Stuff

17. October 2011 · Comments Off on Stuff · Categories: General, Rant

So apparently Governor Rick Perry of Texas has a Baptist pastor who’s going off on Mormons.  I guess Michele Bachmann has jumped on that wagon as well, haven’t seen it, just heard about that one so…  Ya know, we’ve retired in Idaho.  There are a lot of Mormons here in Idaho.  They make good neighbors.  Given a choice between living with Baptists and living with Mormons, I’ll take the Mormons.  Once you tell them you’re not interested in going to the temple with them, they have the courtesy to leave you the hell alone.  And seriously?  You really want to trash the Osmonds?!  Donnie?  Marie?  America LOVES Donnie and Marie!  I know it’s a way to discredit Romney, but come ON.  The only thing these nimrod, close-minded, gay bashing, moralists are doing is making Mitt Romney look like the only rational candidate for the GOP.

Herman Cain?  Kinda liked him for a minute.  Cool, business man.  Then he started talking.  Total meltdown.

Occupy Where-Who-What-Ever they are.  I’m for it!  Seriously.  They might be a conglomeration of all the leftist “pissed off ats” all in one, but ya gotta admit, they have a couple of valid points.  The chief one being that we’re a good 3 years past the economic melt-down that the suits brought down on us and the only Armani clad shit bird that’s in jail is Bernie Maddoff?  And not only did these suits NOT get prosecuted…they got rewarded for their f*ckups with OUR tax dollars.  The only thing that surprises me is that it took so long for someone to organize a protest.

President Obama.  Sigh.  What can I say?  Not a fan.  Don’t like a damn things he’s done other than capture OBL and he did THAT by sticking with the same strategies and tactics that he beat up President Bush for.  I REALLY hoped he’d do something to get a real, sustainable alternative energy program going and create a bunch of jobs while doing it.  We all know how THAT turned out.  To call it feeble is an insult to feeble.

Okay, so now we’re only leaving 5,000 armed “advisers” in Iraq and pulling out all the combat forces?  Meanwhile, last week it was announced that we’re sending 100 armed “advisers” into Uganda.  I guess there’s some Rebel faction there that needs cleaning out.  Uganda.  “Suddenly” we need to do something about one of the warlords in Africa?  Because…?

The Tea Party.  What the hell happened?  It was brilliant, it was exciting, and then…Buellor?  Buellor?  Ya let the media run your message and now we don’t hear anything BUT their version of your message.

Bottom line?  Everyone’s fed up.  They’re fed up with blowing up people who probably had nothing to do with hurting any of us.  They’re fed up with spending billions of dollars blowing those people up.  They’re fed up with the way we treat our vets when they do make it home.  They’re very fed up with losing their houses.  They’re fed up with spending thousands of dollars on an education only to find out that nobody is hiring.  They’re fed up with their movie collections being outdated due to ANOTHER format change.  And to quote Tyler from Fight Club:

“I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need. We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War’s a spiritual war… our Great Depression is our lives. We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won’t. And we’re slowly learning that fact. And we’re very, very pissed off.”

A Question for the Tea Party Folks

06. September 2011 · Comments Off on A Question for the Tea Party Folks · Categories: General, Tea Time

So…Michele Bachmann…why exactly is she getting support?

So…Didja Watch the Debate Last Night?

12. August 2011 · Comments Off on So…Didja Watch the Debate Last Night? · Categories: Media Matters Not, My Head Hurts, Politics, Rant, That's Entertainment!

Me:  Looking at calendar.  “Why?”

Them:  “You watched the finale of “So You Think You Can Dance?” instead didn’t you?”

Me:  Holding up my fist.  “Melanie RULES!  Michele Bachmann’s got nothing on her.”

RIP Clarence Clemons

19. June 2011 · Comments Off on RIP Clarence Clemons · Categories: Ain't That America?, Memoir

In late August of 1975 I was 13 just a week away from 14 and a week and a half from high school when music for me suddenly changed drastically.  If you were like me, you fell asleep with a small FM transistor radio under your pillow playing soft enough so Mom and Dad couldn’t hear it.

One of those nights it was so hot that I actually left my bedroom door open so a breeze could run through the apartment.

On that night, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s “Born to Run” came over the radio in it’s entirety.  From Thunder Road to Jungleland.  That big block of wood guitar.  Those keyboards that sounded like they come straight off a midway.  That bass and drum-kit driving, driving into the night, and that saxaphone…that soaring magical flow of brass that rose me above the street right down the gangway between our apartment and the next.

I can’t tell you how many times that saxaphone literally saved my life through the rest of the 70s.  Some of it’s just normal teenage hormonal angsty bullshit, some of it was real insanity that comes from living in as a teen in a major city in the 70s.

Thank you Big Man.  God bless and keep you in his band.

Seriously?

06. June 2011 · Comments Off on Seriously? · Categories: Military, My Head Hurts, Veteran's Affairs

Mullen Says Pay, Benefit Cuts ‘On the Table’

Yeah, because there’s nowhere else where the military can save money.  If I were more cynical, I would say it’s someone’s “sneaky” idea to kill the volunteer service and go back to the draft.  If I were more cynical.

I Swear…

06. June 2011 · Comments Off on I Swear… · Categories: Ain't That America?, General, Politics, Rant, Stupidity

If I see one more politico or blogger who I used to respect stand up and tell me that Paul Revere actually WAS warning the British on his midnight ride, I’m going to vote for Obama just out of sheer spiteful frustration with the WingNuttery of it all.

No, it’s NOT worse than 57 states, but come ON people.  We learned this in 8th Grade.  And it wasn’t a “reasoned” response, she was spewing word salad.

I don’t care if it’s a Dem or a Rep, if you goofed, just say so.

Call Me Weird

22. April 2011 · Comments Off on Call Me Weird · Categories: Geekery

I’m gonna say it:  I’d rather see another Batman, Iron Man, or even Superman movie that go see Thor or The Avengers.  I just don’t care.

Call Me Weird

22. April 2011 · Comments Off on Call Me Weird · Categories: Geekery

I’m gonna say it:  I’d rather see another Batman, Iron Man, or even Superman movie that go see Thor or The Avengers.  I just don’t care.

Because You’re Pissing Us Off

03. March 2011 · Comments Off on Because You’re Pissing Us Off · Categories: AARRRMY TRAINING SIR!!!, Ain't That America?, Domestic, Home Front

I saw an online headline in the past couple of days that read, “Teachers wonder:  Why the scorn?”  Had a similar question pop up from an old friend from high school on Facebook.  It also came up up last election season when yet another old friend was running for some position in California (he’s a teacher by trade) and wanted to know why military people seemed so dismissive of “Teacher’s rights?”

I can’t say it’s the right answer or the only answer, but it is my answer:  Military people teach every day.  We train our subordinates, in and out of the classroom.  We help them develop their careers.  We act as mentors, counselors, teachers, friends, parental surrogates, and boss.  We don’t think it’s all that big a deal.  Yes, some people are better at teaching in a formal situation than others, but the passing on of information is not magic.  Not in 2011 when people actually get degrees without interacting with a teacher other than via email or online forum.

One old friend argued that because she has more formal education than most lawyers, and certainly more than “most idiot Republican” politicians, she’s entitled to more money.  I asked if she were teaching MORE as a result of that education?  No.  Was she teaching harder material as a result of that education?  No.  I asked her how her level of education effected how well she taught a standardized curriculum and she got downright pissy.  “There is NO such thing as a standardized curriculum, if you’d ever REALLY taught, you’d know that.”  I ignored that entirely and drove home my point:  A teacher’s level of education has little to no effect on their ability to communicate a set collection of information to their students.  Follow up questions, in-depth subject background, oh-by-the-way-you-might-find-this-bit-of-minutia-interesting, THOSE all benefit from you’re having an advanced degree IN THE SUBJECT YOU’RE TEACHING.  Your advanced degrees make YOU a more informed person, but you’re not doing my kid any more good than the fresh faced youngster with a new BA and teaching certificate who may actually still CARE about teaching.

“Back where I come from, we have universities, seats of great learning, where men go to become great thinkers. And when they come out, they think deep thoughts and with no more brains than you have.”  ~The Wizard of Oz to Scarecrow.

Unions:  At this point, unions aren’t helping teachers one bit.  When teachers’ unions were formed, they were necessary to ensure that teachers could make a living wage.  And they ARE making a living wage.  They don’t get paid a lot, in most cases, but they now have pay and benefits that are above the poverty line by a good margin.  Good teachers, exceptional teachers, get paid exactly the same amount as really crappy teachers.  Why?  Unions.  The unions are for equality, across the board, no matter how much you suck.  They are a beast that must be fed and to be fed, they must get more for their union members so the union members can feed them more.  They’re like many another bureaucracy, the initial reason for their existence has LONG passed, but they must justify their continuation and the way they do that is to insist that their members are some sort of victims, insist that only the union can keep the evil political machine at bay, only the union can “fix” what is broken.

The problem is that these days we’re all victims, we’re all not making enough, we’re all working harder for less money and teachers unions trying to argue that they’re still worse off than most of the rest of us, just isn’t flying.  If you’ve got a salary AND insurance these days, you’re doing pretty damn well.  We’re broke too, and for you to ask more of us while we’re still struggling to get back on our feet, is just damn insulting.

THAT’S why the scorn.

UNIONS:

24. February 2011 · Comments Off on UNIONS: · Categories: General

Making extortion and racketeering seem downright patriotic since the 1930s.

This Won’t End Well

03. August 2010 · Comments Off on This Won’t End Well · Categories: Fun With Islam

So, it looks like the mosque in NYC near Ground Zero has cleared another hurdle.  Seriously though, the NYPD is against it, the NYFD is against it, the families of those who died that day are against it.  Having known and befriended just a couple of NYPD’s finest in my life, I have to wonder if anyone thinks for a moment that it will get completed much less stand for very long.  I predict many unfortunate accidents.

Noggin’ Bloggin’/Product Review, Headblade (100802)

02. August 2010 · Comments Off on Noggin’ Bloggin’/Product Review, Headblade (100802) · Categories: Memoir

About a month or so ago I got another trim at another one of those discount “Master Care Hair Care Performer Care Clips Care” places and realized that the “stylist” was messing with my hair in such a way as to make sure the ever growing thin spot on the crown of my head was covered.  Sigh.  Beautiful Wife, bless her heart, insists this isn’t technically a comb over.  Just one reason I love her, she doesn’t slam my ego at every turn.

Since I retired from the Air Force (can you believe it’s been three years?) I’ve tried various and sundry hair/beard configurations.  While I’d like to have the patience to go for Billy Connolly in “Boondock Saints,” the best I can really hope for is Jeff Bridges in anything from the last dozen years, but with a Monk’s Bowl where the crown of my head is.  I don’t think The Dude prevails with a bald spot.

A couple of Saturdays ago, it was hot and we hadn’t quite got the air conditioner thing worked out for the summer yet and I had beads of sweat running down my neck and back etc., so…out came the clippers.  A quick buzz and then into the shower with the good ol’ Gillette and poof, back to the cueball look.

I’ve tried going back to AF short.  I’ve tried medium.  I’ve tried medium-long.  With my hair thinning more and the weird color pattern that seems to refuse to balance out, and the fact that it’s just plain easy, I think I’m going to keep it shaved at least for the foreseeable future.

So six years ago when I first shaved the dome, I tried this thing called a Headblade.  It’s a razor specifically made for shaving your head.  It looked cool.  It’s well-designed.  It’s got kind of a YinYang logo.  They supported the UFC.  It was an American invention from the 90s, back when Americans were still inventing things that worked better.  But I digress.  Six years ago when I first tried the Headblade Classic, I pretty much shredded my scalp.  It used a two-blade cartridge and I never quite got the balance of the thing.  You’re supposed to put NO pressure on the blade end.  I somehow couldn’t get my hand to to figure that out.

The latest version, the Headblade Sport, ran $12.99 at my local Walgreens and works so well it’s kind of scary.  Yes, it looks like half a Hot Wheel.  And it’s got three blades vs two so the blades are a bit more pricey.  However, one pass and the hair was gone, leaving all the skin intact and smooth as a baby’s butt.  So not only did it shave amazingly close, it did it with LESS irritation than my (insert ridiculous number)-blade face razor because I only had to make one, maybe two passes to get the hair gone.  I don’t know if it’s the wheels or the three blade configuration or that I’ve mellowed considerably over the past six years, but this thing works!

Prediction (100706)

06. July 2010 · Comments Off on Prediction (100706) · Categories: General, Politics

At some point in the next year, SecState Clinton will resign in protest over something or another and announce that she’s running against President Obama.

Five Six Reasons:  James Carville has come out at least twice with great ferocity against President Obama’s inaction on the BP oil spill.  President Bill Clinton is openly backing a non-Obama candidate in a local election.  SecState Clinton doesn’t strike me as the patient sort.  Two years out and the Republicans don’t have a recognizable candidate to rally around.  I’ve heard people from both sides of the political spectrum express the sentiment, “ANYbody but Obama!”  Hillary has got to be pissed off that President Obama is giving her job to everyone, including NASA.

Not Only do I Miss George W. Bush…

24. June 2010 · Comments Off on Not Only do I Miss George W. Bush… · Categories: General, General Nonsense, Politics

…but I quite honestly miss Bill Clinton.  At this rate, I should miss Jimmy Carter by the Fall Equinox.

Update:  I’m not sure whether I should be mad, flattered, or downright scared that I’m starting to think like Rush.

Another, Really?!! Moment

28. May 2010 · Comments Off on Another, Really?!! Moment · Categories: Media Matters Not, Military, Politics, The Funny

With all the other things going on:  President Obama’s running away from Washington to Chicago; This administration making post-Hurricane Katrina look successful; The Obama Presidency throwing former President Clinton under the bus in the Sestak sleaze-fest.  You may have missed this bit of news yesterday.

I received this from the HQ NORAD/NORTHCOM GROUP on Facebook and…and…I had to laugh.  Yesterday the White House released their National Security Strategy.  On the White House Blog, the title of the post that announces the release of the strategy is, and I couldn’t make this up myself if I wanted to:

“A BLUEPRINT FOR PURSUING THE WORLD THAT WE SEEK.”

What amazes me is that we all know that there were meetings about this.  There was brain-storming.  If nothing else, this administration knows the value of a well-turned phrase so they WORK at it.  THIS is what they came up with.  It’s the best they could do.  So basically, they’re not even doing the image thing very well anymore.

An Obama, Really?!, Moment

12. May 2010 · Comments Off on An Obama, Really?!, Moment · Categories: War

President Obama today stated that “taking the fight to the enemy seemed to be changing the momentum of the insurgency.” Yes Mr. President, actually fighting the enemy usually works better than letting them attack you without a response. Are you SURE you spent time in Chicago?

Woops

11. May 2010 · Comments Off on Woops · Categories: General, Media Matters Not

Ya know for two days I’ve been looking at pictures of Elena Kagan and wondering why all the news agencies kept posting pictures of this doffus looking guy.  I finally read closer today.  Ummm, sorry ma’am, in my defense I DO have an eye doctor’s appointment on Friday.

You’re Doing What?

04. April 2010 · Comments Off on You’re Doing What? · Categories: Health and Wellness

That seems to be the response from people who met me later in life.  People who knew me when I was younger, think it’s kind of normal.

Last week I started a program at a local medical vocational college to become a certified massage therapist.

It has a lot to do with this mind/body/spirit thing that I’ve stopped a started over too many years of my life.  I’ve begun down the road to get those three pieces parts of me integrated and then I let one thing or another distract me off that path.  I’m starting to feel like I’m at a point in my life that it’s now or never.  It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and now that I’m closer to 50 than to 40, so I’m becoming very aware that one of these days I’m going to run out of tomorrows.

I’ve been pretty good the past three months about keeping my commitment to do some T`ai Chi or Chi Gung every morning before I get ready for work.  I’m pretty sure that I’ll be adding Yoga to that here pretty soon as well.  I’ve got arthritis well throughout my lower back, knees and ankles, the result of years at a desk and of doing stupid things with my body and not listening when I was told to “let things heal before you etc.”  Beautiful Wife and I both go to a massage therapist when we can afford one and for both of us, the results have been the same.  A massage therapist has done more for what ails us than any doctor ever has.  This way I can get my wife on a table more than once a month and I may be getting a new career.  I may not do it full time but I can see me doing it part time.

I have to tell you the truth, it’s pretty hard.  This may very well be the hardest thing I’ve ever taken on.  It’s sort of like the NCO Academy in that it’s information with a firehouse and there’s a LOT of material.  I’m exhausted, pretty sure I’ve taken on too much, and I haven’t been this happy in years.  I’ve spent too much time in the past couple of years, coming home, turning on the TV and falling into my recliner.  I don’t know much, but I do know that kind of behavior is pretty much what took my Dad out.  I’m much better when I’m doin’ something.

Saturday Morning Grumbles (100327)

27. March 2010 · Comments Off on Saturday Morning Grumbles (100327) · Categories: My Head Hurts, Politics, Rant, Tea Time

Sorry it’s taken so long, life’s been busy and about to get busier. Sometimes I have things to say that are longer than what Facebook allows.  Most days that’s a good thing.

What I do know is that I’m getting more worried for our country as I watch President Obama and his merry band take away more freedoms and take over more private industry.  The banks and car companies were bad enough.  The current Health Care Bill, while not as bad as we first saw it, is still bad enough and now we’re talking very personal information in the hands of the people who bring you the post office.  It’s a cliché I know, but have you had to deal with a front line Federal Customer Service Rep lately?  In any department?  OMFG!  I swear sometimes I think that all those mental health patients that were released years ago, all went to work for the Feds.

What truly creeps me out, what sends an icy chill down my back, is that all my wanna-be hippie friends from high school in the 1970s who were all about “freedom from the man” and “man, read “Animal Farm” and “1984” before the Republicans take over” are now telling me to calm down and just listen to Obama.  Things are fine.  Relax.  Don’t panic.  Everything is fine.  It’s for the greater good.  I’d like to gather them all into a room and Leroy-Jethro-slap each and every one of them.

I work in Agriculture for the state where we retired.  In just the past year and a half, I’ve learned that we’re basically getting more and more of California’s “Happy Cows” because their regulation on dairies has become so restrictive, the farmers have picked up and moved over here.  We’re expecting an influx of their egg farmers here soon as well.  California’s animal rights people don’t like how egg farmers coop their chickens so…the egg farmers will move out and come over here and our state will get all that tax base goodness.  Ya see, if you make things too hard for a business, if you add too much regulation, they’ll just move away and not come back.  Especially if the people doing the regulating have NO clue about what they’re talking about.  You want to make a farmer’s eyes go blank?  Start talking about the individual rights of an egg layin’ chicken.  Hell, I’ve just met chickens casually and I’ll look at you like you’re a fool if you speak about their rights.

Now people…I’m sorry, but people have rights.  Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness.  They’re not just words to me.  I’m very fond of those rights.  Liberty is “a big fucking deal” to me.  It’s not just some “concept” or “catch phrase left over from the 1700s.”  When I was in the Air Force I signed over some liberty.  Can’t have a military that’s “too” free.  Nothing would get done.  I’m not in the Air Force any longer and there are things I can say about the Commander in Chief that I wouldn’t have said in uniform.  First and foremost, I believe that he believes that he’s doing the right thing.  I’m absolutely serious.  And at first glance, I’m right there with him.  Dammit, we’re a wealthy nation, everyone damn well SHOULD have health care.  The problems are, and this is where my high school chums get lost, that the government should NOT be able to dictate what that health care is going to look like.  They should NOT be able to dictate who my doctor will be.  They should NOT be able to dictate what a doctor can charge for his services.  They also should damn well NOT be able to dictate how much I need to spend on a plan that’s going to take my money away without any input from ME.  And yes, I use the word “dictate” to redundancy because it’s important that we understand what’s happening.  The Federal Government, in the past year, in the guise of “the common good,” has begun to dictate.  They’re taking over the banks, they’re taking over industry, they’re taking over health care.  And again, I’m absolutely positive that the President believes he’s doing the right thing.  I’m absolutely positive that he’s wrong.

Check…One-Two, Check-Check…This Thing On?

03. March 2010 · Comments Off on Check…One-Two, Check-Check…This Thing On? · Categories: General

Yawns…stretches, cracks knuckles, cracks neck, cracks lower back “ow-ow-ow…sigh.”  Sips coffee.  Thinks.  Alrighty then.

So an “old HS Friend on Facebook” posts that he’s joined “The Coffee Party” (giggle, really?  The best they could do?) and so I come over here to see what Mom’s got and apparently she’s been writing up a storm and then I figure I’d see if my sign-in still works and lo and behold it DOES and so I started thinking about some stuff and what I might want to write about and…deep breath…why yes…yes MY coffee is particularly strong this morning, why do you ask?

Things that Make me Giggle (090707)

07. July 2009 · Comments Off on Things that Make me Giggle (090707) · Categories: Ain't That America?, General

The reaction to the death of Michael Jackson.  Seriously?  With everything going on in the world, THIS is where our attention is focused?  I know, I know, circus provides distraction when times are tough, but can we find something less creepy?  Also, the hypocrisy of some networks (COUGH–Fox News–COUGH).  They basically crucified the man during the child molestation trial and now “Shep” is all broken up and O’Reilly is concerned about the manner of his death?  And the guy from NBC who said with great gravitas, “Michael Jackson will never die again.”  Wow…that was so…wow.

The sign on the fence of a propane gas business near our house:  “Tank heaven for little grills.”  It cracks me up every time.

The new SyFy show, Warehouse 13.  Decent writing, but come on, how about an effects budget?  Video feedback?  Really?

And while we’re at it.  What’s with the “SyFy” thing?  This is an improvement…how?

When I read about what’s going on in Afghanistan.  Okay, maybe not giggle, chuckle cynically maybe.  Does anyone else remember what happened to the Soviets when they tried to go heavy back in the 80s?   What.  The.  HELL?

“Humanizing” Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.  Look, either leave the gays and the lesbians the hell alone, or ban them from serving.  Quit pretending that it’s anything more than a majority of Christians in the military who simply think, “It’s gotta be wrong, it’s in the Bible.”  You know it.  I know it.  Stop pretending.  Stop it.  It’s over.  No one buys the “Good order and discipline.” thing anymore.  We’ve all served with gay and lesbian people.  No one lost their minds over it.  No one started over-decorating the barracks and the girls didn’t all flock to the softball team or start starring in “Girls gone wild.”

Top 40 radio.  There’s just nothing with any substance there.  I’ll give you Black Eyed Peas, but when Michael Jackson is back on the charts with songs from the 80s and 90s, the industry has GOT to be wondering where the new music is.

Al Franken is a U.S. Senator.  Deeply funny, deeply deeply disturbing.

Sarah Palin resigning.  Not funny, kind of sad really.  The poor lady honestly believed that she could make a difference while bucking both the entrenched liberals and Republicans.  I didn’t agree with her on everything, but I really liked her.  She was about the only interesting person in the last election and they destroyed her for it.  I was surprised she didn’t fold up her tent and head home after the Presidential race.  After the beating she and her family took, I’m laughing at the shocked politicos who are wondering, “Why?”

An Estimated 2500 Show for Boise’s Tea Party

15. April 2009 · Comments Off on An Estimated 2500 Show for Boise’s Tea Party · Categories: Tea Time

News reports here and here.  I don’t think ours was quite a non-partisan as others and the petition to put the bible back in schools seems out of place, but all in all, a LOT more people than I expected.  Boise’s not know for it’s “activism.”  Unless the Feds move in and shoot someone’s dog and then, well, all bets are off.

American Idol 2009

08. April 2009 · Comments Off on American Idol 2009 · Categories: That's Entertainment!

In case you missed Adam Lambert singing Mad World last night, I finally found it online.

So basically the contest is over, the only question is whether or not he’ll tank it so he can cut a decent record when the show is over.

And I haven’t really been watching the show, I just catch the videos online the day after.

RIP Chief Master Sergeant Paul Wesley Airey, First CMSgt of the Air Force

12. March 2009 · Comments Off on RIP Chief Master Sergeant Paul Wesley Airey, First CMSgt of the Air Force · Categories: Air Force

Wow, have I been out of touch, I used to hear about this kind of stuff the same day.

I got to hear him speak once, long ago when he was touring with then Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Parish.  He always seemed taller and bigger than everyone around him.  He LOVED our Air Force.

Rest well Chief.  Thanks for leading the way.

The Other Ones

20. February 2009 · Comments Off on The Other Ones · Categories: General, Memoir

I know I haven’t been writing here much.  Haven’t had much going on that I wanted to write about.  The one big thing on our minds around here is something I’m not very proud of, but thought I’d throw it out here and see if the half dozen of you who still come around might find it interesting.

My family is going through what millions of families have been going through over the past year or so.  We’re looking at losing our house.  Now we didn’t buy a house that we couldn’t afford, and we didn’t get a mortgage that exploded one day.  Life happened and the economy happened.  I lost my job and didn’t find a new one for a month and a half, then my wife lost her job and didn’t find a new one for a month and a half, and we had utilities to pay and food to buy and we fell behind in our mortgage.  Our lender is NOT willing to work with us to bring down the payments or to put what’s missing on the end of the loan.  They want a payment and a half until we’re caught up.  And the way the cost of living went up and didn’t really come back down, we can no longer really afford the mortgage payment much less a payment and a half.  We’re the other ones.  The ones you really don’t hear about much.  We didn’t do anything wrong, we bought the place in good faith.  We never thought we’d be trying to choose between paying the mortgage and paying for food.  What really kills me is that if we get rid of cable, cell phones and internet, we’d still be short.  I’ve never been in that position before.  We’ve tightened our belts before, but even if we do now, it doesn’t matter.  What really kills me is that we’re making more now than we were when we bought the place.  Kinda makes me crazy.

The only thing that MIGHT save us is if there’s anything in the President’s Magical Bailout for us.  Our problem?  We don’t want YOU paying for OUR mortgage.  We’re seriously against that, and besides, from everything I’ve read, we’re not really the folks the President is trying to save.  Our lender didn’t screw us over, they didn’t see the economy tanking either.  Otherwise, they wouldn’t have lent us the money in the first place.

So we’re looking and believe we found a nice little rental house.  I’ve been trying to contact our lender all week but all I get is voicemail.  Apparently, we’re not the only ones wanting to talk to them.

We’re going to lose our house and I’d like to feel worse about it but after all the figuring we’ve done I just can’t.  We simply can’t afford this place.  God help us if the hot water heater or the a/c or the furnace died.  There’s no way to replace them.  God help us if we had anything happen to either of the cars, which we NEED to work.

We can’t keep going like this and that means letting them foreclose.  That hurts.  I tend to be on the proud side in case you’ve missed that part of my character over the years and we’re going through all five stages of mourning.  I’m going to really miss the backyard, but I’m thinking we can get to the foothills easier once we can buy a tank of gas without worrying about we have enough money for food.

I Hate That (090128)

28. January 2009 · Comments Off on I Hate That (090128) · Categories: General Nonsense

I hate when you almost run smack dab into a great big wad of dark first thing in the morning.  And they you practically kill yourself tripping on the bathroom rug trying to avoid it but you run right into anyways and of course, it’s just dark, so you go right through it and bump your shoulder on the wall.

This is my brain on cold medicine.  Any questions?

Thoughts On The Day

20. January 2009 · Comments Off on Thoughts On The Day · Categories: Politics

I caught the Inauguration of President Obama mostly on Webcast, in between incoming calls and the flotsam and jetsam of work.  I work for my State’s Government and our Legislature is in session and yeah, we’re having all kinds of fun trying to figure out a budget in this economy.  But that’s not what I want to write about.

First of all, I want to thank President Bush for his service.  I know a lot of people think he was possibly “the worst President evah!”  They actually believe there was some evil purpose behind the Bush administration.  I don’t have time for them.  There’s some sort of psychosis there, be it Bush Derangement Syndrome or just plain conspiracy mania, I dunno.  I think 9/11 changed all of us and say what you will about his methods, we never got hit again under his watch and Iraq is better off today than it was under Saddam, and Afghanistan is better than it was under the Taliban.  I believe he’s a man of honor and integrity who put the American people first.  I still have no problem with our going into Iraq, but looking back I wish it had been done better.  I have that luxury.  I wasn’t the man making the decisions.  You look at Secretary Rumsfeld’s resume and shit, I’d have trusted him too.  Not sure if anyone else has read this little piece of trivia, but President Bush met with more families of fallen military members than any President before him.  That tells me volumes about the man and his sense of responsibility for what he was doing.  I was proud to serve under him.  I’m glad his name is on my retirement certificate.

I was moved by President Obama’s inauguration.  I didn’t miss the fact that he’s our first African American President.  Only an idiot could have missed it.  The fact that we no longer have that racial ceiling is exciting.  I’m serious, that just blows me away.  We can move on now and get past that crap.

I didn’t miss his message of responsibility.  That we all need to chip in and help get us out of the problems that face us.  If there’s one thing that’s bugged me about this decade is that while the military is at war, the rest of the country isn’t.  It doesn’t jive with the stories my parents told me about how people gave up things to help support the war effort in WW II.  There’s been something missing.  A sense that we’re all in this thing together. I think the new President realizes this as well.

I’m still cynical enough to not trust our new President because he comes from the Chicago Machine.  However, he’s my President and if the Clintons couldn’t find any dirt on the man that would take him down, I’ve got to conclude that there simply isn’t any.  I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.  For those on the far right who want him to fail, who want him to fall on his face, who won’t support him because he’s not from the right party or philosophy, I have no time for you either.

We’re in too much trouble to continue to play these bullshit partisan games.  “We’ll give Obama the exact same respect and support that the far left gave Bush!”

Listen you dumbshits, we’re in trouble.  We HAVE to come together.  We HAVE to.  I’m not thrilled that it’s under a man who seems to be a socialist at heart, but dammit, we gotta start somewhere.

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