Mr. Magoo

My wife and I were talking about old movies today and we thought about Mr. Magoo, who was a cartoon character with extremely limited eyesight. 
He lived a charmed life as he wandered through the maze of obstacles before him, and never fell into harm. 
If he needed a plank to walk on, somehow one appeared. If something was going to fall on him, somehow it missed. In all his adventures, he seemed not to be aware of how protected he was.


That stuck with me for a while. I think all of us live like Mr. Magoo. We have no idea how many things we have been protected from by powers we cant comprehend. 


I am quick to criticize when things don't work, but I think I will be quicker to be thankful for all the things that are working, especially the things I take for granted.


Life is good.
Just say'n


PS.  If you like these post, join in the followers box on the left. We would like to know who is walking with us. Besides, it makes us feel popular, lol. Just say'n

My debt is $48,838.48

I was informed today that I owe $48,838.48 for a lot of things that I never ordered.
I never ordered the bailout of greedy banks.
I never ordered the financial backing of poorly run companies.
I never ordered huge wars on foreign soils.
I never ordered financial support for national politicians that seem to become millionaires just by being elected.
That $48,838.48 is what my portion of the National Debt is today. By tomorrow it will be even bigger.
I realize I have a lot of tremendous blessings in this country, and as a nation we do have a responsibility to support each other, but I never agreed to be part of financial mismanagement.
Maybe I could ask Japan or China if they would lend me the money to pay off this debt. Oh wait, I just found out they are the ones I already owe this money.
Maybe we all should just file bankruptcy and not pay off this debt. Maybe I will send a bill to my Senator, they all have a lot of money. Maybe I will just pray for my kids, cause they each owe $48,838.48 too, and will have to live with it a lot longer than I will. Just Say’n.

What to believe?

I've believed a lot of things over the years. 
I think when I was young I believed I would never get old.
I believed once that if I accumulated a lot of things, I would be happy.
I believed that people would never let me down.
I also believed that I would never let people down.
I believed once that life was hard and then you die.
I am sure glad I'm open to changing what I believe.


 I once heard that if you don't change what you believe, you will be the way you are forever. Happily, I changed my beliefs. Life is good, that’s what I believe now and this time, I plan to stick with it. There may be some moments when things are difficult, but overall, it is a good run. Just say'n

Blah, Blah, Blah

Maybe I’m just getting cranky in my golden years, but this election seems to be a real catastrophy. 
I listened to the last debate, felt nauseous, and finally changed the chanel. 
 Mitt stands there and accuses Newt of being a high paid lobbiest. Newt fires back that Mitt doesn’t pay his fare share in taxes and keeps foreign tax accounts. How in the hell did we get an election with the two top runners having names like “Mitt” and “Newt”?
Meantime, the “I would outlaw all birth control” candidate stands and smiles at the audience wondering what state he is in as Ron Paul combs  the audience looking for illegal Cuban immagrants. They only person in America who is happy with the Primary Race is Obama. 
We need Michele Bachman to come back. At least you knew she would say something that was humorous, even if she didn’t mean to. Just Say'n

Super Bowl

The New York Giants are heading to the Super Bowl. You may ask what this picture has to do with the Giants and if you do ask, I will refuse to answer on the grounds that it may incriminate me. I just believe that every Giants fan deserves to celebrate any way they want.
Nevertheless, I am always curious why we call them the New York Giants. They play all their football in New Jersey. 
Our baseball teams are in New York. 
Our Hockey teams are in New York. 
Our basketball teams are in New York. 
But both of our football teams are in New Jersey. Even worse; one of the wealthiest cities in the world can’t afford two football stadiums. The Giants and Jets have to play in one stadium, AND IT IS IN NEW JERSEY.
Whatever - the New York Giants are going to the Super Bowl. Way to go guys. Just Say'n

NOT VERY MUCH $$$$$$$

Mitt Romney was talking about his finances (which are very large and very prosperous) and he mentioned that he also made some money from speaking engagements, but “Not very much”. 
It turns out that “Not very much” is  $347,327 between February 2010 and February 2011. HMMMMM, I guess my idea of small change and his are very different. 


Of course, our beloved Billy Clinton had a few speaking engagements the last few years and it netted him $75.5 Million. He also sold a few books for $10 million, but I guess we would say that was “not very much” for very wealthy politicians. 
I went into the wrong business. Just Say'n

Home repairs

The problem with owning a home is no matter where you sit, you’re looking at something that needs to be done. My wife decided that we needed to paint a couple rooms. Somehow, WE  is a term that generally mean ME. She means well, but I’m used to the fact that her good ideas usually give me something new to do. Anyhow, finished painting a room and she decided it was not the color she wanted. I agreed with this so painted it again. Didn’t work, she hated the second color too. Luckily, third time was the charm and she liked it.
Then the floors didn’t look good, so now I am sanding and redoing the floors. The problem now is the two room will look so good, I am sure she will want to do the others too. Oh well, it’s too cold to go out anyway, so may as well fix up the house. Just Say'n

Barack Romney ?

Maybe Fox News knows something we don’t. Wouldn’t it really be interesting to discover that Mitt and Barack were really the same person? Wouldn’t that upset the political party system.
Hmmm, maybe Newt Gingrich is really Hillary Clinton! Obviously, I have to get back on my meds. Just Say'n

Mitt, Mitt, Mitt

Seems like Mitt Romney is moving to the forefront in the political circus. I do miss Michele Bachman, she had such funny statements about such serious issues. Anyhow, here comes Mitt with deep perspectives on many things.
 One thought he shares is in response to a question about raising taxes  on American corporations:
Corporations are people, my friend…of course they are. Everything corporations earn ultimately goes to the people. Where do you think it goes? Whose pockets? Whose pockets? People’s pockets. Human beings, my friend.”  Hmmmm, seems a lot of it is going into very select pockets.


On the Pro-Life issue: “I respect and will protect a woman’s right to choose.” -Mitt Romney in 2002
“Look, I was pro-choice. I am pro-life. You can go back to YouTube and look at what I said in 1994. I never said I was pro-choice, but my position was effectually pro-choice. I changed my position. And I get tired of people that are holier-than-thou because they’ve been pro-life longer than I have.” -Mitt Romney in 2007


Wait, let me think about that. Is he or isn’t he? Was he or wasn’t he? What the heck is he talking about?
 I miss Michele Bachman, at least you didn’t expect anything from her, just a good laugh. Just Say'n

New beginnings

Every new year there is an abundance of thoughts about new beginnings. We go over the events of the last year and set goals for the new life before us. Someone once kept a log of his new years resolutions:


   1999: I will not spend my money frivolously.
    2000: I will pay off my bank loan promptly.
    2001: I will pay off my bank loans promptly.
    2002: I will begin making a strong effort to be out of debt by 2003.
    2003: I will be totally out of debt by 2004.
    2004: I will try to pay off the debt interest by 2005.
    2005: I will try to be out of the country by 2006.


I guess we all like to think of new beginnings as a place of escaping from old problems. It is a fact that every new beginning means something has to end. Problem is, we often feel like the past is so painful that the future is just too hard to visualize. 
Maybe we need to be like the caterpillar. When he believes that he has reached the end of life, the butterfly has just found his new beginning. Let's resolve not to look back on what might have been and simply look forward to what will be. Just say’n.

Reality show

I was running through the cable channels the other night when I spied a woman with her face in a tank of snakes. I had to stop and see what in the world was going on with this show.
I discovered she was taking snakes off her husband, who was laying in the tank. She did this with her mouth and then moved the snakes to another tank while holding them in her mouth! In another episode the couple had to jump from a moving bus to a helicopter and then jump from the helicopter to a platform in the water. On the platform was a tower they had to explode.
Really!?
Looking through the listings I found Real Housewives of Orange County, New Jersey, Atlanta and someplace else. These real housewives are as crazy as the inhabitants of Jersey Shore, which I am proud to say I have never watched. 
How about Jon and Kate plus 8 which ended up Kate plus 8 when Jon bailed out on the marriage. Maybe he should join Sister Wives about a polygamist family. 
I think we have become a nation of people who want to live our lives through the stupidity of others. There is a slogan that says “DON’T TRUST A NATION THAT NEEDS MEDICATION!” I think our reality shows demonstrate the truth of that thought. 
Anyhow, I have to go now. Biggest Loser is on. Just Say'n

Spare a dime

My wife and I were in Dunkin Donuts the other day, (this was before we started our “After New Year” diet), where I spotted this homeless man asking people for spare change. I assume he was homeless, but at least he did appear to be in need.
He moved around the tables receiving rejection and disrespect from those he encountered. 
At a table near me were two gentlemen sitting with open bibles, having a very animated discussion about some religious principle. The homeless man was totally ignored by these men, I guess he didn’t fit into their religious thoughts at the moment.
When he came to our table I asked him why he wanted the money and he told me so he could get a donut like the one I was eating. I walked him up to the  counter and bought him the donut, for which he was very grateful. I don’t give money to people, but I will often get them something they need, just so the money isn’t turned into more destructive elements in their life.
My wife and I left Dunkin Donuts after a while and I noticed the religious zealots were still deep in conversation. Guess that’s why I’m just not religious anymore. Just Say’n. 

Dead Battery

Had to go to the bank today. Not a big task, at least until I went to the car and my battery was dead. Called a service and within an hour I am on my way. 
But first I need a new battery. Stopped for the new battery and got installed, but also needed new wipers.
 Got those and then decided I was near the paint store where I needed some paint. 
Stopped and got that. Heading home decided to stop and get milk and bread.
 Accomplished that . 
Then found I needed gas, so I got that. 
Made it home and did the painting I wanted. 
Finally, after seven hours of different distractions, I remembered I forgot to go to the bank and cash the check. Some days are just not easy. Just say’n.

London Book Fair

Catch and Release, my newest book,  won the honor of being first runner-up in the international competition held at the London Book Fair. Thousands of authors from around the world competed and I am honored for this award. For more information on my book click here.