Originally, I planned to blog about the F.E.E.D. Program . I will….but not now. I'll save that for a later date. A friend sent me a copy of a commentary from Ben Stein of CBS's Sunday Morning. Mr. Stein asks that we contemplate forwarding it to those on our friends list in the hope of provoking thought. Thought provoking…… to say the least, POWERFUL is more like it. Usually, I try to put some levity within the body of my blogs but paraphrasing Mr. Stein, there's nothing funny here. READ IT and become enlightened…..hopefully.

(The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.)

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees... I don't feel threatened.. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Hurricane Katrina).. Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response.. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'

In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc.. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about.. And we said okay..

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit.

If not, then just discard it.. no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,

Ben Stein

Thanks Mr. Stein, it needed to be said!

Now, I know Hampton Roads Virginia is not a major metropolitan area.  I know the difference because I've lived in the Washington DC Metro area as well as the Los Angeles Metropolitan area.  I’ve experienced extended stays in New York, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Chicago, Philly, Detroit, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and the list goes on.  So by no means am I comparing any of those areas with Hampton Roads Virginia and I’m certainly not comparing the traffic here with any of those areas either. HOWEVER, I had the misfortune of being a part of the MORNING RUSH HOUR in Hampton Roads the other day.  OH MY GOODNESS!!!  ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!  Now, maybe since I work evenings and have not dealt with anything like that in, oh say……..fifteen years…..I might just be a little out of practice.  I mean, usually, I’m dealing with traffic when people are leaving work and perhaps they are just a little less ENERGIZED!!!  That morning traffic is crazy!!!  People all hopped up on coffee and caffeine and driving at the speed of THOUGHT!  And the thought is……”I’m gonna be late, I know I shoulda quit hitting that *#^&% snooze button.  Boss said if I’m late just one mo time……”  People were riding bumpers like race cars drafting at the Indy 500.  They would change lanes and THEN signal.  I felt like Capt. Kirk of Star Trek …..only difference was my mission was to seek out new lanes and boldly drive where no one had driven before……meaning……the shoulder.  Cause I pulled over and parked!  I called my wife and told her to come get me.  She drives in that morning madness daily, so no big deal to her.  That’s right, I told her to COME GET ME!!  I’ll come back around 10 a.m. (when all the senior citizens are driving) and get the car.   Morning traffic, just one MORE reason to have a home based business.  If you need some info on a good one, email me.

Remember the last time the Dismal Swamp was burning?  Of course you don't.  You're probably saying what the (blank) is the Dismal Swamp, right?  Well, the Dismal Swamp is roughly 112,000 acres of swamp  situated on the border of Virgina & North Carolina.  There's a wildlife refuge on the Virgina side and a state park on the North Carolina side.  Presently, about 5500 of the acres are blazing.  It also burned three years ago.  Back in 2008, I couldn’t fathom how a swamp could burn.  I mean, it's supposed to be saturated with water.  Come find out, it ain't always got water in it.....not entirely. Some parts have water, other parts are dry.  Well, it seems that lightning keeps striking the part that's dry and before you know it.......whoosh, it’s  flame on.   All of Hampton Roads and northeast North Carolina have been affected by the smoke.  Doesn't matter where you live, sooner or later the wind will blow that stinking, eye burning, nostril hurting foul stench your way.  In addition, in some cases, visibility is reduced to basically nothing.  Matter of fact, check out this pic...

Can you imagine breathing this stuff?  As a matter of fact, there's a respiratory alert in place.  Here's another one......

Not fog but SMOKE, breathing hurts.  Oh, but here's my favorite picture.....

It reminds me of some of the rooms in my college dormitory back in the 70's.  Knock on the door, when it opened, that’s all you saw.....BIG TIME SMOKE.   The only things missing from the picture above are a black light, the poster of that sister with the big afro, fishnets hanging from the ceiling and Iron Butterfly's IN DA GADA VIDA blasting on the turntable.  Once, I not only knocked on that door, I entered the fog……….I disappeared for a week…….with no memory of anything.

Which brings to mind....how come these mega wildfires never engulf acres of marijuana? Once, while in the military, we stumbled across a huge patch of it during one of those field exercises.  Dudes were uprooting plants and stuffing em in their duffel bags figuring it be dry and ready by the time the field exercise was over.  So you know, it's growing wild somewhere.  Now, imagine all that smoke in the pictures above was a result of some weed wildfire.  Potheads would be homeless on purpose.  All they would want to do is just live outside and breathe and live outside and breathe. Everybody would have a contact (that’s being high as a result of secondary smoke).  All the snacks in Hampton Roads and northeast North Carolina would be SOLD OUT cause everybody got the munchies.  People would be driving around aimlessly because they can't remember where they're going.  Teachers would forgot to check homework, give the test that they promise a week ago, take attendance and attend those awful after school meetings.  Brown nosers would refrain from kissing the bosses butt and tell the boss to kiss their butts and they and the boss would then burst into laughter..... and keep on laughing............ for the rest of the day.  Bus drivers would drive their routes but forget to pick up and discharge passengers.  Admin workers would be at their desks marveling at the starfield screen saver on the computer while uttering mono syllabic phrases like  Ooooo, Ahhhh, woooowwwww.  And radio personalities like me, would get on the air and just ramble on and on and on about nothing.  Wait a minute……we do that NOW!!  Hmmmm, is there something burning in the swamp that they haven’t told us about?!?

Wow, things have been sooooo hectic!!  Busy, busy, busy…..between the radio station, the travel agency, the TV show (Grown Folks Dancing!) and still another business venture, sometimes I feel like I don’t have time to even sleep.  But I get my sleep, BELIEVE THAT!!  With all of that going on, who would have thought there would be time for an addition to the household.  But YEP, there sure is…… a 13 pound 3 ounce addition!  And she’s a little cutie!!  That’s right, she!   Wow, another female added to the Thomas household.   She’s been with us since April and I really thought she would alter our lifestyle drastically but actually……..no.  She sleeps all night long, not a peep out of her.  She will; however, awaken me about 8 or 9 in the morning but hey, that’s the time I usually awaken anyway……so, no big deal.  I do have to adjust to all the toys.  Toys everywhere….at least, that’s the way it seems.  The thing I wonder about is how long before she recognizes her name.  I say her name and she will just lie there, no reaction at all.  I mean, I know she can’t answer me but HEY, give me some kind of reaction.  Still she’s a God send!  Since she has been with us, I’ve lost 15 pounds.  That right….15 POUNDS and counting! Matter of fact, the wife is getting a little jealous of my weight loss.  I told her to start doing what I do……and she has.  That means the DOG gets a three mile walk during the morning and a three mile walk in the evening.  That’s right, the addition to the Thomas household is a Jack Russell Terrier……..that’s a dog folks.  We got her from the Norfolk SPCA.  We were looking for a puppy.  I wanted a Doberman or Rottweiler, something that’s  gonna earn its keep.   Pam wanted a Chihuahua or poodle, something small and cute.  Turns out, the Jack Russell is small and cute but thinks it’s a BIG DOG.  This animal will not back down from ANY other dog.  She walks up to Pit Bulls, Mastiffs, Rottweilers or Dobermans  like she’s saying, “What, What?!?  Don’t start none, won’t be none.”   You know how when we humans meet someone that we feel is crazy, so we just don’t bother them?  Well, that’s how these huge dogs act when Lady (that’s her name) comes around.  They look at her sideways and walk away growling to themselves.  Personally, I’m glad cause I’m hollering, “C’mon Lady, leave that dog alone, OH LORD, Please leave that dog alone.  The dog will eat you as an appetizer and me as the entrée.  OH PLEASE, come on back here…..before I have to leave you.”  Naw, not leaving my little Lady.  Seriously, if you’re looking for a good pet, I highly recommend the Norfolk SPCA.  Matter of fact, any SPCA is a good place to adopt a pet.  I’m partial to Norfolk because it’s a No Kill Humane Society and it’s where I found “Lady.”

A lot of things have transpired since my last blog and I thought I would share a few of them with you.  Where oh where do I start?  Well, a couple of weeks ago, I celebrated a birthday.   Usually, the only thing I want for my birthday is to have it acknowledged by my friends...... especially my female friends.  The guys get a pass because most of them can't remember their own mother's birthday more or less a partner's.  This year, however, Face Book friends got in on the wishes.  It was overwhelming and humbling.  I've NEVER received so many birthday wishes at one time.  Wishes came from all over the world!!!  Some people I've never met; yet, they took time out of their day to wish me a "Happy Birthday."  I felt it was incumbent upon me to take time out and thank each one of them individually and personally.....and I DID.......and it took A LONG TIME!!!   But it was worth it.  Just goes to show, you don't always need money to be rich.

A couple of weeks ago, I participated in the Career Fair at Huntington Middle School.  Originally, Huntington Middle School was Huntington High School.  The high school I attended and graduated from in......well, let's just say the group "The Temptations" still had all original members.  (Some of you are saying, "who are the Temptations?")  It was surreal to be in the same gym where I played as a member of the basketball team.   The same gym where I attended health class.  The same gym where Coach Meathead (a name of affection we gave to one of our coaches) told a student to get rid of the gum he was chewing.  The student said he would get rid of it by placing it on Coach's desk.  Coach replied "If you do, I'll use you to get the gum off."  The student called Coach's bluff,  took the gum out of his mouth and placed it dead smack in the middle of Coach's desk.  Coach jumped up, grabbed him by the neck (with two hands....one in front the other in the back), lifted him in the air and proceeded to wipe him across the desk.  The whole class erupted in laughter, including the student that was used as a dust rag.  Now days, a teacher will get a written reprimand for yelling at a student.  But I digress, the Career Fair went very well.  I spoke to individual groups about broadcasting and I had some music playing so quite naturally the kids migrated to my area.  At one time I had to turn the music off because a group of 7th grade girls insisted on singing along with "Tre Songz."  Call me old fashion but I couldn't handle hearing some 7th grade girls (12 year olds) singing about how it feels after a session of intense love making.  I switched to Mary J. Blige's "Just Fine."  They said that was old folks music and quickly disbanded.  I don't know what shocked me more......them singing about the after effects of intense lovemaking OR them calling Mary J. Blige "old folks music."

Last but not least, my little cousin Andre visited the wife and me.  He's put on some weight.  So I had him playing the Nintendo Wii Fitness game.  He's six years old and did a thirty minute workout on the Wii.  That thirty minutes included a 10 minute jog in place where he ran 1.97 miles.  I was impressed.  So impressed, he inspired me.  And since my clothes are shrinking, I told him that I too would complete a thirty minute workout including the jog........but not now.  I'll do it tomorrow (in private......wasn't gonna let him laugh at me).  That next day, I did some warm up exercises and started the workout.   I ran exactly two TENTHS of A MILE and fell on the floor wheezing and sucking air like I was a 3 pack a day smoker walking up five steps to get to the bathroom.  You laugh but I finally completed that 10 minute jog in place AND ran a total of 2.25 miles.  Course, I discovered that if you pump your arms, the Wii registers that you're running.  But don't tell Andre.  You see, wisdom triumphs youth every time.

A listener (Patty) sent me these pictures,  thought I'd share them.  Thanks for the laugh Patty.

I trust your holiday was great. I, personally, need a break and not just any break but a serious break. I wanted to just getaway and forget EVERYTHING. So I got outta "Dodge." Matter of fact, this is the way it looked when I left.......

But it wasn't long before my scenery changed to this........

and the journey begins........

Man, what a great vacation.....course when I got back to Hampton Roads.........

8 INCHES OF SNOW.......c'mon MAN!!

     Ladies, ever wonder what guys talk about at the barber shop?  Surprisingly, it’s not women……well not ALL the time.  A couple of weeks ago, this guy was telling a story about his cousin who wrestles alligators.  Seems he was wrestling one and the gator chomped down on his leg.  So they rushed him to the hospital and the doctors performed surgery.  When he awakened from the surgery, the doctor told him “I got good news and I got bad news.  The bad news is we had to amputate your leg but the good news is we saved your foot.”  Now we’re sitting there listening until it dawned on one of us…… How you gonna save the foot that’s attached to the amputated leg? Awwwww, we laughed & laughed & laughed!  And mostly, that's what men do at the barber shop.

     Monday night, I’m heading to work and my tank is on “E.”  So, I stopped to get some gas.  I figured $30 would be enough.  Man, it was COLD!!  It was so cold, I pumped $15 and got my butt back in the car and drove back home…… where I changed clothes.  Forget dressing smart casual, I dressed functionally warm.  Covered up that undershirt and boxer briefs with some lonnnnnnggggggg draws (uhh thermals for you poo- foo folks), replaced those thin pretty boy socks with some long cotton ones, changed those dress pants for some thick jeans, added a thermal shirt and chucked those gators for some "Tims."  Then donned a “Pittsburgh Steeler” skull hat, scarf and a leather jacket……and I was good to go.  When it’s COLD outside, dress warm, not cute.  Ya feel me baby? (I'm talking to my ALWAYS gotta dress cute, wife – “she be” cute BUT cold).  Won’t even wear a hat cuz she doesn’t wanna mess up her hair.  Child PLEASE!

     Now, I don’t consider myself a celebrity.  However, having been in broadcasting for over 30 years, I realize some people regard me as such.  I have no problem signing autographs, taking pictures or just shooting the breeze (am I showing my age with that saying) with anyone.  HOWEVER, brothers…… if you see me in the rest room and we’re both using the facilities, I am NOT, and I repeat, NOT gonna shake your hand NOR am I gonna give you dap.  I mean, c’mon man!  I’m in the rest room taking care of business, dude standing beside me says, “Yo Bob, you doing a good job emceeing the show and I listen to you all the time on the radio.  I just wanna shake your hand man.” And he reaches over and extends his hand.  I’m like….well, thanks, I appreciate it but my hands are kind of full right now.  He said, “I’ll wait.”  Huh?!  I said, well let me WASH my hands first (hint, hint).  He said, “Yeah go head man, I took a shower fo I came to the sho, so I’m good.”  Say WHAT?!?  I was so glad one of my co-workers came in & said they needed me on stage…….I hauled butt outta there.

Just a few observations......