Dear readers

be safe out there tonight

Memories

Hey, remember when the President claimed the ACA would reduce a family's insurance premiums by $2500? Remember when the Democrats said if you like your medical plan you could keep it? Remember how Obama said he would have the most transparent administration ever? Remember when Pelosi said that there would be 72 hours to examine bills.before a vote?

Remember when a certain blogger of liberal leanings called these folks out for their outright lies?  

Me neither. 

It is always funny until someone gets hurt

I'm a bit worried about Friday. The day after holidays seem a bit dicey for me this year. You may remember my not-so-trusty 30 year old ladder broke and tossed me to the concrete the day after Thanksgiving. (It is there in the archives. I can either do research or write a shitty post. Not both). On Friday, the day after Christmas, I was heading downstairs to refill my coffee cup when I slipped on the stairs and fell down a flight clear to the landing. I think I twisted when I fell. My back is sore and bruised. Most amazing is I did not utter a single curse word the whole time I bounced and slid down, not even when I crumpled to a halt at the landing. What the heck? The good Lord gave me two gifts - great balance and a fantastic memory. Now both seem to fade recently. Although my advanced scores in memory on the Elevate app indicate my memory is not going away as fast as I imagine.

I confess

i confess that I was wrong about everything I ever thought, believe or said.  Of course my predictions were accurate in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. I guess we should forget that gas was in the $3+ range or higher for most of the Obama reign since it has been down for a month or so?

Now after one of the slowest recoveries in history things are looking better. The economy does correct itself over time.  It will also get bad over time again. Yes, I confess I have been wrong about everything.

Now me and Elvis are going to have some Fun in Acapulco. 

I've got you under my skin

Chloe Jo

My new Granddaughter. Named after me, natch.

Fabulous Friday

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. I know I sure did. The wife got me a wooden cigar store Indian - albeit it is a small version about two foot tall.  But still it is way cool and will look great in my office.

I tried to post a picture of my granddaughter but the iPad will not cooperate. Maybe if I fire up the laptops will share later. I suppose you don't really care anyway.

It is supposed to be warm today. Maybe I'll walk off some of the food and cookies and candy I've consumed this week and burn up one of the good Dunhills I bought myself for Christmas

Have a great day.

No Friday music: my Christmas gift to you.

Merry Christmas

The Reason for the Season

Christmas Eve Eve

The wife was up late making iced sugar cookies and Christmas candy last night. I promised her I would bake pecan tassies tonight while she finishes the wrapping. I also have to make food to take to her family's Christmas dinner and to my Mom and Dad's house on Christmas eve. The youngest boy is set to come home from college this evening.

Holiday festivities are going into high gear. On Christmas Day my kids and brand new granddaughter will be over for presents and dinner. I have a 22 pound turkey waiting to be roasted.

Before I do all of that work I have to do the work that pays the bills. I am off to the real job.

In the meantime I want to wish you a Merry Christmas.

actually blogging in the evening

Today has been a good day.  While I could bitch and complain, I will not. I know. I can hear you. Bitching and complaining is what I do best. I am not playing to my strength as a blogger. But what the heck, sometimes you gotta push the envelope. The sun is down behind the neighbor's house, just a bit of pink showing through the bare bones of the maple outside the window. The Christmas lights are on. My work day is done and it is time to slip off my steel toed boots.

I  hope you have a great evening.

winter tale

A beautiful day is winding down. It was sunny and warm here in Hoosierland today. I saw it through the glass front doors of the big box store. One more Sunday! I will miss the people, not the hours.

My shopping is done and I have the wife's presents wrapped and tucked under the tree.  She is out finishing up the rest as I type.  I will help her wrap after supper.  What? Chicken enchilada casserole and home made salsa are on tap. I better get started if we want to eat at a decent hour.

I hope you are having a great day.

My refrigerator is running and so is my nose

Happy Saturday. The coffee is hot and life is good. No work today. I have two more Sunday's at the big box retail and then I am back to one full time employer. Product training is nearly complete and I will be back on the road beginning with the new year. New customers, new products to sell, new territory, and new industries all will make life exciting and challenging. I was in my previous industry for 25 years. It is time for a change.

I have my Christmas shopping done with the exception of some small items for the wife's stocking - candy and such. She has a few things left to purchase. Nothing is wrapped though. She wants to do some baking this weekend.  I told her I would make pecan tassies while she is shopping. As you may or may not know, I do most of the cooking around here, but I am not too fond of baking.

Enjoy your Saturday, I'm going to watch the GREATEST CHRISTMAS / HOLIDAY MOVIE EVER:       Holiday Inn.

Sorry Ed B, that is just fact.

Friday Music

Late, but worth it

Wow

The Obama is the world's worst negotiator, at least when it comes to tyrants, murderers, and the enemies of freedom around the world. Dude sure loves Commie Bastards. There is no doubt a Democrat Party heart beats in his weak little chest.

We send open diplomatic relations, send back convicted spies against the US all in exchange for an international aid worker wrongly held in prison.  The US companies are not given back their assets stolen by the Castros.

Obama has just guaranteed the Castro regime and its successors remain in power for generations to come.

But I may be able to get Cuban cigars.  There is that.

Still, what a bad deal for America.

Dear World

You are already a better place.  Meet Chloe, my perfect granddaughter.

Now could you stop evil people from killing innocent kids in the name of religion?  I am pretty sure no god would smile on such barbarism.

Additional Commentary

Sometime today, most likely, my daughter will give birth to my first grandchild.  I am told it will be a little girl.

Life is good.

Sorta dazed and really confused

Obama's agenda and the Democrat party were repudiated overwhelmingly in the elections last month.  The Republicans were sent a clear message. Yet somehow the Republican leadership just joined hands with the Dems and passed a massive funding bill that covers the Government for the next year. As the White House told recalcitrant Dems, "why are you fighting, this bill gives you everything"? ObamaCare is funded. amnesty is funded. Phony Global Warming projects are funded.

This time next year the RINOs will claim it is too close to the next Presidential election to have that fight and government grows and grows.

I may not be the world's smartest guy, but I know corruption when it is shoved down my throat.

I feel like I just got kicked in the groin by an NFL punter who was wearing steel-toed boots.

This post needs a snappy title

Bark bark. The neighbor's dog has been barking nonstop for a half an hour now. Ah, life in the 'burbs. If they follow the usual pattern they will let it back in around 7:00.

You can't tell, but I am in a great mood. I have the day off! This is the second Saturday since July I have not worked. I am giving my notice to the part time gig when I go in on Sunday. I have worked pretty much 7 days a week for the past 4 or five months. I need a break. I made a handshake agreement when the big box retailer hired me to stay until Christmas, in exchange for him hiring me knowing I was seeking a better job.* I think I have fulfilled my commitment. Now I need to buy some serious man-toys before I lose my discount.

Well I'm off to refill they coffee mug, then I think I'll watch a movie. In fact, I might go buy a box of donuts for breakfast.

I hope you have a great day.

*boy is that a poorly written sentence. I think you get the gist.

TGIF And I'm not talking about the restaurant chain

Sorry. Time is against me. I can either read my usual stuff on the interwebz or write a post for you to read. The path of least resistance is to read. Historian Barbara Tuchman once wrote that"research is endlessly seductive, writing is hard work" and I guess that applies to my efforts around here.

I am certain it is evident by my prose, but most posts just flow from my brain to the keyboard. I have always written like that, even massive research papers in college. I would research, take notes, write facts, and study. After days, or weeks the narrative would just flow. I would write for hours, only stopping to insert a quote, a fact, to verify an important part. In general it took me only a bit longer to write a 20 page paper than it would take a person to read that same document out loud.

Creativity is an uncertain thing, and I have been a bit lax exercising it around here lately. If you care then I apologize. If you stop by only to see what idiotic blathering I share on a given day, then I offer up this train wreck of prosaic nonsense for your entertainment.

No Friday music. Boo hoo.

I hope you have a great day.

That sharp pain in my back

...is the stab wound from the GOP. The new massive spending bill fully funds ObamaCare. It fully funds amnesty.  I see no austerity, few cuts, and more and more spending.

I am told that if I don't vote for a Republican, I will be voting for a Democrat.  It seems that if I vote for a Republican, I am still voting for a Democrat; albeit one who mouths the right words to get my future vote.

BOHICA conservatives Boehner is boning us again. Once again Lucy has snatched away the football.

woof

The neighbors got a new puppy a couple of months ago. They put it outside every morning at 6 am. It barks constantly. Bark, bark, bark, bark. If I can hear it, I know they can. It is damn annoying. I don't blame the dog.  He went out, did his business and now he wants back in. It is the owners who are rude.

Do I ignore it?  Do I be that asshole neighbor? Do I live with it?

A day that shall live in infamy

We were lucky enough to visit Pearl Harbor this summer. It was a somber, moving memorial, especially the USS Arizona.

If you have never read At Dawn We Slept by Gordon Prange, you should.

Do I blog or watch an old Esther Williams Movie?

I am convinced I need a wooden cigar store Indian for my office. It does not have to be 5 or 6 foot tall; a small one will do. Nor does it need to be an original. A replica will suffice. Said Indian may not go with my decor, but the model of the HMS Victory does not exactly duplicate the theme of Cubs and Colts pictures that adorn the walls, so what the heck.

It looks like the rain is tapering off on this December Saturday. Music is playing softly in the background as I hunt and peck on the keyboard.  I frequently pause and look out the window. The big willow is waving bare branches in the breeze. The old bench made of willow sticks and the small tree next to it are covered in Christmas lights that glow softly in the dim early morning light.

My coffee is just above lukewarm and needs refilled. The laptop hums in tune with the music. It occurs to me I should not have to struggle to fill this space, I blog so little these days. But here we are. I am certain the few dozen of you who bother to stop by are sadly disappointed these days.  I hope to resume my usual routine in January when my training is complete and my seven-day-a-week work schedule changes I am quitting the part-time gig in a few weeks. Until that time these pathetic efforts will have to do.

I hope you have a great Saturday.

Friday Music

And it is too.

Dear Mr. Boehner

That "roll over" trick is cute in a puppy. Not so amusing when it is politics.  Can't you read.the polls? Americans do not want amnesty. They want ObamaCare repealed. They elected Repubs to control Congress for a reason, not to spout empty promises and utter meaningless words. Call Obama before Congress and ask him where he gets the authority to dictate law. Quit crying and grow a set of balls. otherwise you will put Hillary (or worse) in the White House in 2016.  The People have spoken, it is time to listen.

Words to live by

Hands up, don't shoot don't steal those cigars.