JUST SOME POSTS

One would think one of the advantages of being a father of six (yes - SIX) would be the copious gifts and good tidings one would receive on ones birthday. HAH. I am writing this at 11:57 pm on my 55th birthday - the day I passed from a simple adult to a senior citizen discount eligible citizen - with only THREE "Happy Birthday"s from my kids. I got more good wishes and greetings from my on-line websites, groups, companies, and forums I belong to than my six kids. (to be fair - one of the three that never wished me Happy B'Day was the ONLY one to cough up a gift - ALWAYS nice!) Hey, PEPSI (or one of their computers),took time out of its busy day to wish me Happy B'Day! Can anyone say - E-CARDs!?! Bitter? Nah, I'm not bitter. There were probably thousands of fathers with six children that didn't hear from three of them, AND ONLY GOT A GIFT OR CARD FROM ONE OF THEM! I'm sure of it. (this is pretty cool - I can semi-publicly chastise my kids in front of the...

"Whoa! What is that smell!!" If I had a dime for everytime I heard that one... I will always remember the two summers I spent working for my "Uncle" Boris. He and his wife Agnes had a little company that made costumes and props for performing animals. You know, the little jackets for the dancing bears, the headdresses for the horses and elephants, etc. My job was as a go-fer, and I had the dubious honor of measuring the animals for size. You haven't lived until you try to get an inseam measurement from a chimp. I especially remember one week when Boris was trying to develop a special unicycle for a bear. The circus people wanted it to look like a regular unicycle, but you can imagine the difficulty here - hey, it had to support a bear! I was measuring a Zebra for a coat, and I heard a terrible crash. I ran over to the shed where Boris was working and saw him on the ground. He was screaming and wailing like he had been shot. I found out later that was the day ...

I have not felt very motivated lately to write. I have ideas, and even formulate blog posts; but it is always when I am hours away from actually being able to sit at a computer and type it out. One of the things I am really tired of hearing is the doom and gloom over our economy. Here is an analysis by a money manager from Raleigh I just read: 1.US employment: Today, our unemployment rate is roughly 5%. Last year at this time, the unemployment rate was 4.5%. Five years ago, the rate was 6%. The average rate of unemployment over the past 50 years is 5.86%. So, the rate of unemployment is higher today than a year ago, but it is by no means stark. A fair number of economists have set the “natural” rate of unemployment at about 6% to account for those people temporarily off of payrolls. Some would argue that the current trend is bad, but they typically go too far in assuming that small trends will become long-term trends. (These are the same types of forecasters who, in the 60s, projec...

This is the first post I have ever attempted to do without at least a good idea of what I am going to write. (I don't know how other people do this kind of things, but what I do is see/hear/remember something and then do a general outline in my head. Then I sit down and write it from beginning to end in one fell swoop. I never go back and correct or change except for spelling and gross grammar mistakes - at least the ones I see). This one is just coming as I type, basically because I felt it was time to do a post for my adoring fans (I know they are there somewhere!). I was thinking about how life today is soooooo different, especially for kids, than it was was for me. (when I start waxing nostalgic like this, I always have a deep seated desire to put on a cardigan, some slippers, and develop a quiver in my voice, but I digress) I cannot imagine my world as a kid adding computers, video games, 100+ channels of TV, cell phones, and all the other modern "conveniences" ...

OK, I am blowing the lid off the Two Men & a Truck scam!! (for more, see "Truth in advertising" from 1/24) I was taking Bailey to school yesterday and we passed a Two Men & a Truck - truck. I looked in the cab... you guessed it - ONE MAN! Now unless Two Men & a Truck put one of the men in the back, I am calling them out! Two Men, HAH ! BTW, I have a dream of starting a company called - Two Men & a Duck. I am not sure of all the details yet, but I guess I am learning that I really don't need two men. But, I digress. On the whole Global Warming thing,(for more here, see "Global Warming - don't turn up the A/C yet" from 11/17/07) the more savvy of the "environmentalist left" is now calling our problem - Global Climate Change. With good reason. It now seems the same figures that they have been using for proof of global warming now say there has actually been quite a bit of cooling since the mid-seventies. I am telling you now, this ...

This might be more meaningful and enjoyable if you read (or re-read) the first post - from 12/24/07 - "Party, Party, Party". Check it out. "So, how are things going in school, son?" asked the dad as his son walked in . "OK I guess" was the reply. "The teacher says I don't understand our political system." "What?" exclaimed the dad. " Did you tell her about our talk?" "Yeah, and that was when she said I did not understand. I don't really think she agreed with what you told me . " was the son's reply. " Well" the dad continued, "sit down. Let's talk some more." "So" said the dad , "You told her we talked? Then what?" "Yeah, I told her what you said about the Dumb party and the Stupid party being the same, and how people that voted just for the party were stupid.", was the son's reply . "She said they were not the same. One was...

OK, the second in one day - something is going on! I wanted to do a blog on perspective. Life and our evaluation of it is based a LOT on perspective. I got a great example of this yesterday. My wife is disabled!! Officially. Perspective - - - On face value, that would not appear to be a good thing. Disability is not to be cheered. Ah, official disability is (or can be). My seventeen year old was here yesterday when my wife opened the letter and we were cheering for disability. She made a comment that is was weird that we were happy with Mom being disabled. I explained we weren't, but... My wife's condition is affected not one bit by what the doctors, bureaucrats, or anyone else labels it. She is no more nor no less disabled or ill than prior to getting the letter. However, getting the letter signifies official legal acceptance of her disability. That will hopefully lead to a lessening of the financial burdens of her condition and let us deal exclusively with the physical ...