this current kind of thinking “the ends (tax cuts, IRS exemptions and proclaiming that Jerusalem is the capital and therefore the Rapture is nigh) justifies the means.” And I don’t remember ever being told that was a good thing. I was told it was secular humanist “situational ethics” and it was evil. (An aside: If Jesus wants to come back, I seriously doubt a presidential proclamation moving, eventually, the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem is going to be what actually moves Him.)
And thus we have Dallas First Baptist Church’s Robert Jeffress doubling down and saying he supports the “shithole” comments 100 percent. Not only that, but “America is not a church where everyone should be welcomed regardless of race and background.” He added some regret that as a pastor he’s not supposed to use naughty words.
(!)
Urm. Yes. America has always been portrayed (the reality notwithstanding) as the greatest and most welcoming secular church in human history. A shining city on a hill, said Reagan. “Give me … The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” said Emma Lazarus in The New Colossus, a poem we liked and believed in so much we had it engraved on a massive public monument.
Specifically saying she will have no comment is Paula White, who is often portrayed as Trump’s “spiritual advisor,” and who is currently demanding that “faithful” people give her church all of their January paychecks (which amounts to just 8%, not the Biblically commanded 10%—mustard seed faith on the cheap!). If they do, Jesus will bless you with riches! You get a Mercedes! And you get a Mercedes! And you get a Mercedes! And you get ’em at a 2% discount from God’s list price! And if you don’t pony up? God will visit consequences on your head. You get the plague! And you get a divorce! And you get a gay child!
There are some vestiges of sanity, so props where they are due: A.R. Bernard resigned from the White House “evangelical council” months ago and stated, “His own comments expose him. They were elitist and blatantly racist.” And former Southern Baptist head Ronnie Floyd stated the obvious, “I would not agree with those comments at all. We need to see that every person is made in the image of God. … Anytime we devalue a person it’s not good … Regardless of their skin or ethnicity, we need to honor one another.”
As I am sometimes reminded, I was dedicated “to the Lord” when I was a month or so old in the Roswell First Church of the Nazarene, a denomination where I learned things that were the 180-degree opposite of what Trump and White and Jeffress and Falwell and Graham and Dobson are doing. I learned that good old verse “by their fruits ye shall know them.” I was taught that quaint old Golden Rule, something about do unto others. I was also taught following Christ didn’t mean Mercedes. God knows, for all of Mom’s hard-earned 10% back to the church money, a Mercedes was never outside our door, unless it had broken down and Zsa Zsa needed a telephone to call AAA. No, in my childhood, following Christ meant a life of hardship and service and respect and sacrifice and a life lived in common and shared in common with other people, including lepers, tax collectors, felons, you name ’em. And rendering unto Caesar.
I was also taught the following pertinent scripture. Please note the absence of “except for those from shitholes” in these quotes:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28
New Testament
“For I satisfy the weary ones and refresh everyone who languishes.” Jeremiah 31:25
“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.” John 7:37
“In everything, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus Himself: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'” Acts 20:35
Every single day is a new low. How low can we go? There is no bottom. So pretty goddamned low. Shithole low.
Farewell Jerry Yellin! CAVU!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/jerry-yellin-fighter-pilot-in-last-combat-mission-of-world-war-ii-dies-a…
Posted by Steve Pollock on Friday, January 12, 2018
Shithole Mouth
[Once again, my conscience overflows and will not give me rest without giving vent to something political/religious. So…
Posted by Steve Pollock on Friday, January 12, 2018
Snow in Dixie
Snowing to beat the band in Music City and they’re as panicked as if General George Thomas and his Yankees was a-comin’ agin. Winter is always amusing in Dixie. Snow is purty though!
Posted by Steve Pollock on Friday, January 12, 2018