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Life and Death on the Ranch

The Departure of Miss Beauty

beauty

My birthday was Sunday, January 24th and I was looking forward to a quiet and relaxing weekend. The only item on our “to do list” was a dinner invitation with some close friends. Friday afternoon I finish up at the fire department and head to the ranch, arriving home about 5:30 p.m. One of our horses, Mr. Ace, is running back and forth between the front pasture and the orange groves. This is not unusual behavior for him. Every now and then he will be grazing and will look up and not see the two other horses. This will cause him to panic and he will run around until he finds them. I think nothing of his antics and go inside to change clothes before calling them all up for feeding. I had no idea that a few minutes later my entire weekend would be redefined - as is often the case here. Continue Reading »

Posted 07 February 2010 † Cowboy Luke § Animals § Ranch Life ‡ Comments Off ° Tagged: , , , ,

2009 Christmas Card Awards

Dateline: December 30, 2009, Lake Douglas Ranch, Christmas, Florida:

Today, the Lake Douglas Ranch announced the winners in this year’s Christmas Card competition.  There are four categories of award:
Christmas Scene,  Family Photo Card, Funny Christmas Card, and Animal Christmas Card.

Christmas Scene
First Place Award
From Tom and Jim in Denver, Colorado

christmasscene1

Christmas Scene
First Place Runner Up
From Sarge and Spike in Orlando
christmasscene_runnerup

Family Photo Christmas Card
First Place
From Eddie in Altamonte Springs

familyphoto1

Funny Christmas Card
First Place
From Anonymous Sender

“Next Year, Ask For A Puppy”

funnycard

Funny Christmas Card
1st Place Runner Up
Bruce from San Francisco

funny_runnerup

 

Animal Christmas Card
1st Place
Daniel & Joseph in Lady Lake, Florida

animalcard

 

Animal Christmas Card
1st Place Runner Up
Jenny & Tom in Aurora, Colorado

animal_runnerup

Posted 30 December 2009 † Cowboy Luke § Animals § Family § Friends § News ‡ Comments Off ° Tagged: , , ,

Terror School Rejects Applicants?

Please Tell Us More….

Last week, we all saw stories where a man was arrested for planning terrorist activities in the Boston area.   The Boston Globe reported that suspect Tarek Mehanna was arrested on charges of planning attacks both inside and outside of the United States. The media reported that the man had tried unsuccessfuly to get into a terrorism school:

“Mehanna, Abousamra and a cooperating witness set out for Yemen in 2004 to find a terror training camp but were unsuccessful. The cooperating witness backed out and saw Mehanna at a party a few weeks later. Mehanna told him “nothing happened in Yemen.” Abousamra was also unsuccessful in signing up with a terror training camp in two trips to Pakistan in 2002″

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Posted 29 October 2009 † Cowboy Luke § My Opinion ‡ Comments Off ° Tagged:

What is a Code Share anyway?

Dateline:  Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, June 2009.

I have just wrapped up a long weekend visit with a great friend in Seattle who has just dropped me infront of Terminal 6 (Delta) for a flight down to LAX.  I am about to get a crash course in Code Sharing between the airlines.

deltakiosk

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Posted 29 October 2009 † Cowboy Luke § Travel ‡ Comments Off ° Tagged: , , , ,

Tragica, Greek Godess of Travel Tragedy

Dateline:  LAX Airport for Continental Flight 1594 to Orlando

It is 7:00 a.m. and I have just arrived at the LAX Continental Terminal to start my trip back to Orlando following a four day business trip to the lovely beach side city of Santa Monica.  As I enter the Check In line I am thankful that there were no earthquakes on this trip.  It is quite uncomfortable to be on the 15th floor of your hotel when the room starts shaking.

continental_airlines_logo

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Posted 29 October 2009 † Cowboy Luke § Travel ‡ Comments Off ° Tagged: , , ,

What’s Wrong With The News?

The passing of great newscaster brings back memories.

Last month we were told of the passing of CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite, who is perhaps one of the greatest media reporters ever. While watching the funeral I reflected on what the news was like in his era.

walter_cronkite

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Posted 16 October 2009 † Cowboy Luke § My Opinion § News ‡ Comments Off ° Tagged: , , , , ,

And You Thought You Were Hot

Try wearing a solid black leather coat all day outside

Dateline:  July 19, 2009 at the Ranch in Fort Christmas, Florida.

Without wanting to debate the entire issue of global warming, holes in the ozone, or the true effect that cow methane has on our atmosphere - I must say that last Winter was much colder than normal and this summer is shaping up to be much hotter than last year. Continue Reading »

Posted 22 September 2009 † Cowboy Luke § Animals ‡ Comments Off °

Random Funny Things

Cowboy Luke texted himself with these

While visiting in St. Augustine, we passed a bill board:
The Light House Center, help for the vision impaired and the blind.  Log onto our web site at …….

At the Dunken Donuts on the Florida Turnpike, a sign says:
“Try one of our tasty flavored cream cheeses” and the list below displays “Regular” or “Low Fat Regular”.  Surely, there was more?

At the Orlando Airport last week, an announcement:
“If you have lost your child, please report to Gate 21″.  What if you just don’t want to?

While in Seattle boarding a ferry to the island…
We saw a very, very large man, at least 450 pounds walking to his truck carrying an ice cream cone, a large pop corn and a jumbo soda.  As he walked by, I saw the back of his shirt, which read, “This whole working out thing, isn’t working out”.

Posted 21 September 2009 † Cowboy Luke § My Opinion ‡ Comments Off °

New TSA Body Scanner Works!

Baltimore Scanner Stops Cowboy Luke

xray

I am in line at BWI snaking my way up to the podium to have my ID and Ticket checked. The line is long - as it is everywhere these days - and there are two TSA agents who are doing a good job of keeping it moving. A third agent comes over and stands off to the side and starts also clearing passengers. I always appreciate when someone will just jump in and do whatever makes sense to get the job done. The third agent didnt have the little opera glass lense to check licenses or whatever other equipment might be standard,but he was doing his part to keep the line moving. I am guessing a part of this job was to be the expeditor - he was repeatedly announcing for passengers to have their ID’s ready,their tickets out,and for each passenger to be holding their own tickets. If a passenger would hesitate about which podium to approach, he would remind them loudly to “step up,step up, I’m open, step up..”

I made it through the line quickly, because of the help of the third agent, who offered to buy my cowboy hat by the way.

I then randomly selected one of the six security screening lines to enter. Security screening lines are just like a grocery store line selection. It does not matter which line you chose, no matter how carefully, or based on any number of factors, it will consistently and always be the wrong line.

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Posted 27 June 2009 † Cowboy Luke § Travel ‡ Comments Off °

Air Tran Wins Customer Service Award?

Cowboy Luke Tests System at BWI

DATELINE: BWI Airport, Wednesday, June 17th

The Super Shuttle has just dropped me at the BWI Airport and I am ready to fly to Orlando after attending a Department of Homeland Security public safety communications meeting, called SAFECOM.

Since the federal government pays for the travel they require that you use their travel agency, which is likely the result of a long and protracted process which is obligated to select the “lowest responsive bidder”. The travel service handled my arrangements via email from India - which must fly in the face of President Obama’s “Buy American” policy.
In any event, in a continuing effort to save money, the travel agency will always book you on the most economical flight possible. And so begins the story of Air Tran.

airtran

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Posted 27 June 2009 † Cowboy Luke § Travel ‡ Comments Off °