Bedtime

It's Friday night. I've been up since 4 am since I work mornings. Tomorrow is another work day, up at 3:30 am. I'm looking forward to getting the kids to bed and getting to sleep myself. Mommy reads a bedtime story chosen by each child. Sara wants to read hers again but it's time for bed and we can read it again tomorrow. I get to take Sara to bed while Mommy takes Connor. As I carry her into her bedroom and turn down the lights she softly says "daddy rock?" I say "Sure Princess, I'll rock you for a little while". We sit in the glider and she snuggles up to me. Slowly we rock back and forth, just the sound of her soft breath and the quiet squeak of the chair as it moves. My mind is thinking of all the things I still have to do before I can get to bed. Feed the dogs, pack my lunch, get some water for the nightstand, get the dog beds ready... the slight sigh of a little girl falling asleep catches my attention. She's cuddled up with her bear, the one I brought her back from a trip last year, with her thumb delicately perched on her bottom lip and her eyes closed. Her breathing calms my mind and brings me back to something I enjoy. Just being together. I could put her in her bed, get my list done and be off to bed within minutes but I don't. I don't want to go just yet. These are the moments that make life so beautiful, peaceful, and blessed. I rock back and forth and realize my list of things has left my mind and has been replaced by one thing, the sweet love shared by a daddy and his little baby girl. Sleep can wait, I've found something that is much more restful. I realize that I never want to be able to say "I wish I had spent more time with my kids". They'll be grown up too fast I already know, but for right now, time is standing still. And so am I.

Garage Sale

Every year, in the spring and fall our subdivision has it's community garage sale. We particpate most of the time just to open up some space and make a few bucks. We usually invite friends to join us as it's a good excuse to get together and it also helps pass the time. It also has the benefit of having an extra pair of eyes watching the potential customers. Wifey and I have a symbiotic relationship when it comes to pricing our wares. She tends to want to get rid of the stuff as expeditiously as possible (translation-cheap) whereas I tend to want to make a buck extra even if it means foregoing the sale if I can't get a minimum (translation-expensive) price for the item. There are limits though as my wife put it so well the other day, "If they can't pay $5 for a $40 item then we'd rather donate it to someone who is really in need". Of course, there's the usual items we disagree upon that should or shouldn't be in the sale. How many times have I sold something only to have found a use for it 5 years later? Remember that left over 4 inch piece of weather stripping I had? Now where did I put that? The garage sale rule of thumb is "If you haven't used it in 1 year, you can do without it". Being a guy who likes to store stuff, I really don't think 1 year is adequate for determining if something is worth keeping. Besides, I can't tell you how many times a friend has needed a particular item only to find that I have it and would be glad to lend it to them, if only I could remember where I stored it. Or even worse, something I could have needed. Why do you think guys garages and workshops have so many old spare parts from projects finished (and unfinished) years ago? Those 5 rusty 4 inch nails could be used to shore up an aging wooden fence in a few years, right? Do you think we like to keep those 357 different types of nails along with the 289 types of screws in that coffee can? Sure it may take us 3 hours to find the one we need but at least we saved a trip to Home Depot, and don't get me started on the gas savings too! I'm sorry if we can't fit our 2 cars into the garage, but we really need that old lumber I saved from replacing the fence 3 years ago. I can use those boards to replace the ones that go bad in 2 years on the new fence. Of course we could also need firewood this winter in case the heating bills get too high. Everything has a purpose, and if it doesn't then I'm sure one will come up in time. Of course if I don't end up using those boards I could always sell them in our next garage sale as long as my wife doesn't price them too low.

Funding for the Aid.

Here's a novel idea, let's have all the Senators and Congressmen take the funds they've diverted to their pork barrel projects this year and use that money to pay for the relief effort in Louisiana. Mississippi, and Alabama and use the left over to cut the gas taxes.
There's someone laughing on the floor of the Capitol right now....

State of Disaster

Thoughts on the Hurricane aftermath in Louisiana..
I've seen the news reports, read the stories, and looked at the comments made by bloggers and other posts written by various people and have come up with a few thoughts on the ranting and raving of those who believe everything went wrong with the relief efforts and the opinions about those who stayed behind.
Blaming the people who stayed is as ridiculous as blaming the government for not showing up right after the hurricane moved out. Do you know the logistics in getting supplies, people and equipment into an area where the roads are all destroyed and there are no feasible areas to stage help from? Then add to that people shooting at those who were trying to help and you have now created a scene where caution makes things go even more slowly. Why weren't there more people evacuated via busses set up by the local and state government? What makes those that decided to stay think they were immune to the devastation of a category 5 hurricane? Where were the Jesse Jacksons before the hurricane hit? Couldn't they have been telling people to get out? Funny how the critics and "leaders" only show up after the devastation and all they offer is criticism instead of help. I agree that the government could have moved faster and I'm sure they'll be some repercussions on that fact, but let's not forget that even the civilian disaster relief organizations had trouble getting there in a timely manner. Also, many of the people that stayed are victims, but there are also some that made a decision to stay and ride the storm out who could have left.
Why is Louisiana the state that has had the worst problem with the relief efforts. Could that be due to local and state unpreparedness? They have a lot of responsibility in this as well.
The lawlessness is what really gets to me. I can understand people needing to raid a store for food, batteries, flashlights and other necessary items, but guns, jewelry, TV's? Those are the people who are not taking to survive, they are taking because they can. Those are the ones who would prefer the state of chaos and will do things to keep it that way. I believe that anyone who shoots at the relief efforts should be treated as they would on the street by law enforcement and be shot back at. There is no excuse to be shooting at people who are coming to the aid of those in need. Then the woman on TV saying how bad the food she received was after she hadn't eaten in 3 days. She ought to be ashamed. How dare you profess to be hungry and in need and then turn around and insult the aid you were provided. You ungrateful person. Give it back then and fend for yourself if the meals we feed our soldiers are not good enough for your palette. Entitlement seems to run rampant in her mind. I know it's harsh, but there are others in need also who would be grateful to receive food and water even if it is the MRE's fed to our military.
It boggles my mind how some people can react with such arrogance.
Those who blame the Administration for the mess are just grasping at anything they can to blame the President and government. Let me say this once... IT was a Category 5 Hurricane! What did you expect, that the state would be back on it's feet in a few days? It'll take years before it's back to normal, but you know what? I bet it's rebuilt better than it was before. It needs to be. There were so many problems just waiting to surface with the gulf coast. Having a city that is on the coast and under sea level just doesn't seem like a smart thing to me. Add to that the fact it's sinking also and it was just a matter if time before something happened or something had to be done. Maybe now is the chance to rebuild New Orleans and make it stronger and more stable than ever. I hope so, it is a city rich in culture and would be a great loss.
People will find anything to complain about these days. Where is the help from other countries? Why can't we do something about the price of gas? Why don't they stop those people from looting? Where was the President and why did it take so long for him to respond?
First, do we need help from other countries? We are the most powerful and resourceful nation on the earth, who is more able to help us then us?
The price of gas is affected by everything these days. Do you think that having the restrictions on where we can refine petroleum products to the gulf area was smart? Diverse locations would ensure more stability should anything else happen somewhere else.
The looters are not all bad. In fact most are probably trying to find supplies to survive and for that there is no fault. Who wouldn't do the same? Unfortunately those who loot for profit are doing so because there is no way for police to stop them. The police also have families to care for. Those that are working are in help mode and to try and grasp what to do next while being shorthanded.
Where was the President? Staying away as he should have. The fastest way to slow down everything is to have the President visit too soon. This diverts resources from the job of getting aid enroute to where it is needed. The security needed and restrictions placed around the President's location would have made matters worse.
The relief effort is in full swing now and I'm sure we'll be seeing better management of this situation. With a catastrophe of this size, you can't expect everyone to be cared for in 3-4 days. But of course that's not what people think.
There are so many more issues on this subject that I could go on for days, but that's enough for now.

Shame on Congress!

The recent passing of the Energy Bill has made the priorities of our Congress quite clear to me. Over 4400 items added for individual projects spending over $16 Billion dollars in taxpayer money. What do they care? It's not their money, it's ours. And to add insult to injury there is NOTHING in the bill to help alleviate the current prices of gas we are paying now. Fuel is taxed by both the state and federal governments. For every dollar spent on gas, 31 cents is tax. Imagine if the government decided to help struggling families by saying they would reduce the amount of taxes charged on gasoline. That would have been something tangible. It may have not been a long term solution but it could have helped. Not too mention that the less money flowing into D.C. means more controlled spending (at least I would hope). Also not in the bill is anything to make sure we reduce our dependence on foreign oil. I believe the raising the minimum MPG for vehicles would be a good start. I wrote in an earlier blog my thoughts on foreign oil and with the price of oil at $65.00 a barrel it is even more poignant. our energy policies are so inefficient it's laughable. If congress really made the effort to streamline our energy needs we could reduce the cost of gas, increase our efficiency in our vehicles, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and improve our air quality by reducing emissions all by making some common sense adjustments. It seems that congress no longer listens to common sense, they listen to money and that is trouble for all of us.
If there was a way to give the President a "Line item Veto" it may be worth it. Or at the very least create an overseer committee that are not politicians but rather economists and accountants to filter through the garbage added. Better yet, take the GDP of each state, put aside a set amount of funds out of a bill to be divided up according to each states population and GDP and then make that the amount each Congressman is limited to sending back home to use how ever they deem necessary. This would create 2 things, an equal share of funds per state according to each states need and fiscal responsibility by the legislators of that state to spend the funds on real projects. For example, if a state like Arizona is getting 100 million, I bet the citizens would make sure it was used to pay for highway infrastructure, education, tax relief, or some other improvement for the citizens instead of a bridge that is not needed or a warehouse to be renovated, or even highway beautification projects. Make those who want to spend the funds accountable because lets facce it, Congress is not accountable to anyone, and that can be dangerous.
All I can say is shame on Congress and shame on President Bush for not vetoing this pork laden, inefficient, embarrassing piece of legislation. The energy bill should be named "Congresses personal spending account bill".

And that's what I think about that!

Bye bye Wright

The Wright Amendment. A rule imposed by 1 man at the behest of 3 of his major contributors to restrict flights from Dallas Love Field to anywhere outside of Texas and the 4 states directly surrounding Texas and later amended to include Alabama, Mississippi, and Kansas. An anti-competitive law that stifles affordable air travel from Dallas and protects the 800 pound gorilla, DFW. It's time for the rule to go. Proponents of the law say it's needed to ensure that DFW maintains it's role as the main airport in the region. They say it was an agreement between the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth when DFW was being built and it should be maintained. They say it's a law and shouldn't be changed. Here's what I say. Laws are made. Laws are un-made. Things change and laws become obsolete. This is one of those laws. DFW is the main airport operating over 1000 flights a day all across the nation. Dallas Love is only allowed to have up to 250 flights and will never grow to the point of challenging DFW. It's like restricting a Mom and Pop store because it could hurt the Wal-Mart 2 blocks away. Let's really call this law what is was, a favor. A favor by the then Speaker of the House Jim Wright to the 3 major airlines in Dallas who were po'd that Southwest won in every court case and were to be allowed to operate from Love Field instead of being forced to fly from DFW. In other words, the law was on Southwests' side. Southwest won in court and the only way to get even was to call in a favor from a politician. This restriction is outdated and needs to be repealed. The law is a holdback to the times when airlines were regulated by the government. When de-regulation was passed for the airline industry, Love Field was forgotten and left in that year.
Perhaps back when DFW was a fledgling airport and growing it needed some type of stimulus or protection, not anymore. It's the 3rd largest airport in the country and no longer should be afforded this benefit. Face it, if it can't survive without the protection of this law, maybe they need to look at making some changes? It's the 800 lb gorilla that was raised in a cage and is now afraid to go back to the wild and compete with the rest of the animals.
Competition is good for the consumer and even business. As with many laws made decades or centuries ago this one has become obsolete and it's time we got rid of it. If we can't change laws or adjust our rules to accommodate changing times we may as well get used to living in a world that never evolves.

Let the Hockey Season Begin

Whoo hoo! Hockey is back in town. I'm watching with interest all the changes teams are making. Of course I'm most interested in my team, the Red Wings, but there have been some acquisitions that have just floored me. Chicago got Khabibulin. That was a major accomplishment. I was hoping my guys would get him but to be real it would have taken almost a miracle for that to happen. I also just read Pronger is going from St. Louis to Edmonton. That was a surprise. Pronger still has a lot of good hockey left in him. It seems all the teams are going for 1-4 major players and then going conservative in the hopes of getting a break later on. Oct 5th is the starting date and I am looking forward to it! The schedule also is keeping the teams closer to home and having them play their regional opponent's more. They say it'll help make more exciting rivalries but I think people would rather see the teams match up against a broader spectrum throughout the year. It gives you a better feel for how things will shake out in the race for the playoffs. We'll see how it goes. Just from looking at the trades I really don't see any team that is positioned much better than any other so far. Everyone got a few elite players and no one team seemed to have faired better than any other. The only real stand out is Chicago. They made moves that have increased their potential tenfold. I guess the only way they had to go was up anyway so maybe it's not such a surprise.
We'll, I'm looking forward to seeing the season start. I'm getting my jersey out.
Game on!

Being a Daddy

As I tuck in my little boy and we say his bedtime prayers he looks up at me as asks for me to lay down with him. He's at that age where his imagination is running rampant and having Daddy there helps calm his anxiety. I think of all the things I need to do before bedtime but all I say in answering him is, "of course I will". You see, I realized early on that I never want to be able to say I wish I would have done this or that or taken the time to do something with my little boy or baby girl. I know I'll still think of them in that way even when they are older. I don't want to ever regret not taking the time to be there when they need me to make the scary things go away, or catch them when they're bouncing too close to the edge of the bed, or being pushed around by an older kid. You see, that's my real job. It 24/7 and pays better than anything else I've had.
The adoration, friendship, playfulness and Love I receive from them make all the backaches from pony rides and bounce on daddy games worth it! It's the most rewarding, caring, wondrous, and heartbreaking job a person could have and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I get heartbroken everytime I think of them getting older and more independent and eventually creating their own life, a life with me on the sidelines. At the same time it's that responsibility to raise them so they may grow independent that is the cornerstone of raising children. What an oxymoron! It's like winning the lottery as long as you give it away, but we do get to watch them grow and become older, bigger, smarter, and hopefully a person that is better than we are. That is one of the rewards for doing a good job at being a Daddy. To hear your child say they want to be just like you is the best compliment in the world. Hearing about how much fun they had going out running errands or helping you complete a project is the affirmation that stays in your memory. To have you little boy come up to you and say, "Daddy, will you play trains with me?" is a feeling of pride that your son thinks you are cool to play trains with. Well, it's time for me to look in on him. It's just another thing in a long list of things I don't ever want to miss out on. It also give me an appreciation of what my parents went through (and still do) and go through every time our visit has ended and we have to return to our own home 5 states away.

Eminent Domain

Ok, I just had to say my opinion on the recent Supreme Court ruling regarding Eminent Domain. I think it was wrong. The ruling allows a city to acquire an area of land owned privately by homeowners and sell it to a corporation to build a hotel and convention center. It is a declining area and the property values may be on the fall but does that give the city the right to claim someone's privately owned land?
According to the Supreme Court it does. I could understand if it were for a governmentally owned and needed community project but to turn around and sell it to a corporation for constructing a hotel and convention center is just wrong. They have to pay the homeowners "just compensation" but just how much is your home worth? If it were one of the Justices homes, I wonder if the ruling would have been the same. Land and Home ownership is one of the most basic rights under the Constitution and should be protected. I find it hard to believe that the city and homeowners couldn't come up with a better solution to making a deal work. Basically it means that after time passes, no ones homes are safe from being claimed by the government. During a press conference the city openly stated that they needed money from the tax revenues this project will bring. I say let the homeowners share in those revenues then. Also, how did the city get so far in the hole that it needs to confiscate peoples homes? Perhaps the city council should have offered up their houses to be torn down and the land sold to a corporation? I sure hope the "just compensation" includes a prime price for the people who's lives they've just sold.

Children in Congress

It's seems we have elected children into Congress. Each side claiming the other have made statements that are "inappropriate" and demanding apologies. It all escalated with Sen. Trent Lott at a birthday party. Now it's escalated to just about every week someone saying something and the opposite side taking offense. Taken out of context almost anything can be made into an inflammatory remark. The United States has become a country who's politicians are hyper-sensitive to any remarks that may be construed as unpatriotic, anti-military, pro-Bush, anti-Bush, liberal, conservative, racist, anti-speech, pro-taxes, anti-government, yo mama said, etc etc. So where did the first amendment go? If we don't like what our Congressmen and Congresswomen say we vote them out of office. It seems though that the Democrats and Republicans are in a war of their own and the ammo is verbal. Each side trying to catch the other making a statement that they can use to extort an apology. It reminds me of small children calling each other names and then crying to Mommy saying he called me this or she called me that. Get over it! Grow up! Get to work! You would think they have better ways to spend their time than to be holding press conferences and making press releases to try and force the other side to capitulate and apologize.
It's making me think maybe we need a large change in DC. Start with the party leaders and move on down until you find someone who has the integrity to recognize that there are important issues to be tackled. Of course this is politics, and that means it'll probably get worse. If these children had a job like the rest of us they would have been fired a long time ago. What other job can you, in a years time, create distrust between departments, take trips that are ethically questionable, hinder progress on projects without contributing a solution, divert funds to your own department while the company is in the red, complain incessantly about what others say, and then claim every small project completion as your own victory? I know I certainly don't feel like they represent me anymore. Nor do I think they care. Do you?

My Boss Flying

Sometimes in my position we are called by various people higher up on the corporate ladder to check anything from how many people are booked on a flight to if a flight is on time. My Boss recently traveled out of town for Mothers day and needed such information for his return. Here's the conversation after I answered the call. By the way, my Boss isn't exactly comfortable flying.

Me: Hey, what going on?

Boss: Not much, just trying to get home today. How's it look on the flights around noon?

Me: Let me check. All 3 flights from 11:30am thru 2:40pm are pretty well open.

Boss: It was raining here a few minutes ago. How's the weather and are the flights on time?

Me: We're taking a few short delays but mostly on time. There's a cell of thunderstorms west of you heading north by north east but should slide to the north of you.
However, there are more building to the south that may impact where you're at.

Boss: We're going to have to fly through some storms eh?

Me: Well they could head out west and go around the storms but it looks like most flights are just going over them.

Boss: I guess I can expect a pretty bumpy ride eh?

Me: Well, let me just ask you this, "are you right with God?"

Sometimes my sense of humor can have a dark side..

Fear of the Blog

Quite often I find myself thinking of a subject or situation that would make good blog content but then start to question whether there will be ramifications to posting the article. Fear of the Blog I call it. Most times it'll be about my work because in my position I get to see the inner workings of the airline industry and I can tell you I am consistently exposed to new situations. From the person who wanted to board an aircraft wearing only a bikini to the person who thought it was no big deal to carry on moonshine in a non-descript bottle. Some things come from the government itself and how one airports screeners will defer a questionable item to the airline while at another airport they'll all be Barney Fifes and want to call all the shots. Either way I think to myself about what would happen if I posted one of these strange occurrences and it wasn't liked by those higher up on the corporate food chain. Freedom of the Press may not apply here and who wants to test those waters? Would it be worth the risk of unemployment? No. It would not. That may not be the idealist thing to say, but I value the responsibility I have of providing for my family and of all things, that is where my priority lies. But the seed is planted and I'm sure I'll find some interesting situations that just can't go unposted.
I like my job. How can I not? It pays well, is interesting, not physically demanding and keeps me on my toes intellectually. It's a challenge and everyday is different. Some days are boring as all get out, while others I'm counting the minutes to shift change cuz I'm mentally spent. I never know what kind of day I'll have and in a way it's that uncertainty that makes this position desirable to me.
I may not be a "waiterrant" but eventually maybe I'll hone my literary skills to the point of gathering a readership. I may not write things that are prophetic but it will be real. Who knows? Maybe I'll surprise myself? Or maybe it'll be the most boring thing out there?

Sunday Morning Musings

Sunday Mornings are the best mornings of the week. Everything just seems more calm, relaxed...serene. One of my favorite things about Sunday mornings when I lived in Michigan was turning on the radio to listen to a show called Sunday Morning Over Easy. They play the "B" sides of classic rock albums along with the older lesser played classics. Down here in Dallas they don't have anything like that but thanks to that wonderful thing called the internet, I can stream it in thru my computer. It's kinda funny because at work streaming media is blocked but somehow this is allowed through. Maybe the gurus who block us from all those bandwidth hogging sites like this stuff too and let it slip? Since I almost always work Sunday mornings these days, it's a nice comfort to having to be here. I wish every morning was a sunday morning. Life would be so much more relaxed and laid back. I remember waking up in Michigan in winter, turning on the radio to Over Easy, getting a warm drink and watching out the window as the snow blanketed the ground. I think even then I knew that those hours gave me a calmness inside that goes down to the depths of my consciousness.

Oil and The Dollar - Apr 9, 2005

Sometimes I have to wonder, just how much of the current increase in the price of gas is controllable and how much is due to factors outside the scope of manipulation? We've seen gas prices shoot up over .25 cents a gallon within the last month and it's heading higher as the weeks go by. The price of a barrel of oil is hanging around the $55 mark but yet the price of gasoline continues to rise. Some say it's because of the demand from other countries as their economies rev up. Some say it's because of the limits OPEC can produce a year. Others say it's because of bottlenecks at the refineries. Some would say the falling dollar has a large impact. And then there are the future speculators who are being included in the blame for thinking the prices will continue to increase on the trading market. The funny thing is that they are all a part of the increase equation. A falling dollar means we pay more since it takes more U.S. currency to buy the same quantity. OPEC can only supply so much to a world that is demanding more and more, especially with developing countries like China and India who are about 20 years behind the U.S. in their economies and with an even larger population, are finding that in order to maintain a growing GDP they need more fuel for energy for production. There are limited refineries and we haven't built a new one in decades to help meet the increase in demand for processed fuels so even at full capacity they are unable to keep up with demand. As a result of these factors the futures market see the same thing, rising prices. Traders are betting on a supply shortage and thus cause the prices to increase on the open market.
So what can the U.S do about all of this. Probably more than you realize.
Fuel Economy.
Fuel economy is something that needs to be addressed. Raising the federal minimum fuel economy requirements for new vehicles would help cut back on the amount of fuel needed. Sure it may put a strain on the car companies at first but they are very resilient at finding new ways to increase miles per gallon on vehicles. If you were to look at the MPG of vehicles made back in the 70's and 80's you would find that their MPG estimates were much lower than today. Lets get them onboard to increase the MPG on every vehicle. Of course the auto industries don't like this idea since it would take some investment by them to change the current status quo and they spend a ton of money in D.C. to make sure congress knows this. I can't blame them, change is hard, but the change will have to come and it's better to do it sooner than later. The consumer is ready for better fuel economy, it's time they got onboard also. My take; minimum MPG 26 city on all passenger vehicles. Minimum 23 MPG on all trucks and SUV's.
Build more refineries.
This is a simple solution but will not be a fix all one. We need at least 2 more refineries in the U.S. to ensure a consistent flow of refined fuels. In addition, we need to eliminate one of the fuel grades. 95% of cars will run on regular unleaded and probably the last 5% would run on the mid-grade. We don't need to have 3 grades of gasoline. The high grade one is merely a profit monkey for the gas companies. Eliminate the high octane grade and offer just 2 choices to streamline the refining process.
Where we get our oil.
There are limited places for us to get oil. The problem is we haven't allowed ourselves to get the oil we have here at home. Open a very limited portion of ANWAR to allow us to get the oil reserves there. Although there is a trade off with the natural preservation of the area, we have the technology and equipment to make sure the impact is minimalize.
Strengthen the Dollar.
This is a little harder to do but will benefit more than our prices at the pump. If we reduce the debt and work on ways to strengthen the dollar the price of oil will fall as the dollar gets stronger. Picture a scale with the dollar on one side the price of oil on the other. As one goes up the other falls. It's a simple strategy but one that's harder to make happen. We need the government to act to make the dollar stronger and this in turn will also help our economy if we can have the debt reduced, taxes kept low, federal spending in check, and find ways to compete better in the world markets.
Everyone and no one is to blame for all of it. We have become dependent on foreign oil and that's not a good thing no matter how you slice it. It gives another country an undue influence on our stability. That needs to change, and it needs to change very soon. We are one of the most innovative countries in the world and need to find more options when it comes to our power supply needs. Diversity is the key. Solar and wind power along with fossil fuels can help create a diverse source of energy providers if only they were encouraged more. Hydrogen power is another promising new source. I'm sure we can find more, better ways to feed our energy needs.
It's something we need to think about before we are forced to deal with an energy crisis.

Social Insecurity

This issue has been in the news lately quite often. I'm 40 years old and I'm personally not counting on there being any social security left when I retire, but I'm planning ahead. With some foresight, investment and budgeting I hope to not be dependent upon any type of government payout when I retire. It will be a nice bonus if it is still there and I can take part of my share but unless the system is changed I wouldn't bet on it. You see, I'm a firm believer that if you send money into the bureaucrats in D.C. they'll spend it. That's what they do. For some reason they believe that since they have all this money being sent into the Treasury they are entitled to spend your hard earned dollars on pig waste research in Iowa. How about a research lab to determine how the ozone layer affects the spotted tweeterbird of North Dakota? (I'm using some creative license here for effect). My case and point is this, creating retirement savings accounts may not be perfect but at least it's money that will not be going into the fund that Congress gets their hands on. The less the better. If we send in less money they will be forced to learn to spend within their means. Of course there would also have to be a way to restrict government borrowing and not any type that could be changed by those who spend the money. It seems to me that we the people need to impose some type of restriction on those we elect to maintain a tight budget. It would be a wonderful thing if the government was in the black and able to save the billions it spends on interest from the debt it owes.

Churchill

So a Professor in Colorado seems to think that the people who were killed on Sept 11, 01 were no better than the Nazi criminal Eichman. He rationalizes this by attempting to link them to the sanctions placed upon Iraq and the suffering that created for the population of Iraq. Of course he doesn't mention anything about the billions of dollars that were supposed to be used by Saddam to purchase food and medicines for the population but ended up in the pockets of Saddams friends, and business partners who embezzeled the funds for their own personal use. Could it be that the suffereing of those people in Iraq would have been far less if the money would have been used as it was intended? I don't see any mention of that by Churchill? How about the fact that the people who died that day on 2001 did not create policy for the middle east? That's like kicking your dog for something you neighbor did. I fail to see how he can justify his reasoning. He's accusing innocent people who were killed of being conspirators in the some plot to have a hostile foreign policy towards the middle east. How ridiculous is that? If that is the case then he is as guilty as they are. He gets a paycheck, spends his money, drives the economy, and is a part of the population of the United States. Nothing less than what everyone else in the two towers did as well. I think he should be fired, not for his speech but for his lack of logical intelligence. This indicates a flawed thought process and reasoning and for one who is in the position to educate others he has proven his reasoning is not logical. He makes wide assumptions and baseless allegations without any logical reasoning. I'm sure there's a college in Syria or Iran who would love to hire him. If I had a son or daughter attending that college I would pull them out and switch colleges if he is an example of what the instructors are like. I want them to get an education, not some opinionated skewed personal views of the faculty.

Rice Confirmation Hearings

I was watching the news yesterday and as Peter Jennings was starting to close out the newscast he mentioned that Condolezza Rices' confirmation hearing for Secretary of State was delayed by a week, even though she easily has enough votes to be confirmed, due to the Democrats decision to debate her confirmation for a few more days. It's widely known she will be confirmed, it's a foregone conclusion, but the Dems in the Senate decided to take one last parting shot at her. As Jennings was closing this little news bit he made a comment I found refreshing from a liberal media, he said that translated, the debate and delay for the week was just to give the Democrats more time (and news coverage) to further complain about Bush going to war in Iraq. The truth finally! The Democrats just don't get it. There are better things to spend their time on than delaying the inevitable and making more statements about the war in Iraq. The only 2 people to vote against Rice was Senators Boxer and Kerry. Didn't Kerry try and Portray himself as not as extreme liberal as he was made out to be and more to the middle left? Looks to me like he was labeled correctly since he was right there next to Senator Boxer and she's so far left she could fall off the edge and make her own form of liberalism.

Ya ever wonder?

I was recently in Las Vegas for a vacation with a friend of mine for the consumer electronics show convention. Geeks of all sizes, shapes and styles were there to see the newest products and advertise their wares. We did the normal geek thing like the Star Trek Experience ride and had a blast. Even got to see Smash Mouth perform at the House of Blues. That was the highlight of the trip. Seeing a group live always beats the CD. There's nothing like it.
I realized that Las Vegas is a town like no other. It has something for almost everyone. Wondrous shows, entertainment, animal attractions and luxurious decor. There's visual entertainment 24/7. I realized that I really liked being there. Watching all the happenings around me was enough to keep me entertained for days. We must have walked 3-4 miles daily and it was the most exercise I've had in months. The funny thing about it is that I didn't even mind walking. There's so much to see that walking is really the preferred method of travel since you don't have to go outside 1 square mile to find dozens of things to see. It's a great place to visit.

Here's one of those revelations I thought up recently and I'm sure most married guys can agree with this.
My wife is a walking CSI. She can tell things about what I do or where I've been just by the smallest bit of evidence.
She knows I'm up to something just by the way I breathe. She can tell if I've merely talked to another woman just by the way my hair is combed. She can see things most people would need a microscope to tell. Example: Let say I casually chatted with a girl. She would ask who it was I talked to because she caught the faintest scent of the deodorant "Secret" that may have wafted thru the air and landed on my shoe. She knows when I buy something without telling her by the way the tires on my car are lower due to the extra 3 pounds that new DVD box set weighs. She is so in tune with me that she can tell when I'm bothered by something before I'm even bothered by it. Those of you with wives know what I'm talking about. It's what keeps us guys wondering "how can they know that? "