What do you think is the meaning of life?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meaning_of_life 

I'm a Capitalist, Believer, Conservative, Constitutionalist

I'm a former owner-operator. I owned my own trucks. I leased the trucks to freight companies. I was happy to see the ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission) removed from US regulations. Freight rates went up after they were removed. Airline ticket prices went down.

I think health insurance should be sold by capitalist companies, not by the government. Government should be limited. It is bad enough as it is. Making government bigger is expanding a bad thing. Ronald Reagan would agree.

I think the constitution should be interpreted as it was intended at the time it was written; originalism.

Don Wolfrum, August 18, 2022

What were your favorite toys as a child?

My favorite toy was my bicycle. I liked to ride it, and I liked it’s paint job.

It was durable. You didn’t have to work on it to keep it running. It performed well on roads. I didn’t climb mountains with it

I had a pair of clamp on roller skates, but I didn’t have any concrete to skate on. I had a BB gun, but didn’t have money to spend on BB’s.

I did like to play checkers, and Chinese checkers. But they are games; not toys.

Don Wolfrum, August 10, 2022

Which people were the kindest to you in life?

 Which people have been the kindest to you in life?

My wife, grandparents, and two others.
Joseph D. Gezienski, who lives in Curtisville, Pennsylvania is one. My truck broke down near the Route 8 Exit on the Pennsylvania turnpike. I discovered that the truckstop had put gasoline in my diesel truck. My wife was living in Houston, Texas. I put my truck in the repair shop, and that’s where I met Joseph. He owned trucks, and he offered me a job. He was also involved in many other businesses. I started driving, and Joe suggested that I buy a truck from him. I did, and bought another truck from him several years later. My wife moved from Houston, Texas, and we bought a house in Curtisville, Pa. My daughter Vicki was 12 years old at the time.
I quit driving my own truck, and went to work for Angelo Fonzi. He had quite a few trucks of his own, and owned a company, which had hundreds of owner operators. I was top revenue man for about 15 years. My wife, Mary, worked for Fonzi too. We worked in Hammond, In. I drove a 34 wheel rig from Hammond, In to Buffalo, NY. The route was through Canada. The route was from Gary, In to Detroit. The route went from Detroit, through London, Hamilton, and Niagara to Buffalo, NY, There were three 34 wheel rigs running to Buffalo. Myself, James Farler, and Jerrold Luipold.
My wife lived in Curtisville, Pa the first years of driving from Gary, In to Buffalo. I had a 400 mile commute. On Friday night I took a cab to the train station in Gary, In. I would get on the train bound for Pittsburgh, Pa. The train had a delicacy; boiled shrimp sandwiches. I slept in the seats. One of the main stops was Cleveland, Oh. Saturday morning I would arrive in Pittsburgh. We would go home, and I would leave Pittsburgh around noon Sunday. Monday morning I would be back in Gary, In in the truck.

The house pictures are our home in Curtisville, Pa.
We had a hot tub and a pool table.

My wife has been very kind for 69 years.

How did you get your first job?

 A parochial school in Napoleon, Ohio contacted me, and offered me a job teaching school.

They required that I attend River Forest Concordia University for one term, and I would start work after one term.

I completed the one term at River Forest, and taught the second and third grade class at St. Paul Lutheran parochial school.

I lived in the home of one of the church members.
The church paid for my tuition at River Forest.
I had students, who were tested, and they were at 8th grade level
One girl student came to school every day, but never said a word for the whole school year. She didn’t participate in anything.
I was 18 years old when I was contacted to teach school
I taught for one year, and I was hired by GM

Amazing so proud of you!

Nancy Rupp, August 04, 2022

Galveston TX

Galveston TX

We lived in Texas from 1963 to 1973.

We lived in Dallas and Houston. We lived in Houston about five years. Galveston was about one hour drive from Houston, and was directly connected by interstate highway. There are also ferries, which operate between Galveston Island and the mainland.

There are communities on Galveston island. Jamaica Beach is one, and Sea Isle is another.

We bought a lot on Sea Isle, which allowed us to use the swimming pool at Sea Isle. 

There was an island near Sea Isle. My friend Ernie Bramlet had a cabin on the island. He invited me to visit the island numerous times. The surface on the island was covered with sea shells. Birds had nests in the sea shells.

I saw stingrays and dolphins while I was at Sea Isle. The stingrays didn't appear to be dangerous.

I bought a boat motor, while we were on Sea Isle. The motor disconnected and fell into the water, and we couldn't retrieve it. 

One person had a round house, his theory being that the hurricane wind couldn't be effective against a round surface.

There was an old couple, who owned a shrimp boat. They acted like teen agers, and were as happy as could be.

Shrimp boat captains earn between $30,000 and $130,000 a year.

Shrimp boat images:

https://www.google.com/search?q=shrimp+boats&newwindow=1&sxsrf=ALiCzsap90hC1uFsxqpHzgX1Nwb3b26oZg:1667162624896&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjEr6jg6Ij7AhULMEQIHYidAEEQ_AUoAXoECAIQAw&biw=1396&bih=656&dpr=1.38

Google Maps:

www.google.com/maps/place/Sea+Isle,+Galveston,+TX+77554/@29.1415496,-95.0397587,3a,7 

Please explore Sea Isle by clicking on "Layers" (bottom left) and the icons there. Also explore by clicking on the "arrows" (when your cursor is on the road, an "arrow" appears), and to explore futher down the road.

I found a shrimp boat commercial net. I left it; having no idea that is was worth about $2000.

There are fisheries near shrimper's locations, which buy seafood. The shrimp boat pulls in to the fishery dock and unloads.

Enjoy!

How much do shrimp boats cost? | How do they work?

Quick answer: From $40,000 to $600,000
How do they work?

https://pontoonopedia.com/how-do-shrimp-boats-work/

How Do Shrimp Boats Work? The Simple Guide https://t.co/WKo7Ctq6tH

— Wolf Wolfman (@Wolf_Wolfman) October 20, 2022

 What were your grandparents like?

Another version of “what were your grandparents like?”
https://goluckydonald.blogspot.com/2022/07/what-were-your-grandparents-like.html 
or
enter: https://goluckydonald.blogspot.com  in your browser/scroll down to search this blog in the right frame.
Enter Grandpa

My grandparents were very kind to me.

My grandfather was wise, clever, and could see the future. He raised chickens for eggs, he had milk cows for milk, he had all the normal crops, but he raised tomatoes for Campbell’s Soup. He sold fresh produce, such as strawberries and tomatoes, to local grocery stores. He sold eggs and produce to local grocery stores. He had peanuts in his garden, and roasted peanuts.I helped milk the cows. He sold milk to the Defiance milk company. 

Grandpa gave a $10,000 gift to each of his children about 1950.

Grandpa gave beef and pork to my mother and father.

Grandpa liked sardines and herring. He liked smoked herring and pickeled herring. He would buy a large container of herring once a year. The container was a gallon or more of pickeled herring.

Grandpa had a Whippet car, which he didn’t drive, and a Fordson steel wheel farm tractor, which he didn’t use.

He set up the rule that only people with Wolfrum as their name could live in the Wolfrum home. Ralph inherited the farm, and was married to Martha. Ralph died, when he was about 49 years old. Martha lived in the Wolfrum home, and took in a partner,she couldn’t marry the partner, because it would change her Wolfrum name; removing her from the home. Martha lived there for about 40 years after Ralph died. She died when she was 85.

Grandma Wolfrum was a good cook. She would tell me to get her a chicken. I would, and she would cook it. One time I butchered a mud turtle, and gave it to her. She cooked it, and wanted more turtles. She prepared dandelions for greens quite often. She had asparagus plants, also. She had horseradish plants in her garden. Grandma made sugar cookies topped with one hickory nut. They were softer than commercial sugar cookies. She baked cookies about once a week. Her recipes were secret. Grandma Wolfrum fell down steps in the JC Penny store in Defiance, Ohio and died. Andy was waiting in the car outside the store. He commented that any legal actions wouldn’t bring her back.

Ladies were invited to Grandma’s house to make quilts. Several women would be invited to her house, and they would sew on quilts.

Workers would enjoy Grandma’s meals at her house. There were quite a few workers, who ate Grandma’s meals, at wheat harvest time.

I carried water in jugs to the workers in the fields.

Grandma Layne rotated living with her children. Her husband had died before I was born. She spent the majority of her time with her son Ollie, who lived in Defiance, Ohio. She made and sold quilts. She made good biscuits too. If I remember correctly, she received Old Age Pension; $8 a month.

Grandma Layne baked biscuits on our wood burning kitchen stove. 

https://twitter.com/Wolf_Wolfman/status/1597431643861839872 

My mother prepared most of our meals on the wood burning kitchen stove. She made pancakes, buckwheat pancakes, fried potatoes, potatoes with scrambled eggs, crepes, etc.

My mother canned peaches every year. She bought the peaches from an orchard several miles away. She usually bought two bushels of peaches. She would put a half peach with a seed in it in cans of peaches. She only did it in one out of ten cans. The peaches in the can with the seeded peach had a different flavor.

Images of catalpa trees in Andy Wolfrum's yard:
https://youtu.be/d_sh2KyNzQw