History Worth Knowing

 

 

July 27, 2015

This intrepid blogger has a personal policy: politics stay off this page. There is enough elephant-and-donkey chatter clogging up cyberspace to fill a library the size of Texas without adding one more voice to the noise. That said, history is a different matter entirely, and today happens to be the anniversary of something worth knowing about. On July 27, 1804, the 12th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified. If that draws a blank, this blogger is not judging — much. Here is the short version: before the 12th Amendment, every member of the Electoral College cast two votes for president. The candidate with the most votes became president; the runner-up became vice president. As one might imagine, that arrangement produced some spectacularly awkward working relationships. The 12th Amendment fixed it by requiring electors to cast separate votes for president and vice president. Tidy. Sensible. Long overdue.

Now on to the gossip — but first, a small detour into speculative history, because this blogger cannot resist. Imagine, just for a moment, if the old system had still been in place in 1960. Richard Nixon as vice president under John F. Kennedy. This blogger will give Millerites a moment to let that particular what-if settle. The mind boggles. It also raises a question that feels surprisingly relevant: would today's candidates tone down the mud-slinging if they knew they might end up sharing an office suite with their rival? Something to chew on. DT down at the water office reportedly has no pool running on this one — some questions, even she won't touch. Now, on to the actual Miller gossip...

[Gossip section to be added when placed in a book.]

The Founding Fathers were not perfect — history is clear enough on that — but every now and then they got something exactly right. The 12th Amendment is one of those times. This blogger is grateful for the foresight of people who thought carefully about what they were building. May God bless America — and may Millerites remember that knowing your history is never a waste of a good Monday morning. 'Nuff said.

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#12thAmendmentDay #WhatIfHistory #NixonAndKennedyInTheSameOffice #DTWontTouchThisOne #MillerTexasKnowsHistory #GodBlessAmerica

Monday Called. It Wants a Second Chance.

July 13, 2015

Here is a fun fact for a Monday: the concept of the Monday blues is largely a media invention. This intrepid blogger recently counted no fewer than a dozen popular songs built entirely around the idea that life only begins on Friday afternoon. The Bangles told us to walk like an Egyptian on a manic Monday. The Boomtown Rats announced they don't like Mondays — and that song came out in 1979 and has been doing damage ever since. Somewhere between the radio and the alarm clock, a generation or two got thoroughly convinced that five out of seven days are just something to endure. Experts will tell you the root of the Monday blues is career dissatisfaction, and that may be true in some cases. But this blogger suspects the real culprit is a habit of thought that has been reinforced so many times it feels like fact.

Now on to the gossip, and what better day to dish than a Monday...

[Gossip section to be added when placed in a book.]

Here is the fix, and it is simpler than you might think. Find one thing you genuinely love and schedule it for Monday. Not Tuesday. Not Friday. Monday. Put it on the calendar, set a reminder, and when the alarm goes off Sunday night, lead with that thought. This blogger cannot promise it will cure everything, but it is a solid start. Harry S. Truman once observed that it is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit. For this blogger, the sense of having done something worthwhile goes a long way toward keeping the blues at bay — any day of the week. 'Nuff said.

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CC said YES!

ALittleBitofMiller@theDoubleD.bloggingmylifeaway

May 4, 2015

Well, would you lookey, lookey here.  Houston’s largest paper’s food editor featured the Double D Roadhouse Houston in the Sunday edition. The largest newspaper in Texas. That’s a pretty big deal and well worth mentioning.  The people of Houston are really digging the down-home cuisine of our own Chef M.  Not that that’s so surprising really, good food is good food no matter what city you are in.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know that the roadhouse is technically in Katy, but it’s close enough to Houston for the Big H to claim it. The motel will be open for business on Labor Day weekend.  Check out the Double D website for pictures.  It’s pretty amazing.  Guess it’s obvious that this intrepid blogger is a die-hard fan of the Double D.  And no, Bruce Willis isn’t the one writing this blog.

Speaking of our own, if you haven’t heard, our own man of steel (MOS) finally got around to proposing, not that this intrepid blogger is surprised that he did.  But what you might not know is that he proposed in the middle of a CVS parking lot.  A CVS parking lot. Really? Son, Hallmark spends millions trying to convince people romance lives in flower gardens and candlelight, and you picked a patch of cracked asphalt to get down on one knee. I know your momma raised him better!  If you want to see MOS at his finest, google it. Kai Turner featured it on his YouTube channel. So far it has had more than a million views. The comments are hilarious!  Rumor has it that BB plans to include it in the wedding.  Back at home, Miller is getting ready for The Taste of Miller. Forty-two chefs from around the country are coming to our little fly speck of a town to try and dethrone Chef M.  This blogger plans to be there cheering for our hometown boy. Will you?

Meanwhile, what happened to spring?  Is it just me, or does it seem like we skipped straight from a not-so-cold winter, well, except for that week at the end of February, to the wettest spring on record?  It’s April for crying out loud.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  April in Texas. It is the month for showers.  So, what’s your point?

Don’t forget to check out the snapdragons in front of the Double D Roadhouse and Motor Court Lodge.  They are spectacular this year, but aren’t they always.

Oh BTW—she said YES, so wedding bells once again will be ringing in Miller. When is the wedding?  No wedding pool this time. According to  MOS, July 17^th is the day, a year to the day after the BB walked into the Double D.  Guess I owe our MOS an apology. Turns out the boy had a little romance tucked away after all. ‘Nuff said.

Until next time,

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@ the Double D series  Book 2; Kiss Me Stupid

A Little Bit of Miller in H-town

ALittleBitofMiller@bloggingmylifeaway.com

January 19, 2015

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  Don't forget to hit your knees today and thank the Lord for a man who stood for what was right, even when it cost him everything. In honor of his memory today, everyone should do one kind deed for someone else.  Stand up and do the right thing.  It is one of our freedoms, we just don’t exercise it often enough, consequently, it gets a little out of shape.  So, how about it, give a little kindness to say thanks to a great man.

On to new frontiers:  It’s about to happen.  The New Double D Roadhouse Katy will have its Grand Opening January 23, 2015.  Those neon signs that have become an iconic symbol of our little town will soon make a debut in one of our largest cities.  Don’t you wish you could be there when they flip the switch and turn on the lights for the first time?  A little bit of Miller in H-town.  Who'd ever thunk it, certainly not this intrepid blogger.

I don’t know about the rest of you Millerites, but I have a feeling that love is zinging in the air, and it isn’t because there are red hearts everywhere.  Could anything less than love convince our own man of steel (MOS) himself to consider moving from Miller?  Can’t say too much.  Don’t want to ruin the surprise.  You know who will get cranky if the cat gets out of the bag too early.  Just a guess, but it is this blogger’s heartfelt opinion, that Miller is fixing to lose another one of its bachelors.  Sorry ladies, but you know the saying—All the best ones are…! You can fill in the blanks yourself.  No controversies here in Miller. Speaking of controversies, the bouquet that arrived at the Double D this morning, quite lovely by the way, came with a card that said—Roses are red, Your eyes are blue, Day after tomorrow, I’ll see you.  Hallmark has nothing to fear, but it gets points for romance, in this blogger’s humble opinion.  Millerites have gotten mighty fond of those Monday flowers. Reckon the crowd at the Double D is going to miss seeing them now that certain folks no longer have to abide by the “friends only” clause of their relationship.  Girl next door #3 returned from H-Town recently and reports that the new roadhouse is every bit as wonderful as the old one.  High praise from the former reality star.

Meanwhile, could we get a little snow down here?  It’s winter! They had fourteen inches in the Detroit area last week, and the forecasters are calling for more snow this week. Sheesh!  Not one snowflake fell in Miller.  Our kids like to build snowmen too, so don’t hog up all the snow, leave us a few flakes, you crazy northerners.  Still, you less than sane Texans, you should remember to bundle up, because despite the really pretty weather today, it is winter and when the sun goes down, it gets purdee cold.  ‘Nuff said.

One final word.  Congratulations to Randy Rollins, a seventh grader at the MC Middle School.  His computer sketch of Eaton and Eaton Insurance and Investments was the winner of the Chamber of Commerce's annual The Best of Miller, Texas Art Contest.  Randy is the son of Betty Truman and Samuel Rollins.

Until next time,

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@the Double D series  Book 2: Kiss Me Stupid

File Under the Heading of Confidential.

ALittleBitofMiller@theDoubleD.bloggingmylifeaway

July 21,  2014

Well, this doesn’t happen very often, but this blog will be minus a few of its usual pithy comments.  There is so much this blogger wants to say, but all of it falls under the heading of confidential.  Confidential.  Now there is a word that gets stretched a lot.  Just how confidential are the secrets given to you?  When someone tells you something in confidence, do you keep it quiet, or do you share with just one person?  Is it okay for you to share the secret if you swear that person to secrecy?  What if they tell just one person, who tells just one person, who tells just one person…? You see were this is going, right?  The best course of action when you are trusted with a secret is to prove yourself trustworthy by not telling a single soul.  Even if keeping quiet makes you feel like you are going to burst like a big old ripe watermelon left out in the July sun too long.  Deep gusty sigh.  This blogger is not privy to the secret in confidence, but rather by observation.  Either way, it’s time to cease and desist.

Just know that this intrepid blogger is keeping eyes peeled, and as soon as it is okay to report all, you will be able to read it right here.  It would appear that CC the BB has accomplished her mission and will soon be heading back home.  Will her five days in Miller be enough time for our own DD the MOS to win her heart?  Time will tell. In the meantime, this vigilant blogger will check out another situation that seems to be heating up.  Family feud, anyone.  Seems that BND Numero Uno and BND El Segundo were going at it in their mum's front yard.  El Segundo left in a snit.  Later, BND ES was seen hanging out with GND #5 at the Double D bar.  Isn’t that the wrong GND?  Interesting.  You can be sure there will be more to come in the near future. So, check back often or you’ll be the last to know all the dope.

Speaking of which, it is time to punch the old time clock.  Wishing everyone, and two certain people, a happy Monday. ‘Nuff said.

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   #fallinginloveisthepits #happyMonday #ConfidentialFiles


@The Double D Series: Kiss Me Stupid

Eyes and Ears Everywhere

ALittleBitofMiller@theDoubleD.bloggingmylifeaway

May 6, 2013

After our brief, but heavy, rain the May flowers are everywhere.  Bees are buzzing.  Swings are swinging.  Laughter filled the John B. Miller Park this weekend. With this sudden rush to be outdoors comes…you guessed it, baseball fever.  The MCHS boys are hanging up their cleats for the season.  Sadly, they lost out in the 2A area tournament by a powerhouse team from Edgewood.  Coach Peterson did a fine job with our boys this year.  Go Huskies!  Don’t forget to congratulate senior shortstop R. J. Hampton.  He was unanimously selected to the 2A All-District Team.  The girls’ softball team is still hanging in there behind junior Carly Peterson’s wicked fastball.  If they win the regional quarterfinals tournament this weekend against Lone Oak, it’s on to the semifinals.  Good luck Lady Huskies and Coach Olsen. Miller is behind you all the way.  Ah, the memories. 

With that in mind, let’s turn our attention to a certain SB and FB who, if rumors are correct, got caught up in a little Houston Astros fever this weekend.  Do the words Kiss Cam ring a bell?  The Astros came out on the losing end of their contest with the Tigers, but I know you really want to know how FB fared.  Well…this intrepid blogger heard from a friend who is a friend who is a friend of a friend…you get the point (or if you don’t get the point, the point is that this blogger has eyes and ears everywhere).  The gist of the salacious rumor running rapidly through our little berg is that we might be seeing these two around Miller together—yep, that’s right, as a couple.  No mention of wedding bells yet, but it’s early days.  As for seeing AA and BB out and about, my bet is that we will see them at the Double D first.  Everyone in Miller shows up at the DD for Chef M’s All You Can Eat Catfish.  So…. keep your eyes peeled.  And check back, you know the minute this intrepid blogger finds out anything it will be posted here on this blog. 

Meanwhile, if you are attending any of the baseball or softball games our kids are playing, don’t park in the front row.  Find you a place way in the back out of the range of high-flying fly balls.  If you mess up and become the victim of a fly ball, Harvey Waller’s shop, You Crash ‘Em and We Fix ‘Em, is offering a discount on windshield replacement through the end of May.

Might this gallant blogger humbly note, that ALittleBitofMiller now has over 500 followers?  That is half of the population of Miller.  Okay, you’re right, it is hard to brag and be humble.  Keep those comments coming. ‘Nuff said.

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@The Double D: Kiss Me Senseless

No April showers, just heat, heat, heat!

ALittleBitofMiller@theDoubleD.bloggingmylifeaway

April 15, 2013

Hot and dry. Smokey the Bear has all of Cherokee County on high alert, which means no burning. That bears repeating. Pun intended. No. Burning.  Unless, of course, you want to take a chance of burning half the county and getting yourself a whopping big fine when the fire chief pays you an official ignorance-is-no-excuse visit.   Okay. Okay.  We all know that the poem says April showers bring May flowers, but, folks, so far April has not brought any showers to Cherokee County.  Lakes are suffering.  Wildlife is suffering. Tempers are suffering. Yep, the heat makes us all a little crazy. Remember that before you give in to a little, well, let’s call it, HEAT RAGE.  Speaking of getting a little hot under the collar — today is the last day to file your income taxes. No point in griping about it. Griping just makes the people listening to you want to tell you to stick a sock in your pie hole. Go pay Caesar what is Caesar's, Millerites, and be done with it. CONSIDER THIS YOUR OFFICIAL TAX DAY PSA. You're welcome.

Speaking of things heating up, this intrepid blogger has been keeping an eye on our little SB. Word around town is that a certain FB picked her up from the airport.  Interesting.  Oh, to have been a fly on the headliner of his truck. Now that she is back in the nest, our FB is suspiciously MIA. He’s still in Miller, just keeping out of sight. Could it be that having SB-his FF (this blogger's new favorite initialism: Former Fiancée)-right on his doorstep has him lying low?  Hmmm.  Wonder how that’s working for him?  Friday is the big Welcome Back shindig.  Will he make an appearance? Don’t you fret; nothing gets by this blogger.  Whatever happens, you can read about it here.

Meanwhile, the old-timers say the fish are biting.  It might be time to wet a hook.  Hey, if you don’t catch any fish, you can at least cool off by taking a quick dip.  Bet the water in the lake is plenty cool enough to take the edge off this little heatwave.  All this talk of fishing makes this intrepid blogger think it’s a good time for a bit of family time at the lake.  This old world goes better with a little grace and a little patience — and if a fishing pole helps you find both, who's to argue? Catch you on the flip-flop.  Unless the fish start hitting on my bait--then it might be a month of Sundays before you hear from me again. ‘Nuff Said.

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#thesnowbirdandthefarmboy #catchingyourlimit #catchandrelease #TooHotToFryFish

2nd Place Drawing MCMS Art Contest
Sights and Sounds of Miller
Artist: Macy Thomas

The Double D Series: Kiss Me Senseless

The Prodigal Returns and the Heat Climbs

ALittleBitofMiller@theDoubleD.bloggingmylifeaway

April 8, 2013

Can you believe this heat? The thermometer hit 95° yesterday. That just doesn't seem right. Even down here in Texas, we raise an eyebrow when it hits 95° in April. But heat or no heat, this blog isn't about the weather — what would be the point of that? With this blog, we (that would be the royal we) will be capturing a few bits and pieces of Miller, Texas for Millerites to ooh and aah over. The idea hit like lightning out of the blue. Crack! The radio was belting out an oldie but a goodie, Back in the Saddle. Hey, no judging. BITS is a classic. Anyway, it triggered a thought landslide about how sometimes the hardest thing in life is to give something another try once you've gotten hurt the first time. Ha — and that right there is about as deep as this blogger gets. So, for reals, what can you expect in these posts? This intrepid blogger will be dishing up whatever catches the attention of Millerites — some gossip, some community color, and sure, why not, a little common-sense advice along the way.

With that in mind, all of Miller is abuzz, and there is a certain man about Miller who might want to listen up. Let's call him Farm Boy (FB). Miller is about to welcome home one of its prodigal daughters. This feisty little lady has been hanging out in the Big Apple for a few years. Let's call her Snow Bird (SB). According to the 'rents, SB is due to arrive today. This blogger, for one, is hoping that old wounds have healed and hearts are ready for a second chance. It will be more than interesting to see if SB's return inspires FB to get back in the saddle and give romance another try. (That there would be a clever tie-in to the song, just in case you didn't catch it.) No doubt, Millerites will be lining up to watch the fireworks. Yippie-Ki-Yay! Things are 'bout to get interesting around these parts.

Meanwhile, life is good here in our little neck of the Piney Woods. Porches are full, supper tables are loud, and the Sunday potluck at the Miller Community Church cleaned out Chef M's famous peach cobbler in under ten minutes flat. Miller takes care of its own — and if this blogger knows anything, it's that one of our own is about to need a little extra looking-after. ‘Nuff said.

Congrats to Candace Drinkwater, winner of the MCMS Art Contest: Sights and Sounds of Miller

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The Double D Series: Book 1