When the rats first appeared in the North Texas area, we thought they would go away quickly, but boy were we wrong! They just multiplied. We became concerned for our health and fitness. One Friday night, we headed to a football game. Driving to the game, there were a constant flow of rats scurrying across the road and squishing under our tires. They were everywhere! I am sure we sent many to the "Happy Rat Land" that night! It was then we realized we were in for a rat campaign siege.

I had a .22 caliber rifle, so I stocked up with ammunition and became a hunting machine. I killed as many rats as I had bullets. I would invite my friends who were having the same rat problem as my family, and we would see who could kill the most rats. There were so many, you could kill them with a garden hoe if you were fast enough!

One of the techniques I found that worked well in killing the rats was to take a 5 gallon bucket and bury it about half way into the ground. I then filled the can half way with water. After filling with water, I sprinkled bread pieces onto the water. I planted three or four of these cans at different locations around our yard. I would check this the next morning before going to school to collect and throw away all the rats that had drowned in the water. They wanted that bread and climbed in and drowned. Ingenious wasn’t it?

You can criticize my methods of killing those rodents, but have you ever smelled the stench from a rat dying under your house? We lived in a home that was built using a pier and beam method. This left plenty of crawl room under the house. The rats definitely took advantage of this shelter, and they also met the "rat maker" there to die.

I am not sure if anyone became ill from those rats. I hope not, but finally they just left! Maybe, the rats became tired of dodging me and my friends bullets. All I know is when the rats were gone, we celebrated the rat evacuation with glee!

Recently, I went to the Ophthalmologist for an eye examination. My eyes were dilated and scrutinized from every possible angle. After the exam, the Doctor asked If I took multi-vitamins? I answered yes. He then went into his speech about how I need I-cap multi-vitamins to strengthen my eyes. Oh, what a few years will do to change attitudes and opinions. Doctors recommending supplements! WOW!!!

Muscle building supplements fall into the same category. Not long ago, we were told to not bother with the supplements, they did not matter. Just eat a good diet and get lots of rest and everything would be fine. Well, I am certainly glad, serious minded and determined builders, did not listen. Sometimes, or probably most of the time, you need to constantly explore the new frontiers in building a healthy and strong body. Go boldly is the motto and not tiptoe through the tulips as Tiny Tim used to say. (If you do not know who Tiny Tim is, look him up).

Today, muscle building or body building supplements and good nutrition supplements are a must to aid in dealing with your tough daily schedule in order to fight exhaustion and lack of good or adequate nutrition. Now that later in life is approaching, I really concentrate on maintaining muscle and eating well. I take the muscle building and nutrition supplements to assist my body in staying the course. There is literature offering advise as to what we older guys need in the way of nutritional and muscle building supplements. When you peruse this literature, make sure to keep in mind your body’ s needs. Make your decisions based on you…not the general public.

When we look at the past, we can really see how little we knew about nutrition and supplements. We were actually in the dark ages. I have heard this statement made about our knowledge of nutrition and supplements. We know more about raising cattle and their feeding and nutrition than we do about human nutrition. Having been raised in a rural community, I would have agreed with the saying. Not now! We have made progress, have we not? Let us keep up this progress!