The Help

Whew! Survived Christmas and still somewhat sane! While exhausting in many ways, it was a great day of fun, family, and FOOD. Think I need to have a food detox for a week.
Finished the day and crawled into bed to watch a movie before falling asleep. My wife picked the movie “The Help”, which is a story about Mississippi and the race struggles taking place in the 60’s.
 I was raised in St. Louis, Mo. which is basically a southern town that was segregated for much of it’s history. I became aware of predjudice when I became good friends with a guy on the football team in high school. His name was Roland Reese and he was (and probably still is) one of the funniest and most personalble people I have ever met.
I had Roland over to the house several times, and quickly discovered that his presence in my all-white neighborhood was a concern to the citizens. Being somewhat rebellious in those days, I made sure that Roland came over often.
Watching the movie, I was saddened by our history while still being encouraged by how far we have progressed. I trust that the best is yet to come. Thanks for being my friend Roland. Just Say’n.

A Washington Bully

Rep. James Sensenbrenner has elevated himself to a political bully in DC politics. The Wisconson Republican is a solid party man who agressively persues his job. 
Unfortunately, he’s decided that Michelle Obama’s program for healthy eating is wrong because "nobody should tell the American people what to eat.” He then goes on to say that Michelle has a large rear end and needs to follow her own advice.

From what I can see, Rep. Sensenbrenner follows his own advise. Nobody is telling him what to eat and so he is eating everything.
 As far as Michelle, a picture is worth a thousand words. 

Get back to governing Sensenbrenner and leave Michelle alone. Just Say'n

The 12% factor

Been a lot of talk about the 99% and the 1% as it applies to the American spread of wealth. However, the figure I think we really need to look at is the 12% factor. That figure is the percentage of Americans who think the government is doing a good job. The figure really states that 88% of the country believe that the fools on the hill in Washington are really fools.


In my opinion, that figure is about to fall to 0% if the fools on the hill can’t find a fix for this payroll tax problem. If they don’t find a way to work out a plan by January 1, our incomes will decrease by @ $2400. The country is in recession, banks are robbing the people, jobless rates are astronomical, and now the idiots are going to go on vacation and give us a pay decrease of $2400. %#@%$&##.


The days of 0% approval rating for congress are at hand. Happy Holidays. Just say’n.

Michele, Michele, Michele

In life we often run into people and situations that remind us we are a far from perfect people. Michele Bachmann is running for President of the United States, which is an admirable thing to do. At least she is willing to step up and express her positions on the problems in this country.

For example, unemployment: ''If we took away the minimum wage -- if conceivably it was gone -- we could potentially virtually wipe out unemployment completely because we would be able to offer jobs at whatever level.''—Michele Bachmann, Jan. 2005

Maybe we could reinstate sweatshops too. No unemployment, just everyone working for $2.00 per hour.

 She has a good grasp on environmental issues too: ''Carbon dioxide is portrayed as harmful. But there isn't even one study that can be produced that shows that carbon dioxide is a harmful gas.’’ —Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) in April 2009

She does admire strong female heros: ''Lady Liberty and Sarah Palin are lit by the same torch.''—Rep. Michele Bachmann, in a recorded message for a campaign event hosted by Sarah Palin to support Alaska Senate candidate Joe Miller, Oct. 28, 2010

And she is good with fiscal accounting: ''The President of the United States will be taking a trip over to India that is expected to cost the taxpayers $200 million a day.''—Rep. Michele Bachmann, grossly exaggerating the expense of Obama's trip, which cost a fraction of that ($200 million is more than the entire war in Afghanistan costs per day), Nov. 3, 2010

You just can’t make these things up. Wish it was fiction. Just Say’n

Out of touch

Dear Mr. Romney,
I thought it might be a good idea to let you know that the American economic picture is not doing well. I dont know if you will win the primary or not, but I am assuming that you’re not aware of the struggles going on in our country.
 I’m basing this thought on the following article:

Romney has filed for permits for work that would almost quadruple the size of 3,009 square foot three-bedroom single-story home in tony La Jolla, California, near San Diego, to make way for a mansion. The plans call for a total demolition of the existing $12 million home and building a two-story, 11,062 square foot house in its stead, the San Diego Union Tribune reports.

I’m happy that you are able to “remodel” your beach house, but I question if you’re really in tune with the problems of the country when you blatently do things like this. Keep up this type of press release and you will definately spend more time in California than in 1600 Pensylvania Ave. Just Say'n

My son the genius

My son and a few of his friends have been working on a project with puppets. It is a unique approach to video blogging that recently became very popular on YouTube. It’s a cleaver program providing fun and entertainment while still being instructional. Obviously, he has highly developed creative talent because of my fantastically creative genes. 
Not so much.
He is just good at what he does and I’m proud of him.  That’s what makes life worth while. Just Say’n.
Take a look and have some fun. Click here

Our National Debt Solution

The brilliant minds that run the world are all bothered about our financial problems. In this country, as shown in the above graphic, we have around $15trillion in debt and can’t seem to agree on how to solve the problem. In fact, in Washington DC, I am not sure they can agree on what day it is. 
So here is the solution in round numbers. We implement a national LOTTO. Out of the population of 300million people figure about 200million would play. Every week there would be 3000 people who would win $100thousand. If tickets sold for $5, in five years we would retire close to half the debt and would make a lot of people happy with winning. Heck we pay a lot more than that now, don’t win anything, and watch the country sink in debt. Why not have some fun while we try to recover. Just say’n.

Bragging Rights

My son married a wonderful woman and together they produced two magnificent children. I do believe they are two of the most fantastic children in the universe. 
They are beautiful, smart, and very happy about life.
I like to talk about them because I have a Bragging Rights. 
Well, I don’t really; my son picked his wife and together they had children, so I didn’t really have any part in the activity.
But I don’t care, these are still the most fantastic children in the universe and I’m allowed to share that opinion. Just Say'n

Horrible moments

Watching the debates the other day, once again wondering why I waisted my time. Nevertheless, it was the night that Rick Perry said he had three agencies he wanted to eliminate. Commerce, education, and, and, and, son of a gun, he couldn't remember the third one. Somebody suggested EPA and he went along with it for a minute, but then said no. In all honesty, I think he was praying for a stroke. Those are horrible moments. There is no place to hide, no excuse you can make, you are just caught in your own naked stupidity.


A horrible moment that haunts me (one of many unfortunately) was at a meeting where I was the main speaker. I never met the people hosting the meeting and therefore was not aware of any of their personal life. The wife of the host was a somewhat large woman who appeared to be in the latter stages of pregnancy. I asked her when she was due to deliver …… and she told me she was not pregnant.
A horrible moment.
 Needless to say, I was not ever asked back to that event again. Guess that is why I can have empathy with Rick Perry and his two out of three memory. Just Say'n

Newton Leroy McPherson

It is always good for a person to be open to the opportunities of life. Newton Leroy McPherson is a man who has led a very opportunistic life. 
We know him as Newt Gingrich, a charismatic politician that is now toying with the front spot in the Republican Presidential candidates. 
I am not a great follower of Newt, but I do admire his ability to weather storms. 
He was the leading proponant of impeaching Clinton for improper relationship with Lewinsky, yet he was having a 6 year affair with Callista Bisek, a congressional aide. He ultimately married Callista and they seem to have a great relationship. I’m happy for both of them.
He is a man who believes in strict conservative ethics for financial matters, yet the house ehtics committee investigated him and sanctioned him $300,000 for improper business activities. He paid the bill.
He positions himself as a simple man of the people, which, given his humble background is true. However this simple man of the people is now worth over $6.7 million. I do wonder how politicians 
become so wealthy, but he is definitely not alone in this.
He resigned his office in congress because of the friction he was 
causing in the Republican party, but now wants to be its leader. That takes guts.


I’ve been around long enough to know that none of us have squeaky clean background, and we all have made some mistakes. Maybe that’s why we have to admire him, he does know how to survive. Perhaps that’s what we need in this country, a strong person who can survive personal scandle and problems then come out smelling like a rose. Then again, maybe we don’t. Just say’n.

The Sky is Falling

So now we are told that our credit rating as a country has once again been downgraded. This is because of the fantastic lack of leadership now taking place in our nations capital. 
Needless to say, the Democrats are blaming the Republicans, the Republicans are blaming the Democrats, the house blames the Senate, the Senate blames the House and all of them eventually blame either Obama or Bush. 
In all honesty, things are so messed up in Europe that they see our economy as better than their economy and are pouring European money into the USA faster than ever before. 
Chicken little was walking down the road and got hit on the head by an acorn. She panicked and believed the sky was falling. Soon she convinced everyone she met that the sky was falling and they all panicked. Evenutally they all marched into the wolfs house, who politely ate them all.
Bottom line, don’t jump to panic. Things may be bad, but they were bad in 1776, 1864, 1929, 1942, 1967, 1997, and 2011. Seems like we got through those times, we will get through these. The sky isn’t falling, we are just going through a change. Change is good. Just Say’n.


Good way to stay calm is to tell a friend on Twitter or Facebook about our blog. See, don’t you feel better already? Just Say'n

Thanksgiving thoughts

Once a year we all focus on doing something that needs to take place every day. We become thankful. 
I know the economy is bad, politics seem really screwy, and I am sure several other things are not going according to expectations, but we are really a very fortunate country. 
I am thankful that I have a fantastic wife, healthy and happy kids, wonderful friends, and a body that is co-operating with my plans to live a long time. 
I have seven words that I repeat as often as possible and they give me a good perspective on life. First three are “WHAT IS, IS.” I don’t want to spend a lot of time trying to change or worry about what is. This is easy because of my second set of words “THIS TOO SHALL PASS.” No matter what is going on in life, tomorrow is another day, and it has a great chance of being a great day. 
Thanks to all our readers, and thanks to all who make our life so wonderful. Just Say’n.

Say it isn’t so!!

The weather yesterday was warm and wonderful. November 20 and it had all the makings of a great boat day. My wife and I decided to get one more day out on the water so we journeyed to the marina filled with joy and anticipation of a day on the boat.
Pulling into the marina, we saw our beloved vessel; not in the water, but up on dry land. 
How sad. Nevertheless, we found a couple of friends and spent some time on their boat, so all was not wasted.
I really can’t complain, it is November and the season is truly over, but I kind of hoped we had snuck one in without winter noticing. Didn’t happen, but had fun anyhow. Just say'n

Bring in the clowns

Ah, Washington at its best. The Super Committee can’t figure out how to agree on economic stratagey. 
Here are 12 highly educated (several from Ivy League schools), successful (7 are millionaires), politically astute leaders of our nation who have one task to do: cut $1.2 trillion out of the budget. Seems like a reasonable request, given the fact that our economy is in the trash and we need some effective leadership to guide us through this storm.
 Nevertheless, all these wonderful people can not accomplish this one task and will now start a round of shame and blame for their lack of leadership ability.


Maybe we could start to trim the budget by just firing them all. Hmmmm, I think that is called voting. Just Say’n.

Over the edge

We visited this beautiful waterfall the other day. It plummeted over 125 feet from the river above to the lake below. It was inspiring and beautiful to watch, but it did get me thinking.

In life there are beautiful moments when you seem to just be flowing along with everything going well. It is a time of peace, contentment and genuine appreciation for the good things in life.

Then, like the river in the mountain, you suddenly find yourself out of control, plunging toward a destination you didn’t plan on seeking, aware that no matter what you do, you will never be in the same place again. Then somehow, things mellow out, life goes on and we slowly drift away from the frightening change in direction we just encountered.

I guess the secret to surviving those moments is to remember it will pass, and when it happens, there is probably some aspect of beauty in our pain.

Nevertheless, that fall is often scary as hell. Just Say’n

Garage sale

We decided to get rid of things we haven’t used over the last 600 years, so we had a garage sale. For those who have never experienced this joy, a garage sale is when you take all the junk you probably bought at another garage sale and put it on your lawn. For a day, your house looks like you are being evicted, which is not a comforting thing to go through, even if it isn’t true.
Then come the people who really love to go to garage sales. They will take an item that probably sold for $50, which we are asking $3, and they will offer $1. If we say $2 they will say no.
After a while my way of selling is to ask them what they want to pay and then saying ok. My wife found out what I was doing and informed me to go back inside and find something else to do. 
See, my plan worked perfectly. Just say'n

Fear?

I try to stay in shape so I will live a lot longer. It seems harder to accomplish that task as my body is caught up in an aging process that my mind doesn't agree with at all.
 Part of my not taking care of my self is my love of being outside in the sun, exposing my flesh to harmful rays. The result, I now have a battle with skin cancer. 
Today I had surgery to remove some of the damage done to my skin, and fortunately all went well. 
Nevertheless, since diagnosis, my mind has constantly wandered into some very dark places leaving me in a state of unrest. I try to stay positive and not worry about things, but somehow the word cancer just brings on a whole new set of negative concerns.
I think it was Churchill who said we have nothing to fear but fear itself. The bible tells me perfect love cast out fear. I think I have come to the conclusion, unless I really know what will happen in the future (which I will never be able to do) I will just enjoy today and not worry about tomorrow. 
Seems to make life a lot easier that way. Just Say'n

72 days

I’m not a follower of the Kardashian family, but the recent marriage and subsequent divorce of Kim caught my attention. Apparently she had a wedding that was second only to the Brittish Royal Wedding, and probably cost even more. Then she and her husband stayed together for 72 days and called it quits.


I dont know what probelms they ran into, but it seems they might have run into them sometime prior to the day they got married.
 I’ve spent a lot of my carrier as a marriage counselor and I tell young couples that it takes four seasons (one full year) before you really know if you want to marry a person. 
We are different people in the summer than in the winter, and that is important knowledge for a long term relationship. Obvioulsy, just dateing a year is no guarantee, but it does lay a foundation that has a chance of lasting.


I dont know what Kim and her husband (don’t even know his name) were working on when they got married, but what ever it was, don’t buy any. Just Say’n.

Sagging -

 The ability for young men to wear one’s pants well below the waist line and not have them fall off is called Sagging. Apparently it started in prisons where inmates are not allowed to wear belts. It is now part of the youth culture. 
In 2008 President Obama said "laws banning the practice of wearing low-slung pants that expose one's underwear were "a waste of time". However, he did follow that up with the statement: "Having said that, brothers should pull up their pants. You are walking by your mother, your grandmother, your underwear is showing. What's wrong with that? Come on. Some people might not want to see your underwear. I’m one of them.”
The desire to show one’s underwear is something that I truly don’t understand, but this type of thing does make me reflect on the fad dressing I participated in during the years. In high school we had to wear tight white jeans (yes the boy’s wore them) and black pointed shoes. Talk about dumb looks, but we thought it was fantastic.
Then college - it was bell bottoms and tie-die shirts.
Later on I remember thin ties, wide wide lapels, and knotted ties that looked like a horse collar. 
Today, I see a lot of my generation simply wearing sweatsuits. By the look of a lot of them, it is not that they work out in the gym.
So I guess, other than the fact that wearing your pants so low does look uncomfortabel, it is no different than a lot of things I’ve done in my life. Think it’s a good idea to look back on what we did before we judge what others are doing. Just Sayen

My Bad

There is a new expression that seems to be very popular. It is designed to replace the congenial socially accepted practice of saying, “I’m sorry, I just did something wrong.” 
This new phrase is “My Bad.”
 It apparently says “Oh I did wrong and it was my bad mistake” which has been shortened to “My Bad.”
Somehow, the phrase seems to emanate from a linguistically challanged time in our evolution when a conversation might sound like “Me no do good. Me Bad. Me go now.”
I know our educational system is problematic, we are falling behind in the world wide academic evaluations, and education seems to be a place politicians like to cut back spending; however, must we pride ourselves in sliding into the dark ages in communication? Maybe I’m wrong in this, but I guarantee it is not “MY BAD.” Just say’n.

Bring in the clowns

Maybe I have been through too many elelctions, but this presidential election gets to be a bigger joke all the time.
 Obviously, the Democrats aren’t having much problem, they already have a candidate. I guess that would logically leave them in a place to govern better, but alas, not so much. 
The Republicans are literally displaying a parade of clown antics that would make a circus proud. Romney is the front runner, but nobody seems to want him (go figure that one out). Herman Cain declares a flat tax of 9% (999), cant adequately explain it, doesn’t know how to stand on abortion, and will negotiate with hostage takers. (Hmmmm). Michele Bachman says if we turn the 999 tax proposal of Cain upside down it is 666 a mark of the anti-christ. (Oh wow). Rick Perry likes the flat tax, but will use 20% to stay away from Michele’s fears of the anti-christ. Unfortuately, he and Trump want to start up the “Obama birth cirtificate” question again. (Think we have a few more important problems to look into right now).
 There are so many more, but I think maybe we should all look at Jimmy McMillan, the candidate from the “Rent is Too Damn High” party. 
His political stand against Obama is that Obama is “a good-looking young guy, and I’m a handsome old dude. So there’s gonna be some competition there.” 
At least Jimmy is a clown we can laugh with and not cry about. Just Say’n

Another one bites the dust

It was interesting to view the remains of Moammar Gadhafi laying on the floor of the cell. He was definitely a nut case who caused a lot of harm to a lot of people. 
He thought he was invincible, but like his friends Saddam Hussein, Binn Laden, and others; death is once again the great equalizer. 
No fancy uniforms, no brass bands, just a corpse on the floor. I don’t know how these nuts get into power and authority, but it is reassuring to know they all go out the same way.
Now if we could just figure our how to have a world where violence wasn’t a norm, then we would really be making progress. Just Say'n

Unsweetened

I was out for dinner with my wife the other night and the waitress asked if I wanted sweetened or unsweetened ice tea with dinner. I said sweetened, but then started thinking, why did we suddenly have to rename drinks “unsweetened” when they have always been know as just regular drinks. 
Ice tea is known as regular old ice tea unless you want to add sugar and then it is sweet ice tea. 
Somehow, the sweetener became the defining part of the ice tea. It is no longer regular tea, it is unsweetened tea.
What if I want to order a dozen white roses; are they now known as the "un-red" rose?
 How about a politician, do I want an honest one or an un-honest one. Wait, that’s a different thought all together. Think I will fix a glass of regular tea with some sweetner and think about the politician thing again. Or maybe I just have too much time on my hands. Just Say'n

Taxes

A lot of talk about how we are taxed in our country, none of it seems to indicate we will be taxed less. I’m in favor of paying our taxes, as that is part of our responsibility as a citizenry who is greatly blessed.
It does bother me when a person works hard all their life, accumulates some small level of savings, pays tax on all the income it took to accumulate this savings, and then the government wants to tax it again when it is passed on to our estate. To me that is double taxing on my income.
I am looking at this flat tax theory that one candidate is expressing. Drop all the loopholes, close all the exceptions, and just tax everyone on  a flat percent. 
Now that does sound fair to me.
But I’m sure it sound unfair to others. Guess we will just have to see who screams loudedest over the next few months. Just Say'n

Protesters

Listening to some people talk about the “Wall Street Protesters” taking place around the country. These people believed that the deomonstrators were anti American and should all be arrested. They were assembling illegally and one person even said they should all be shot. REALLY!?
Seems to me this country was founded on demonstration. It is a right of all citizens to speak freely without persicution. Our entire structure of racial discrimination was forced to change because of non-violent demonstration. I lived in the 60’s when we demonstrated about everything we could think of and enjoyed the freedom.
I’ve listened to some of the “spokesmen" for the “Wall Street Protesters,” and frankly I’m not sure what they hope to accomplish. Nevertheless, thank God we live in a country where they can deomonstrate without fear. I’ve seen how other countrys deal with demonstations. It isn’t pretty. Just Say'n

WHO AM I!!!!????

Sitting in my doctors office today wondering how I became invisible. Been here for half hour waiting for an appointment scheduled for half hour ago. I see a problem as the person next to me has been waiting for an hour which means I probably have another half hour to go. That will then take me into the little office where I will probably wait another half hour.
I wasn’t sick when I came in, it was just a checkup. Nevertheless, I now am having anxiety, stress, and will probably show high blood pressure.
No wait a minute. I don’t have anyplace to go today other that this appointment. I did that knowing the doctor would run late. So I will just work on my computer, smile at the people waiting behind me, and know that life is to short to worry about an hour delay in a schedule that has no deadline. Just say’n.

Failure to Launch

I was talking to a friend the other day who is building a wing on his house so his daughter can have more space. She is 32, has a job, doesn’t pay rent, and now needs more space. I guess in this economy, it is difficult to find work and pay for a place to live, so kids are staying with the parents a lot longer. 
Nevertheless, seems to me it would be better for some of these children who are over thirty if they left home. 
When I went to college at 19, my mother redecorated my room with antiques. When I came home, it was obvious to me that my time at home was over. Now I don’t recommend that type of approach, it probably took a few years of therapy for me to recover from that change.
 However, seems that over 25 and still living at home needs some rethinking. I am sure some people will disagree. Let me know what you think. Just because I’ve lived a long time doesn’t mean I know all the answers. Just Say’n.

APP WAR

I’m just beginning to understand what APP’s are. On my phone, there are about twernty different little buttons that each take me to an new program on my phone. These buttons are APP’s or “applications” designed to provide each user some assistance in their desired quest.
I now discover that there are thousands of these apps, some of which I discover my wife has already downloaded. She now can make a figure 8 motion with her phone and it will tell her where she is on a map. I guess that is important, but seems like she already knew where she was. 
Then she had a weather app that said this week was going to be 80 degrees and sunny. But the app was reporting for someplace in Arizona, not New York. I guess it takes a while to figure these things out.

Personally, I only need one app. Angry Birds. Now that is one the greatest accomplishments of modern technology. I can’t even believe how much time I spend shooting birds against targets and then getting mad when they miss. Think I may be loosing it, Just Say'n                                          

My bad

About a month ago I was bothered about the end of summer. Fall was coming and it meant that cold weather was now upon us. I pouted, grumbled, and generally did all the things that will be totally non productive for a positive life. 
Fortunately, Mother Nature in all her beauty and wisdom decided to give us three days of beautiful summer weather this last weekend and I cherished every moment. 
Next time I grumble and complain I hope I remember this lesson. Just enjoy what is and stop worrying about what might be. Just say’n.

Up in the air

Flying! I just don’t like it at all.

There was a time when flying was a treat in which you had linen napkins on your tray, a nice warm meal, friendly attendants and fun times. Now it is just hassle, hustle and no legroom.

You pass through a security check that is designed to give you anxiety attacks.

Stripped of your shoes, belt, change, glasses, jacket and any other object they want to remove. If you’re lucky, a person who obviously doesn’t enjoy their job pats you down.

Survive that and your next step is into a cramped space where, if you’re fortunate, you may get a spot for your luggage. Then into a seat that is designed for children, glared at by the attendants as they pass by, fed pretzels and cold coffee,finally shuffled like cattle out of the plane door into a lounge filled with desperate people wanting to suffer the same experience you just survived.

It is great to get places fast, but I think I may start driving to my favorite vacation spots. Just Say’n

Head banging bird

Taking a vacation in Georgia where we are surrounded by magnificently tall Georgia Pines that sway majestically in the mountain winds. It is so relaxing to sit in the quiet of the day and be filled with the peace of the world around me. Except for one thing: Woodpeckers!

They are very unusual creatures that flit from tree to tree looking for their daily ration of insects. When they find their prey, they bang their sharp beaks into the tree about fifty times in ten seconds in order to dig out the bug.

Now I know that all things are created with a purpose, but what kind of brain damage is done with that type of action.

I’ve had days when I did bang my head on the wall a couple times, but to spend my lifetime doing that, it is beyond my comprehension.

So I guess I will just enjoy the Georgia Pines as they sway in the breeze and thank God that he didn’t make me a Woodpecker. Just Say’n

Time away

We’re spending a few days with friends down in the beautiful state of Georgia. There is something about the south that is just relaxing for both the mind and body. Everything moves slower in the south and I think that may be a good idea. 
However, the New Yorker in me has to have a few days to get in sync with the slower pace and those times can be rather difficult. 
For instance, when I am grocery shopping it takes a long time to check out. This is do mainly to the enormous amount of conversation the checkout clerk seems to enjoy with each customer.
 I appreciate the fact that they make you feel at home, but I really don’t need to hear about how much they like my choice of cookies and how they eat them in front of TV as they watch a program which was really funny last night when Bobby told Jill all about his trip to California, which is where their uncle Bill lives who was really sick but seems to be better now, thank the Lord.
 I mean, that is more information than I really ask for!
But other than that, I really do love the south. Just Say'n

Dress Code

This last week I had to wear a tie two times. Now that may not be important to many of you, but after forty years of wearing a necktie I decided to only do it when necessary. Been that way for about two years and can’t say I miss it. 
The necktie traces back to the time of the Thirty Year War (1618-1648) when Croatian mercenaries from the Military Frontier in French service wore their traditional small, knotted neckerchiefs. The French apparently went wild over the look and it became fashion.
 I decided that as much as I really do like the French, I didn’t need to continue the tradition.  Besides, I always thought putting a noose around my neck was not a good indication of how much I enjoy life. Just Say’n.
If you enjoy our blog, be a follower or tell your friends on Twitter and Facebook you “like” this blog. You don’t have to wear a tie if your a member, we are very informal. Just Say’n.

We the People

Listened to some of the debate the other night and heard a dialog about a person becoming sick and not having any healthcare. It was a good point until someone said they should just die because it was their choice not to have healthcare. Then, to top it off, some of the people in the audience applauded the idea.
I turned if off after that.
It is sad when a nation, formed on the idea that the words “We the People” actually meant something, has now become a place where we forsake so many. There are no easy answers to all our problems, but I just hope that “We the People” don’t forget that “We” is a term including all “People”.
I’m sure I will probably get some nasty email on this thought, but you know, that is ok. "We the People" can also disagree and still care for each other. Just Say’n


Share your thoughts and tell others on Facebook or Twitter. 

Anyone out there?

We had one of those beautiful starry nights last week, the kind that makes the sky so full of stars that you get dizzy looking. It is amazing when you think about the bigness and complexity of the universe. 
Most of the light we are seeing from those stars came about millions of years ago and we are just seeing it now. For that matter, a lot of the stars we see may not exist anymore. 

Then you can get a real brain cramp if you try to figure out where all of the universe ends. My finite mind just doesn’t grasp infinity. 

I guess the thing I ponder the most on nights like that is the question, “Is anyone else out there?” I really think we are being foolish to believe in the vast universe we are the only people around. 
Bill Watterson, the author of Calvin and Hobbes, once said that the surest sign that intelligent life exist else where in the universe is the fact it has never tried to contact us.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of truth to that thought. Just Say'n

Balancing act

Come to the conclusion that life is best lived if we see it as a balancing act. For example, today is a rainy miserable day outside. Now if I just stay with that thought, this will just be a miserable day. However, to balance that out I also recognize it is Friday, which is good news. Now I am back in balance.


If there is a left, there is a right. If there is an up, there is a down. If a front, then a back. Seems to be a lesson in those simple facts. If I just stay focused on what isnt working, I am out of balance and will probably fall down. However, no matter what isnt working in life, something is always working right.


So on this rainy miserable day,
which is Friday,
 I am going to go celebrate by having a ice cream sunday,
 which will put on many calories.
 Hmmmm. That didnt end up the way I wanted. Just Say'n

Send a message

Had to get a message to somebody the other day so I sent a text. Took me about three minutes to accomplish this task. 

Thought about how long it would have taken only twenty years ago. Probably have to drive to find a payphone, load in enough dimes to make the call, and then hope they were home. If not, then I would have to try again later, as there would be no machine to receive the message.

Imagine if you needed to send a message a few hundred years ago. Unless they were close enough to receive a smoke signal, it could take weeks before they got the message and even longer before you got a reply. If you ask them where a good restaurant was, you would die of starvation before they got back to you.

We complain about our phone being “out of range” or “dropping a call” like it is a great inconvenience. Remembering how it would have been a few years ago, makes us appreciate today. 
And the worst part about phones a few years ago was the fact you couldn’t play Angry Birds. Now that was a real problem. Just Say’n.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Feeling small

A few days a week, I journey into Manhattan NY. I do this to earn a living, not because I love Manhattan. I used to love being in the city, but those days are over. It isn’t exciting anymore, it is just busy, noisy, and really dirty. Some tell me it is because I’m getting too old to enjoy the city, but I think I’m just getting too smart to have to put up with chaos and pretend to enjoy it. To those who love the fast life, I am happy that you have a place to go.

Frankly, when I’m in the city I feel very small. There are probably ten million people all around me, most of them moving at a pace the defies undertstanding. Then the buildings preclude sunshine, which I am sure is not the best for the human race. 

Went to the Grand Canyon once and really felt small there too. But it was a good feeling of being awe struck instead of being struck by a taxi. Just Say’n

Going no place fast

Was watching a man in a kayak the other day. The tide was going out and he was trying to come in, without much luck.
He would paddle for all he was worth, and make some headway, then when he had to rest, he went backward to where he started.


I've been there several times in my life, not in a kayak, just in circumstances.


When I was younger, I used to think that I had to paddle harder, but I never got anyplace.
Now I pull over to the side, enjoy the day, and wait for the tide to change.
Seem to be getting where I want to go a lot faster and with a lot more fun.


Just Say'n


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The Day After

Didn’t closely follow the 9/11 anniversary yesterday. It was simply too painful. My wife had her office on the 16th floor of Tower One and my office was a block and a half away. Fortunately, neither of us were injured in the tragedy, at least not physically. 

The day after, we attempted to get into my office to get important records, but found the block cordoned off by the military. For months, the air was filled with dust and smells that defy immagination. But we survived, which thousands that day did not. 

Today, the World Trade Center is a construction zone, that now contains a memorial. At least we have that part completed, which is only right as a priority. 
However, across the street from the WTC is St. Paul’s Church, from which George Washington took his oath of office. In the back of the church is a cemetary with a beautiful group of trees. Some of them have been standing since Washington’s speech, survived many wars, and now the 9/11. 

Over all these years, they have grown, provided shade, produced oxygen, and given beauty. Never once did they fight with each other. May the trees also be a memorial to what creation can be if we try to simply be good to each other. Just Say’n.

Surfer dude

Long Beach, NY is the home of the Quicksilver competiton, which is a surfing contest for competitors around the world. It is also where we live, so we’ve been down to the beach with the surfing crowd these last few days. 
To me, an accomplishment in the waves is riding a boogie board and not getting hurt. Obviously, I am not a competitor in the Quicksilver meet. 

These surfers do things on a board that I wouldnt think of doing anyplace. One we watched rode the wave up in the air, turned his board around 360 degrees, and then rode it back down the wave.
On the way home, I stood in the sand on one leg for sixty seconds. I think that is equal to the skill shown by the surfer. Just Say’n


If you want to see the Quicksilver live here is a link. I’ll wave to you!

September

I start dreading September every March. To me March is the beginning of Spring and warm weather. Oh it may stay cold for a few more weeks, but there is always hope just over the horizon. Not so for September, there is no hope for anything but the onslaught of cold weather. 
Nevertheless, after many years of complaining about September I decided this year to be more positive. It is good to have a new season. The fall is really beautiful with its colorful leaves. Football starts in the fall. We can have fire in the fireplace. No more mowing lawn. 


Oh hell, I can’t do it anymore. I hate September.
Just Say’n.


Be a follower of our blog and we can spend the winter together trying to be positive. 

So little memory

Just got a new laptop that has about 200Gig of memory and 4Gig of Ram. I’m not sure I even understand what that means. 
My first computer was a dinosaur known as the Tandy TRS-80. It had 4k of Ram and could handle disks of 148k. My computer had two disk slots, so I could increase my work to 296k by switching the disk back and forth. It was so big that it covered my entire desk. With no internet, there was no need for connection. 


I figure to write this blog, get the information, load the pictures and keep a copy of the entire process would have taken about four disk, 8 hours and more problems than I can even describe. With my new laptop it just took about 15 minutes. 


When Radio Shack came out with the TRS-80 Series I, they figured to see about 1000 units. By the time they went to Series II (about a year) they had sold 127,000 units. Sometimes you just can’t know how good a thing is until you bring it to the public. All I know is the new laptop I have is a lot more fun than that old dinosaur TRS-80, but I sure loved the TRS-80 when it came out. Just Say'n