It is SPOOKTOBER so quite naturally I found

myself headed for the nearest Spirit Halloween

store! I had one special item in mind that I have
been waiting for months to buy when the
seasonal stores finally opened.

"So much fun it's scary" is right!
Yes. I bought something.

I didn't find what I had been wanting to buy but

I did fid something that I had passed on in

years past: a Halloween II decorative knife.
When I hang it up I will definitely
post a picture.

 As for what I really wanted? There will be
another day and another Spirit. The season
has only just begun.

HAPPY SPOOKTOBER 2025!

It's going to be a great Halloween month!

~ Random Around the Ranch Photo of the Day ~

Stanley Ipkiss may be smokin', but I ain't. Because today is my

Quit Smoking Anniversary. Twenty-two years ago today I quit tobacco.

I’m grateful every day for another 24 hours without
any urge to smoke. It is a gift.

Huzzah! 

It is Show and Tell again today. Huzzah!

Here is something that I bought at the Gene Autry

Museum of Western Heritage probably in 2014.

A cool little leather keychain. I have it hanging

in my curio cabinet to admire from time to time.

This is the back of the sheriff's badge with the

price tag in all of it's glory. Seein' as how I bought

this in 2014, I reckon that it has run me roughly

fifty-nine cents (don't forget the tax!) a year so far
for the pleasure. That's a bargain in my book!

Here is another decal that I bought on our
travels across America when I was very young.

I remember going though Missouri. I liked it. I got
fireworks.  Bottle rockets and firecrackers.
That was  the only time in my life I ever got

bottle rockets and firecrackers.

I also got a brown jug like this one. Somewhere in the
Ozarks. This one isn't mine. This one is in our garage.
Mine was nicer though, in some way or another.
Unfortunately a few years ago somebody
broke the one I had.

Okay, I know this is getting a little repetitive, but when the NRA

sent me the paperwork and knife for renewing my membership,
they sent along yet another offer that was financially too good

to pass up. And when I took them up on that, I received

another (gas station quality) knife. Here is the
NRA Carbon Fiber Knife.

This knife is kind of handsome. It is one of the nicer knives that I

have received from the NRA. It is a "flipper" knife with a liner lock.
The cutting edge on the blade is about 3 1/8 inches. The overall length
of the knife when opened is just under 7 inches. No idea what the
steel is. It comes sharp enough to just about cut through a sheet of

paper. As with all the others, this knife was made in China.

The pocket clip is one position only, left side tip down. Nice little

NRA etching on the clip. That thumb stud looks a little funky,
because it is.

Aaaaannnnd, Stone River LTD.... again. Time to
give it a little love, a little oil and pack it away.
As I always say, this is a just for fun knife.
Thanks National Rifle Association!

Ahoy, ye scallywags! It be Talk Like a Pirate Day!

 So hoist yer tongues with plenty o’ “ayes” an’ hearty

“arrrrgs” when chattin’ with yer mates an’ shipmates

this day!

Now go make some merry, me hearties!

Much to our dismay here at The Ranch, the lanyard
on our flagpole wore out and broke. As the flagpole
is very high and also very heavy, it will be a while
before arrangements can be made to replace the lanyard.
 But the American flag must always fly here at The Ranch,
 so we have installed a temporary pole.

This is the reason for the new floodlights that we planted in
the ground last Sunday. Now Old Glory flies 24 hours a day.

It's a beautiful thing.

Salute!

I planted some new solar floodlights here at

The Ranch and as soon as the dust settles I will

post a picture that will explain WHY I planted new

solar floodlights (here at The Ranch). As I planted
them during daylight hours, I am not even sure that
they are pointed in the right direction yet.
I will know tonight.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

(That orange paracord wrapped around them
is temporary. It helped them to stand out
as a I was working so that I would not
trip on them. You know how THAT goes.)

~ Random Around the Ranch Photo of the Day ~

~ September 11, 2001 ~

We will never forget.

It is once again John Wick Day here at The Ranch

and we are celebrating with our very own brand

new 4K/Blu-ray copy of BALLERINA.

I was not able to see this movie in the theater and

I have tried to pretty much stay away from any

information about it. I can't wait to see what

I have been missing. I need a Wick Fix!

Seeing Lance Reddick's character Charon
again will be the cherry on top.

TRANSMISSION #93

Here is another picture I took with my Swinger Polaroid

Land Camera in 1968. This is OLD SCHOOL Universal

Studios Hollywood. Displayed is a chariot used in
the movie The Ten Commandments.

You were able to stand in it for
an exciting photo op.

It is Knife Day again at El Rancho De La Tex!

I renewed my National Rifle Association membership
so they sent another knife to me as their way of
saying, "Thanks, Tex!". This here is a
Sandalwood Knife.

I don't know nuttin about this knife other than it is
a lock back with sandalwood (they claim) grip panels.
(The boxes always arrive crushed.)

The blade is 2.75" long and the overall length of the knife
when opened is about 6.75". Those are pretty much the
only specs I (kinda) know about this gas
station quality knife.

This is another Stone River LTD brand knife.



.....and of course.

As with all the other knives the NRA has sent me,
I am glad to have this one. It is just for fun and, well,
just for fun. And as with the others, I will give it a little oil,
a little love and pack it away for my son to have someday...
just for fun.

It is looking like Halloween

over at Walmart!

But the shelves still need
a lot of filling in.

Happy National Knife Day 2025!

To celebrate NKD this year I am posting some (not very good)

pictures of a knife that I bought in February of 2011. This is my

Spyderco Bug. As you can see it is very small and the price was

$8.08 back then. The Bug is a non-locking slip joint folder with a

1.27" blade.

The blade and grip panels are stainless steel. And look at that
teeny little Spydee Hole. This knife is a two-handed opener to
be certain. I failed to capture the Spyderco logo on the grip
panel here, but you can see it in the first picture. This is
just a fun little knife to have on your keychain.

Is this a great National Knife Day or what?!

This is just a picture I took on the way

home from doing my weeklies.

Don't you just love it when

your pals are pals?

A Working Man!

Jason... My MAN!

#1 HUSBAND lost his keychain in the parking lot at

the supermarket. #2 and #3 are probably

razzing him about it.

Leftovers tonight!

YES!

TRANSMISSION #90

Today is kind of a red letter day for me. Money has

been pretty tight for the last five plus years but as of

today I might be turning a bit of a corner for a while.

So today I without (too much) guilt bought a movie

that was on the outskirts of my Movie Wishlist. In the

Lost Lands. I am not a big Dave fan, but I AM a big

Milla fan. She is a badass. This will be onscreen at

Borden Cinema tonight!

I thought I had shown this guy before, but I guess not.

This is my Freddy Krueger Nightmare on Elm Street

bank. Yep, he is a bank. Made by Monogram. The blades

on his glove are delicate and prone to breakage so he just

sits in my curio cabinet collecting dust... not coins.

I do like him.

MACHETE!

..by NECA.

I bought this Mezco Wolfman figure at Blockbuster Video

back in 2010. It is their Exclusive Chase Bloody Variant

from the movie The Wolfman (2010) with Benicio Del

Toro, Anthony Hopkins and Emily Blunt. I believe the movie

kind of bombed. I thought it was okay. I think this figure might

go for quite a bit of coinage now (at least quite a bit

 compared to whatever the clearance price I paid was).

If I remember right I actually have two of these.

Uh-oh!

Thrift store movie haul!

My mom and I went thrifting and I spotted these

Goodie Girl Birthday Cake Sandwich Cookies. I had
never heard of Goodie Girl before, but I guess
they are a thing.

What a great logo.

A not so great picture of another

of my mom's beautiful roses.

Finally!

Final Destination: Bloodlines!

I have been waiting to see this one for AGES. I wasn't

able to see it in the theater (sad face), but tonight?

Borden Cinema!

Okay, this Hawaiian Punch powder drink mix in Berry

Blue Typhoon is even better than the Wild Purple Smash.

As flavorful as the Purple Smash is, the Berry Blue
beats it. And it is also way more purdy! Dang.

Mmmmmm.... Hawaiian Punch Grape AKA

Wild Purple Smash, from powder. Dee-LISH!

Great for a hot day.

The Japanese Village and Deer Park was a Japanese-inspired

amusement park located in Buena Park, California, that operated
from 1967 to 1974. Modeled after Nara Park in Japan, it featured
 free-roaming deer, authentic Japanese-style buildings, cultural
 demonstrations, and an aquatheater with marine animal shows.

The back of the brochure.
I visited the park just one time.


Here are my tickets. To tell you the truth, I don't
remember one single thing from the deer park.
I don't think I was impressed.

Here is another old picture that I took with my

Swinger Polaroid Land Camera when I was young.

This is in 1969 and is somewhere on Lake Tahoe.

It was a rainy, dreary day.

TRANSMISSION #87

Mmmm... Taco chips. Not the BEST

taco chips, but still... taaaaaaco chips.

Happy Birthday America, 2025!