Category: Rev. Joe Dirt’s Ramblings

The unsolicited, unreasoned, uninformed, unapologetic opinions of Rev. Joe Dirt

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¡Guau! ¡Honduras!


At the end of this article you can find pictures from our trip to Honduras.

Guau is the Spanish spelling of the English word, wow. Señora and I just spent six incredible days in Honduras and the best word to describe our experiences is guau.  Both of us were saying guau all the time as we were in the mountains most of our trip and the scenery was absolutely stupendous. And the people were generally kind, friendly and very welcoming, perhaps so, as we were, for the most part, away from the more common tourist areas.  My Salvadoran tutor tells me that he likes the Honduran culture more than his own due to the friendliness and openness of the Hondurans, known colloquially as Catracho or Catracha.

The primary purpose of the trip was to visit one of my online Spanish tutors, Saúl Rios and his wife Sarai Paz, this young couple, both just around 30, make their living as Spanish tutors online.  Saúl is on a platform called iTalki and Sarai is on Prepay. It is always hard to judge these things, but they seem to be making a living better than average for their country.  Saúl is Mexican.  As I remember the story he was on vacation in Honduras, met this Catracha young lady, fell in love, married her and has been there ever since. Ironically, as will become clear in a minute, Continue reading “¡Guau! ¡Honduras!”

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Words of Wisdom

These words of wisdom were encountered on the wall of a restaurant situated on a hillside outside of the beautiful city of Santa Rosa de Copán, Honduras.

To save you from having to run to Señor Google’s translation app, it reads: “Success is like a fart, people are mad when it is not their own.”

And so it goes

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #1,833

yeah I know you did not ask!

I was filling out a form online today that required the input of my birthday.  Instead of allowing me to type it in, the site was forcing me through a series of drop down boxes. I scrolled until I found April, actually Apr, and selected it. I then scrolled down a series of numbers until I found the unlucky number that corresponds with the correct day of April.  Finally I needed  to scroll down to find my birth year.  For some reason it started with 2022  – as if they pop out of the womb knowing how to interact with a computers.  Anyway, I scrolled and scrolled and scrolled, and before I came to the correct year I had to jump up and take bathroom break… that is when you KNOW you are old.

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Duck Dynasty Backpacking Trip

I went hiking this past weekend with my brother, Mike, aka Dictionary Dude, a semi-retired CPA.  We hiked the Ozark Highlands Trail, OHT, starting at the trailhead close to Ozone Campground on Arkansas Highway 21, ending up at the Fort Douglas Trailhead, 1.5 miles east of the Haw Creek Falls Recreation Area on Arkansas Highway 123. Total distance covered was 20 miles. We took it easy and did the distance in two and one half days.  Last hike we did was 30 miles in 3 days which does not sound like a lot, but remember we are carrying packs that weigh around 35 pounds loaded.  Plus these hikes are in Arkansas, you are either going uphill or downhill, if you find yourself walking on the flat for any extended period of time, Continue reading “Duck Dynasty Backpacking Trip”

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The Flags Flying in Rural Areas

I just returned from a 3 day backpacking trip in north central Arkansas.  My brother and I were in the Ozark National Forest a little ways south of Jasper which is on the Buffalo National River.  It is a very rural area, a very scenic area, consisting mainly of national forests and cattle operations, sparsely populated would be an accurate description.

I have written before of how I felt my beloved American flag has been hijacked by the conservatives, especially the extreme right.  That has resulted in my having mixed emotions Continue reading “The Flags Flying in Rural Areas”

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Perhaps My Most Sensuous Dream

My due diligence: I don’t believe this post to be x-rated, I would not even call it r-rated. However, it has a vaguely graphic sexual theme. Also I know that listening to someone else’s dream is often a politeness.  So now, dear reader, the choice is yours.

One of the things about backpacking this time of year is the amount of time you spend in your tent in a sleeping bag.  It gets dark early and morning arrives late.  It also tends to be cold, Continue reading “Perhaps My Most Sensuous Dream”

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #2,000

yeah I know you did not ask!

This “random thought” may be somewhat obscure to many readers, but to those of us who know JMR, it will relate immediately.

JMR takes walks regularly and drives quite a bit for various reasons.  All of us in his circle are use to frequently getting calls from him at these times as he has had a thought he needs to share.

Reflecting on this, it is obvious to me that this is his method of sharing in the same vein as Rev. Joe’s Random Thoughts.  The acorns do not fall too far from the oak tree.  Of course his method has the advantage of not floating around the Internet to come back and bite him.

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #1,776

yeah I know you did not ask!

Only in America…

I go to the doctor every 6 months to get blood work,  mainly because one of the drugs I take (blood pressure med???)  can affect the liver.  They generally want to check my cholesterol while they are at it, so I go in fasting.  A bad habit that I started years ago is getting a Mickey Dee’s breakfast afterwards. Outside of when we travel, it is the only time I eat at this iconic American restaurant.

It was about lunch time when I got out of the doctor’s office. The line at McDonald’s drive-thru was fairly long so I went inside. There was only one man inside  eating at a table,  and I walked right up to the counter and ordered.  When I left the line for the drive-thru had backed up all the way on to Olive Boulevard, which is very a busy street with 4 lanes and a middle turn lane.  Admittedly the weather is bad here in St. Louis today, a slushy mess freezing on the road, so that probably affected peoples’ actions. However, I have seen the same behavior on beautiful spring days.  It makes me wonder how much gasoline is wasted by folks idling in drive-thrus.

 

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Picture from 6th Grade…

A couple of days ago was Valentine’s Day which got me thinking about one etched in my mind from when I was in 6th grade.   Digging around I found a picture taken that day during our class party celebrating the event.  I had given a card to every kid in the class – seemed like the nicest thing to do.  I did not have to use even one finger to count the number of Valentine Day cards I received.  Twas not a good day, and one that was burned in my memory.   Perhaps this was the impetus starting me down my curmudgeonly path.

And so it went.

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #572

yeah I know you did not ask!

I spent part of yesterday afternoon giving all three bathrooms a very thorough cleaning.  Now I do not want to utilize any of them as I do not want to encroach on their perfection. I am afraid, however, if I sidle up to a tree in the backyard one of the neighbors will place a call to Chesterfield’s finest.  Well, there is always the BP on the corner of Olive and Chesterfield Parkway.  Their bathrooms are generally clean, but not perfect.  I wonder if I could sneak into the YMCA down by the St. Louis County Library and get a quick shower…

And so it goes.