http://gregs.gather.com Recent Articles on Gather by Greg Schiller en-us Copyright Gather Inc 2009 Tue, 05 Jan 2010 13:05:02 GMT 2010-01-05T13:05:02Z en-us Copyright Gather Inc 2009 http://www.gather.com/images/header/logo_gather.gif http://www.gather.com/ http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977967497               Good morning fellow readers and writers. This is what greeted me Sunday morning.  Uh-huh, the thermometer reads -21 . . . Mon, 04 Jan 2010 05:32:45 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977967497 Greg Schiller 2010-01-04T05:32:45Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974606 With each passing year it seems holiday diner conversations get weirder.  I suspect the cranberry sauce. It is a dish served only at Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Too low a frequency . . . Mon, 04 Jan 2010 05:28:30 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974606 Greg Schiller 2010-01-04T05:28:30Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977965103               I spent last week off the grid. We don't have internet access down in Almost Iowa and that is a good thing.  It leaves time for books . . . Mon, 28 Dec 2009 05:07:15 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977965103 Greg Schiller 2009-12-28T05:07:15Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977965074 By Christmas Eve, the weather service had distilled a full week's worth of storm warnings into a single word: Snowageddon . It's a word you have to take seriously; so we did.  . . . Mon, 28 Dec 2009 05:01:54 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977965074 Greg Schiller 2009-12-28T05:01:54Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977956280                Gather is blessed with a number of great humor writers.  So let's get to know them, starting with Mike Ball .  Here . . . Mon, 21 Dec 2009 04:36:21 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977956280 Greg Schiller 2009-12-21T04:36:21Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977947179 Raise your hand if you have ever changed a flat tire. Okay, put your hands down. Now, who has waged that battle with the emergency equipment found in the typical trunk? Okay, you can stop . . . Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:18:34 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977947179 Greg Schiller 2009-12-15T00:18:34Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977945651               The forecast says, "cold with snow", it's the sort of . . . Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:01:55 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977945651 Greg Schiller 2009-12-14T11:01:55Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977930015               From Greg Schiller (gregs)   To Anonymous (Anonymouse) Subject Re: My undeserved obscurity . . . Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:01:51 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977930015 Greg Schiller 2009-12-07T05:01:51Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977923668 I love Saturday morning cartoons. I love the melodramas stripped to a landscape of primary colors and inhabited by outrageous caricatures. After half a century, I still laugh every time Wile E. Coyote . . . Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:37:53 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977923668 Greg Schiller 2009-11-30T14:37:53Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977912776 For me, the hardest part about moving to the country was learning the language. Sure, people around here still speak Minnesotan - that odd regional dialect of the language known locally as mer-i-kin.  . . . Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:00:57 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977912776 Greg Schiller 2009-11-23T05:00:57Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977903982 Autumn has come to Almost Iowa. It's been a rough year. First it was too cool, too early. Next it was too wet, too late. Now everyone is too grumpy. Even the deer hunters are in too foul a . . . Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:56:33 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977903982 Greg Schiller 2009-11-17T01:56:33Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977888684 Two Fridays ago, I signed the last check for my youngest's college education. In other words, I finally broke the tape in the marathon of child-raising. I celebrated the event in a manner worthy of a . . . Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:05:13 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977888684 Greg Schiller 2009-11-09T16:05:13Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977876696 Friday evening at diner, my wife looked up from her plate and said, “Honey, let's go to IKEA tomorrow.” Her suggestion landed like a bomb just south of the salad bowl, one that ticked while . . . Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:03:55 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977876696 Greg Schiller 2009-11-02T05:03:55Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977870356 I don't care what people say about the coverage on FOX or CNN. Take it from a front line veteran of home repair, the only channel that lies consistently is Home and Garden Television (HGTV). The . . . Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:23:29 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977870356 Greg Schiller 2009-10-26T13:23:29Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977859971 They say... You know who I am talking about...  the people we look to – to say things. The experts, the scientists, the polls, the three out of four doctors, the car guys on NPR, the . . . Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:06:57 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977859971 Greg Schiller 2009-10-19T14:06:57Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977849887 I was raised in the city but I always yearned for the country. The thing is, now that I have moved to the country, I find myself yearning for the serenity and safety of the inner-city. Let me explain. . . . Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:54:49 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977849887 Greg Schiller 2009-10-12T16:54:49Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977841676 The first time I met Ed, I was not so sure he was a guy I wanted to meet. I'm average height and he was a whole lot shorter than that but made up for it with a weight lifter's build. Everything about . . . Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:16:50 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977841676 Greg Schiller 2009-10-06T23:16:50Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977831485 October has come hurtling upon us like an artillery shell packed with a nasty payload of seasonal unpleasantness. There are windows to wash, leaves to rake, gutters to clean and a cat to pin down for . . . Wed, 30 Sep 2009 03:30:59 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977831485 Greg Schiller 2009-09-30T03:30:59Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977813869 Last Sunday while burning leaves, my grand-daughter asked, “Grandpa, how old are you?” I thought of tossing a number at her, but what would that do? At her age anything past single digits . . . Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:25:47 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977813869 Greg Schiller 2009-09-15T21:25:47Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977806417 Was life created on the busiest day in history or did it simmer in the muck, like politics? The answer is in and it's no surprise - the creationists have won, hands-down. How could they not? . . . Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:45:35 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977806417 Greg Schiller 2009-09-14T12:45:35Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977804737 We are in for a hard winter. That's what people in Minnesota are telling each other. Look at it from our perspective. If you think of North America as a target for weather, we are the bulls-eye. We . . . Tue, 08 Sep 2009 21:17:46 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977804737 Greg Schiller 2009-09-08T21:17:46Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977796491 Why is it women take such delight in humiliating men? My wife and mother teamed up on me last night at diner. I can't bear to repeat what they were laughing at, but I have to ask; why would anyone spend . . . Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:17:33 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977796491 Greg Schiller 2009-09-02T00:17:33Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977793905 I came into this world with neither fortune nor luck but don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining; I just want it fixed. The way I look at it, I've done my part. They say you have to be ready when opportunity . . . Mon, 31 Aug 2009 04:02:09 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977793905 Greg Schiller 2009-08-31T04:02:09Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977768490 Congratulation on your purchase of a TXS 10 chainsaw from Massey-Cree Inc. This is the finest chainsaw that you can afford. SAFETY RULES Read this manual carefully until you completely understand . . . Mon, 10 Aug 2009 04:07:21 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977768490 Greg Schiller 2009-08-10T04:07:21Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977763653 The Buckthorn bush has turned me into a murderous thug. I've spent the last few weeks on the attack, cutting it away with a chainsaw, hacking at its roots with a pick-ax and even throttling it with . . . Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:56:34 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977763653 Greg Schiller 2009-08-05T15:56:34Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977762440 While my wife is traveling, I've been at our house in Southern Minnesota, on my own. People find that a little suspect. When I walk the two and half miles into town for lunch, the women who run The . . . Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:54:58 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977762440 Greg Schiller 2009-08-04T17:54:58Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977760328 When I first met my wife, I asked her where she was from. She said she grew up on a farm and named the nearby small Southern Minnesota town. “Where's that?” I asked. She named another . . . Mon, 03 Aug 2009 04:01:50 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977760328 Greg Schiller 2009-08-03T04:01:50Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977729853 The world is round. No matter where you start or which direction you go, if you travel in a line, you will end up in the same place. It's as true for culture as it is for the physical world. Everything . . . Mon, 06 Jul 2009 04:02:06 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977729853 Greg Schiller 2009-07-06T04:02:06Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977675716 Something struck me as odd about an article on Gather. The piece described how global warming is destroying a native village in western Alaska called Newtok. It cited an April . . . Wed, 06 May 2009 23:34:07 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977675716 Greg Schiller 2009-05-06T23:34:07Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977643513 Could there be an entry in the White House speech-writing stylebook that reads, "A paragraph anchored by an inference to "Global Warming" can state anything and still be credible with . . . Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:01:38 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977643513 Greg Schiller 2009-04-01T14:01:38Z