For the record

It may be Labor Day Weekend, but I am off to bust my ass helping a buddy do some renovation work. It is going to hot as Hades.

Friday Music

Blasphemy, but Dean Martin was probably a better singer than Frank. From the recordings I have he was a hell of an entertainer. His on stage drunk persona made him famous, yet usually he was stone sober when he performed.

Here is the song performed as originally written by Cole Porter:



For comparison, here is Frank doing the tune:

What a dickwad

Frank Straub was Director of Public Safety in Indianapolis when a cop, smashed into some motorcycles, killing one and injuring two citizens.  The cop is waiting trial for being drunk when he committed this action. The cop has since been busted again for drunk driving. Somehow, the blood draw was screwed up, and evidence tampered with, all under Straub's direction of the department.

Straub is example 1A of the Peter Principle. Now he has turned up as Police Chief in Spokane. He actually blames the murdered victim in a crime for trying to defend himself during a robbery. A retired WWII vet is beaten to death by two thugs (why no, blacks beating a white guy could never be racism) and somehow in Frank Straub's twisted world it is 88 year-old Shorty Belton's fault he got killed.

Frank Straub gives cops a bad name. What a douchebag.

Wednesday Quiz

In 1971 I used routinely published a feature on this old blog called the Wednesday Quiz. You can find it back in the archives. Since I am lazy and cannot think up a witty, or insightful collection of words and phrases today, I am going to bring back an old but good feature. After all, networks trot out new versions of old game shows and Hollywood has made it a staple to remake movies and TV shows into new features. How many more Superman or Batman movies do we need? I will not even discuss the Scooby Doo movies.

So here goes, Here is your Wednesday Quiz for today. Can you ID this hottie from the past?

You will be surprised at my identity -- I'm famous!

No cheating with a search engine.  leave your guess answer in the comments. There will be prizes. At least there as far as you are concerned.

I can't hardly wait

It looks like the Administration is planning attacks in Syria. I cannot wait for the Liberal bloggers to go bat shit.  I occasionally read one in particular who believes that the Bush incursion into Iraq was "the most shameful action in the history of the country".

It is ironic, in Syria we will be supporting Al Qaeda.

Remember when prominent Democrats claimed the President had no authority to send troops into a foreign nation without Congressional approval?  Remember when prominent Democrats wanted to impeach GW for the attacks that led to regime change in Iraq?  What? You want me to name names?  OK, one of the Senators who was adamant the President needed approval was some guy from Illinois called Barack Obama. The Senator calling for impeachment was Joe Biden.

I guess Libya did not count, since we were "leading from behind".At least Bush had the excuse of broken UN sanctions on his side. Syria is just a mess.

Liberals, progressives, Democrats, hypocritical types will cry for proof. How about letting top Democrats speak for themselves?:

Worst President Ever

I have made no secret I think Obama is a lousy President. I find it hard to point to one positive accomplishment. Perhaps getting us kinda, sorta, mostly out of Iraq qualifies. I might even point toward setting an end point to our involvement in Afghanistan, but the way we are going about it seems like the whole last decade was an exercise in wasting the lives of thousands of young Americans. Billions of dollars and thousands of lives pissed away in the arsehole of the earth with the end result leaving the Taliban in charge and nothing different from September 10, 2001. Bin Laden is dead, there is that.

The failure of the war on Terror can not be laid completely at the feet of the current occupant of the White House. The previous administration (and the one before that) have tried to wage  bloodless war. We have opted for high precision attacks, hoping against hope that no Americans die, no civilians die, and only the worst of the enemy leaders expire. It seems the politicians, the press, and perhaps even the people no longer have the stomach to unleash the dogs of war. I did not serve. Perhaps that sentiment is well and good. I am in no position to say what is the right way to wage war.

Anyway, I was reflecting on the achievements of the current occupant of the White House before I was sidetracked by my own wandering mind. Is Obama the worst President in history? He is not the most ineffective, Carter still wins that battle.  His has wrought changes that may well bode ill for the future. One can not argue Obama is incompetent and ineffective then blame him for ObamaCare and massive deficits. You can not attribute long-term damage to society, the economy, and the American way and then call him the golfer-in-chief.

I do think we are in the midst of a long period of very bad Presidents. The string of Bush, Clinton, Bush, and Obama will likely vie with the stretch of Presidents starting with William Henry Harrison through Buchanan (Harrison, Tyler, Polk, Taylor, Filmore, Pierce, Buchanan) for the weakest string of Executives in American history.  Just as I forget Filmore when trying to recite the list of Presidents in my brain, future Americans will likely forget the weak sisters that occupied the White House at the turn of the millennium.

Obama can rest assured, he is not the worst President in history. That mark must now and forever belong to adopted Indiana son William Henry Harrison who managed to get sick at his inaugural. He spent the next month wasting away in bed before croaking. There is nary a positive action on his part as Chief Executive.

Tips for pruning a Japanese Maple

It is Monday, here you are fresh off your weekend looking to me for your Monday entertainment, political analysis, and sheer profundity.  I am drawing a big old bucket of blank. Oh, I could revel you with tales of my weekend, of my personal issues, of my deepest secrets and fantasies, or the cool stuff going on in my life. I could. I won't. I might on another day.

Instead, I will toss up a video of my favorite band. You will watch it.  You will like it. You will buy the music on iTunes or Amazon. If necessary, you will even lie to me in the comments and confirm all of the above. Remember this post?

Here is a video of the event.

Weekend Funny

I just received an audit on my tax return for 2012 back from the IRS. It puzzles me!!!
They are questioning how many dependents I claimed.
I guess it was because of my response to the question: "List all dependents?"
I replied: 12 million illegal immigrants; 3 million crack heads;
42 million unemployed people on food stamps,
2 million people in over 243 prisons;
Half of Mexico ; and 535 persons in the U.S. House and Senate."
1 useless President.
Evidently, this was NOT an acceptable answer.
I KEEP ASKING MYSELF, WHO DID I MISS?



h/t Otter

Stuff I have seen

Cruise ships in dock -- Nassau, The Bahamas

I was down at the local booze bazaar last night picking up some beer. The guy in front of me was probably in his late twenties/early thirties. The clerk asked for ID. he already had it out and ready. The clerk apologized and told him company policy was to see two forms of identification for anyone under 40. She looked sheepish and said "Its not my rule, OK?" The man was not upset, but told her he would have to fetch it from his truck. He came back in moments and his transaction was completed.

I stepped to the register, she rang up my beer and told me the amount.  I handed her my debit card. As she did the swipe thing I asked her if she needed to see my driver's license. She looked at me for 1/100000th of a second and said "No, I think you are OK". I laughed.

But I cried inside.

Friday Music

One of my favorite tunes.  Steve Howe plays some beautiful guitar solos starting at the 4:15 mark.



I like the live version even better. Again, listen to guitar at the 4:08 mark and the extended solo starting at 9:25.

The live Yessongs album is probably my most played record.  I went through two copies on vinyl(three albums!) and now have the 2 disc set on CD. I probably listen to parts of the album at least three times a week.

Does anyone even listen to these Friday tracks?

Does anyone care?

Mostly 'cause I don't want to change, that is why.

Educators and the elites are always clamoring that Americans need to be bi-lingual.  Most high schools and universities have a foreign language requirement. Who among us has not been confused by the conjugation of verbs and still remembers the little French dity about three cats out on a lake, "un, deux trois quatre cinq". Or how to say "Where is Jose?" in Spanish.

Yet just this morning  I read an article in Scientific American telling me my unique bi-lingualness when it comes to measurements makes me an ignorant fool. The only real argument the author makes as to why we should adopt the metric system is the old "everyone else uses it". Didn't your Mom ever explain that being a lemming is unacceptable, Mr. Wogan?

Look, anyone involved in science or manufacturing or who has contacts in international business already uses the metric system.  I know the magic '2.54' formula by heart. If you read an assembly drawing or manufacturing specifications I bet you do too.  But if you do not need to use a metric measurement, then who cares if you use a quart when estimating the quantity of blueberries or your own personal unit of measure such as "half of that old coffee can"? Most of us do not have an exact knowledge of how many tomatoes are in a peck, but we can agree that that little basket of yellow ones and red ones is what I want to buy. I'll be damned if I know exactly what volume makes up a bushel of apples, but I know it is what fits in that basket under the workbench.

I have metric wrenches and sockets in my tool box. You might argue it is silly to have two sets of everything. I don't mind. So what if in my brain water boils at 212 and freezes at 32?  I know zero is really cold and 100 is really hot weather and that means far more to me than 40 Celsius. I know a pint's a pound, and every damn recipe my grandma and mom perfected over the years works in ounces and cups will not convert perfectly in grams and centiliters.

I know how much gas is a gallon. I may have to buy my Coke in a 2 liter bottle, but I also know when I go to Florida and the grocery is pawning off three liters of milk as opposed to a gallon for a similar price I am getting cheated. Buying gas in Canada may sound cheap at 1.89/ liter, but when that converts to more than seven bucks a gallon the price is pretty damn high.

The metric system is taught in our schools, at least in backwards Indiana. Those of us who need to use the SI (metric system) can and do. Frankly, I do not really care if someone in Europe can make sense of an inch or a pint. I can converse with them in their language of measurement when I need to. Isn't that enough?

As a personal aside, if one of my friends insisted on conversing with me only in Celsius and liters and meters, I would consider him a total dickwad, a typical liberal snob, and an all around pompous ass. The author comes across as an elitist, the sort who only buys carrots fertilized in the shit from wild coyotes and tofu processed with the sterilized piss of rare albino squirrels.  I suspect he drives his Prius 30 miles round trip to buy only free range pesticide free organic corn for $6.00 an ear. I have no doubt the author is chagrined and angry that the farmer won't take his Euro in place of the good old US dollar. After all, the Euro is the currency of Europe, a billion people use the Chinese Yuan, why should we use something different in America?

Who is with me?

There has been a lot of talk in Republican circles and conservative-leaning publications about defunding ObamaCare. The argument centers around whether the upcoming vote on a Continuing Resolution (CR) should include the funds to administer the roll-out and administrative costs for the ACA (ObamaCare).

The Congress uses a CR to fund the government for a certain period of time in lieu of actually passing a budget. I suspect I am in the minority when I say I don't care if Republicans cut ObamaCare funding in the CR or not. Let me explain. I am steadfast in opposition to a CR at all. One of the few requirements of Congress is to pass a budget. Under the Constitution, the standing army must be refunded every two years. No money can be spent from the Treasury except by law. I maintain the Congress should do the hard work and pass a budget. The House of Representatives has passed a budget, we all know what is in it.  The Senate refuses to pass a budget or compromise. Democrats do not want to be on the record for supporting trillion dollar deficits. They do not want to make responsible fiscal decisions.

So here is my position, if my Representative or Senator votes for a Continuing Resolution, I will never vote for them again. It is time I was represented in Congress, not the Republican or Democrat party. If my elected representatives do not take the pulse of the district or State and vote accordingly, then they do not represent me, and I will not support them going forward.

We are at a crossroads. To paraphrase Reagan, we will see in the coming months if the Republican Party has left me.

My one post of true genius

I was skimming the archives* and I ran across this post.

I think it is not only one of the best things I have ever written, but it is just as true and relevant today as in August of 2010 when I penned it.


*never you mind why.

Sometimes you find stuff on the interwebz that is too good to ignore

"The only known witness, the man who allegedly wouldn’t shut up, refused to give a statement to police."

The rest is pretty amusing too, but in a sad way.  Having your drunken troubles splattered across the front page is the price you pay for living in a small town. Believe me, the gossip was far sharper and cut deeper in Mayberry than in Mount Pilot.

Things that make me smile

I always liked Ryan Dempster in his Cubs days. I really like him as a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox yesterday.

Last night I was inspired to cook a decent supper. I grilled up some chicken breasties and a couple of pork chops. I smothered them in BBQ sauce right at the end. I also threw a few ears of sweet corn on the grill. I sliced up a couple of yellow and red tomatoes my Mom gave me from her garden and made a nice cheesy hash brown casserole. I ate until I felt like Mr. Creosote.
Later, because I could, I made a batch of homemade ice cream. Some days it is good to be me.

leopards and spots

As I get older and reflect back on my life and my youth, I realize I was an incredibly obnoxious and annoying kid. Some things never change.

Stuff I have seen

St Thomas, USVI

Bow before my greatness

Look at that -- four posts in two days.  I imagine that makes up for not posting Wednesday, eh Rita?
And I am not even counting this one!

Bwa ha ha ha

A short tale wherein I am an ass, even when I try to be helpful

Because I am a prince of a human being I accompanied my wife to the tourist mall located in downtown Indianapolis last night. The 'why' to our being there is a long story and not germane to this tale. As usual, we were there when the mall closed. We made our way to the lowest level of the parking garage underneath the mall. As we were getting into our car an older couple approached and asked us where the Carson's exit was in the parking garage. The Carson's department store closed at 8:57 (I know I was sitting just outside their door) and this couple was trying to find their car, since they had to come via a different escalator to the parking garage.  I told the lady the Carson's area was "over there" pointing in the right direction.

As we were driving through the garage towards the exit ramps, we saw the man and wife wandering through the parked cars. I pulled up, rolled down my window and again pointed the couple in the right direction. As we drove past where I thought the Carson's parking area was I saw only a blank wall. It occurred to me that we were on the lowest level of the parking garage, and the Carson's escalator area was on the next floor up. It was right where I indicated, only on a different floor! Quote the wife (laughing): "Wow, you are an asshole, even when you try to be nice".

If that was you roaming the dimly lit parking garage looking for your car, sorry. Perhaps next time you should pay attention to the floor and area where you park.

Friday Music

Today we present the King. I prefer to think of him like this, not wrapped around a toilet puking up a deadly cocktail of booze, amphetamines and peanut butter  'nanna sandwiches. Have I ever written about my visits (yes plural) to Graceland? RIP Elvis.

True Story

Sometimes you just have to admire moxie.  For the past few weeks I have been plagued by calls on my cell phone by a certain telemarketer. The calls hail from Jamaica and the garbled message always instructs me to call a number to claim my prize. They call at about the same time every evening.

I ignored the calls for about a week. On Monday,  I was on my way to Chicago, listening to the floundering Cubbies on the radio when the cell phone ring interrupted the broadcast. It was my Jamaican buddies. Apparently these guys were not going to give up, so I decided to put a stop to the calls. I answered. As the guy started his spiel, I interrupted to inform the caller I am not interested, remove me from the list, and told him he was violating Indiana and Federal Law by calling me. The guy would not take no for an answer and kept at it. I gave him a shouted "Fuck you" and hung up. There is nothing like a bit of childish satisfaction to momentarily soothe the wounds of a lifetime rooting for a crappy baseball team. 

Flash forward to Tuesday evening. I was driving towards my next stop on my make-a-living tour and my cell rang.  It was a call from Jamaica; the same old number. I answered, and a voice asked "Is this Joe?".  Before I can tell him off one more time, I heard a shout -- "Fuck you too!" and the caller hung up.

All I could do is laugh. Hell, if they call again, I just might listen to his script. Us assholes have to give each other some professional courtesy.

On the other hand...

For every good thing in life there is a corresponding bad thing. For instance in Christian theology there is God and Satan. Eastern philosophy gives us the Yen and Yang. Closer to home we find in our political system conservatives and f-ing liberal commie bastards. Good and evil are all around us.

This morning it was a cool 47 F when I made the short walk to the curb to grab my morning newspaper. It is August and it is FORTY FREAKING SEVEN DEGREES! Last night on the late news the weather girl said  we have had but 5 days all year where temperatures reached 90 degrees.  WTF? This is the global warming AlGore warned me about? On the good side of my morning I had some Hostess little chocolate donuts! Yes, the breakfast of choice is back on the store shelves. Every bite of sugary, waxy chocolate goodness was a vivid reminder that the unions and liberal Democrats cannot kill all good things in life.

I can paste a smile of morning contentment upon my lips as I rummage through the closet to find my slippers and a sweatshirt. Are you listening Mother Nature -- it is August, not October!

There outta be a law...

Today I present example 3,417 of why big government is the problem, not the solution, to society's ills. Too many times our lawmakers design a one-size-fits-all approach and the result is often a Rube Goldberg-like plan that involves the use of a gold-plated sledgehammer to kill a fruit fly.

Pictorial depiction of Senate Enrolled Act 352

A case in point is an Indiana law that requires every school system in the state to develop a plan to combat gang violence. Faculty, students, and staff will have to be trained on gang activity and violence.  Schools will have to monitor and report on gang activity within their school system. Thank you Indiana Legislators for dropping this turd of a law -- Senate Enrolled Act 352 -- on the school systems of Indiana. Well, except for private and charter schools -- they do not have to comply with the law.

This law means a person or persons will have these duties added on to their workload, or in some cases an additional employee may have to be added to develop this plan and cover the reporting requirements to the State Department of Education. Since it is likely there are few school administrators trained in combating or recognizing gang activity, the state will have to offer training for the trainers. We will have to pay the expense of this training and the travel to the training site. Teachers and staff will have to attend the training after the school system develops the plan, and this will take time from the actual business of teaching students. The students will have a module on gangs and that will take class time from reading, math, science or history.

Lest we forget, all of this training, plan developing, reporting and the expenses for materials all come from the hard earned wages of working Hoosiers.  The State has no issue using our taxes to fund this program. Let us not forget the largest portion of our tax rate, in most cases, is for school funding.

Gang members in their colors, flashing gang signs

I have no doubt there are school districts in the urban areas that are combating gang activity. I also am quite confident that gangs are not a problem in the majority of school districts within the state.

I live in one of the "doughnut" counties that surrounds Indianapolis. Still, according to the local fish wrap, the police chief and school superintendent of the school district that covers my hometown report they are not aware of any gang activity in our local schools. I am sure the much smaller districts that comprise the rest of the county have even fewer issues.

Yet these school districts, some of which have a total district enrollment of just over 1,000 students K-12, will have to spend time and money combating gangs. The only "gang" found in these schools is the age-old conflict between the jocks and nerds. In a few isolated cases there may deadly turf battles between the Sunshine Society and the Future Farmers of America. I believe that is the conflict depicted in West Side Story.

Everyone is constantly complaining about our "failing" schools. Perhaps if we allowed the schools to get back to their core competencies, the "three Rs", our test scores would improve. Instead, our teachers spend hours each week reporting and administering when they could be teaching or developing lesson plans.  Idiotic, catch-all legislation like the gang law is a perfect example of the problems presented by big government intrusion.

I am mightily tempted

My favorite band of all time is Yes. Progressive rock is not every one's cup of tea, but differing tastes in music, art, and literature are one of the nuances that make life interesting. I am particularly fond of the band's older material and listen to it frequently. This past March, my youngest son and I traveled to Louisville to see the band live for my birthday. I even mentioned it here on the old blog at the time. The band wraps its current tour in Indy tonight. They are playing three of my favorite albums in their entirety, in order, on this tour (the Yes album/Close to the Edge/Going for the One).

I would like to go see them again tonight. Unfortunately, I have to travel for work. Damn job keeps me from doing stuff  I want. That is sarcasm, in case my sarcasm font does not show up on your monitor. I realize the job makes it possible to do the stuff I want.

To be honest, If I really wanted to attend the show, I could make it work. It is possible to see a rock concert in Indy on Monday night and still be at O'Hare at 6:00 am to pick up your boss for a couple of Chicago-area business meetings on Tuesday morning. In the wild days of my youth I used to claim I would sleep when I was dead. My body and brain have convinced me that axiom is false. I need my sleep now. Getting old sucks.

A Sunday post about Saturday

Yesterday morning I posted the picture found in the post below, then surfed around the  interwebz for a while.  I decided a bit of breakfast was in order. I threw a potato into the microwave for a quick cook.  While the world's most expensive popcorn popper/veggie heater/TV dinner maker did its thing, I diced up one half of a Vidalia onion and a medium sized jalapeno. I threw the peppers and onion into a small skillet to cook. I seasoned the onions with a bit of salt and a few red pepper flakes. About the time the onions got soft the spud was done.  I hastily cut the potato into chunks and added it to the onions and pepper and then fried the whole mess for a bit. I poured the hash browns onto a plate and dropped a couple of eggs into the skillet to cook to a nice over-easy. I put the eggs on top of the potatoes with a dash of salt and my breakfast was complete. No pics, 'cause I ate it too fast and I do not want to inflame the haters out there.

Stuff I have seen

Columbia River Gorge east of Portland, OR as seen from Crown Point.

I like my tinfoil hat fashioned like Robin Hood's

I had to take a brief jaunt via airplane earlier this week.  I was struck by the number of TSA and police in the airport; dogs, patrols in the concourse, officers straying away from the security screening areas. Then, a significant number of flights, including mine, were delayed out of Charlotte yesterday. Now late afternoon delays out of Charlotte or Atlanta in the summer are not unusual. But there were no storms in the area, and in each case the gate personnel cited FFA FAA holds for the cause. I know the President mouthed off about intercepting plans to attack our embassies, perhaps he was able to keep his lips zipped about possible airline attacks? Maybe the delays were the typical "too many flights in and out at the same time" in the eastern seaboard metropolis? Only the shadow, and his hairdresser, know for sure.

On the bright side, it is Friday and you are clamoring for some music to get you through your day.    Damnit I said you are clamoring...



I don't think Bob has made it to the Friday Music post before.

Liberals and conservatives all agree

A few weeks ago the girl at the donut shop gave me a frequent buyer punch card. If I buy enough donuts over time I will get a half dozen donuts free. That is something we can all agree upon -- free donuts are a very, very good thing.

Revisionist history...

...is all of the rage these days. I think if a popular novelist were to cast President Obama in the role of Prime Minister of Great Britain during the dark hours of WWII, we could envision a scenario where the citizens are evacuated from Coventry, and Obama makes a radio address claiming credit for saving lives based on ultra secret intelligence gleaned from our ability to read certain German codes.

Of course the Germans would then change their codes and methods of communication, but Obama would have saved lives!

BOHICA Ohio

Indiana and Florida are going to need some serious lube as well. ObamaCare is about to drop and hefty economic anvil right on your head.

Remember when the President promised us our premiums would decrease if we passed his horrible plan? We are finally finding out what is in the law -- huge economic turds. Fuck you stupid liberals in Ohio. You Democrats in the Hoosier state can bite me. You get what you deserve.  Too bad you are punishing the rest of us with your insane, fiscally irresponsible politics.BOHICA America.

I quit procrastinating, starting tomorrow

I'm sitting here staring at the cursor, searching in vain for interesting words to entertain you.  At this point I will do anything to put off for a few more minutes the daunting task of compiling my expense reports. I hate doing expense reports. I have more than two months of travel to document, including a trip to China. That week will be especially painful as I have to convert Chinese currency to good old US Dollars. I did a lot of travel and entertaining in June and July and I have a pile of receipts -- hold on, I just got out a ruler --  almost one inch tall (compressed)! I hate myself and my procrastination today. I vow never, ever to let the work pile up again.

But  I am a liar. After spending the day on expense reports, I will be so sick of the work I suspect I will let the receipts pile up and I will find myself in mid-September doing the dance all over again. Bad habits are the hardest to kill.

We must do something

I am somewhat surprised the liberals are not filling the airwaves and plastering the interwebz with calls for action and immediate legislation following the actions of a lone gunman driver at a California beach over the weekend.

Surely we need to ban automobiles? At least scary black ones like the one used in the murders at Venice Beach?

"...We're sure glad to be in Kokomo tonight"

The oldest boy and his band played in Kokomo over the weekend.  Their experience was a little different than this.

In any case, this is still one of the funniest clips in all moviedom.



I have long encouraged my son to introduce the final song at each show with the quip "this is one of the favorites of the horn section". He refuses. Some people have no sense of humor. More likely he does not get the reference.

a little night music

Last evening the wife and I traveled to Kokomo, IN to see the oldest boy's band perform live at Weberfest '13. They were one of the opening acts, scheduled in the middle of the bill. The stage was a performance pavilion in a downtown park. It was a good venue for the free concerts. There was a beer tent and several food trucks and tents set up.

Fun fact: Kokomo was the home of Elwood P. Haynes, who may or may not have made the first gas-powered automobile in the US. The city still has a rich automotive fabric with Chrysler and to a lessor extent GM plants employing thousands. Kokomo is a blue collar town and proud of it.

Here is another weird fun fact you will find most uninteresting: I grew up about 25 miles from Kokomo. Other than for business in the past few years, or driving through on US 31 heading elsewhere, I suspect I have been to the city less than a half dozen times in my life. I do not recall ever being in the downtown area before Saturday.

The band was in good form.  There was a decent crowd.  The band's  music is well suited for an outdoor venue. My son said it is hard to play in an outdoor setting because he cannot see the lights on his sound pedals as well. The band appeared to be well received by the crowd.  The day, though it started out dreary and cloudy, turned out beautiful -- sunny and in the mid-seventies. It was a good evening all around.

Stuff I have seen

An age-old journey

It is a overcast, drizzly Saturday morning. It fits my mood.

 We moved the little one back to college yesterday. He is not the little one any more, he is taller than me, but he will always be our baby. He is starting his sophomore year in an apartment rather than a dorm. Classes do not start for a couple of weeks, but he was more than ready to head back.  I don't blame him.  I was the same at his age.

This time it was much harder because I know he is likely gone for good. Oh, he will be back for holidays and an occasional weekend, but he has taken that first real leap from the nest and once he knows he can fly and soar it is never the same. It did not bother me much to move any of my kids into a dorm room. Everyone involved knew that was temporary.  But an apartment with a year-long lease is pretty much permanent.

It was the same with my two oldest kids, once you start moving the furniture out of their bedrooms you know they are stepping a tentative foot onto their own path of life and destiny. They are on their own for all of life's necessities -- food, shelter, toilet paper. Even if I am helping foot the bill.

It is a little exciting and a lot sad.


Edit.  Then Ralph has to go and send me to this column.

I'm really not even surprised

I'm asshole deep in figurative alligators this morning, so you are either going to have to take my word for it, or do a little homework yourself. I am not going to offer up links and such. Heck, no one clicks on the links anyway.

Under pressure from the President and leaders of Congress the Office of Personnel Management has exempted Congressional staffers from ObamaCare. Congresscritters from both sides of the aisle were concerned there would be a serious "brain drain" if staffers had to eat the high cost of buying their own insurance and complying with the laws mandates.

In other news, the very people tasked with enforcing ObamaCare, IRS agents have lobbied to exempt their union from the devastating costs associated with ObamaCare.

Even Howard Dean admits the law will lead to rationing and Death Panels.

Words fail me.

Friday Music

Why Not?

Here's your less than forty character update

work busy no post 2 day