A balmy day for a balmy guy

It's supposed to be in the low twenties at night this coming week-end, but...At six this morning it was 61 degrees according to my back-porchmometer, and has been in the mid seventies most of the day - still 72 at five p.m. I wandered around in the woods a while today, sat on the back porch with coffee this morning, and have had the doors and windows open just letting all that wonderful air breeze through. Must be because of that global warming thing. Of course if the forecast is correct it's going to change to global freezing in a couple of days.

Life does indeed furnish us with wonderful little presents now and then, and having this nice a day at the end of November is just such a present. It would have been a minor sin to stay inside on such a day, and since I try to choose my sins carefully I decided not to commit this one.

I did put some faux evergreen and some lights on the windmill today, so it looks like a slender Christmas tree with a whirling thingie at the top. I put lights on the front porch but still have the back porch to do. The tree is up and decorated and my wife is in the process of emptying about a dozen tubs of assorted other Christmas decorations (she really gets into decorating for Christmas). We never buy much for each other at Christmas these days, not leaving much we would desire for Christmas. We buy what we want during the year and it boils down to some perfume for her, after shave for me, and maybe a movie or two thrown in for Christmas presents. If we find one we like we might buy ourselves one of the old fashioned looking stereo systems that has a record player built in (as well as CD, cassette player and radio). We gave the Quazar away when we moved from Vegas so don't have any way to play records these days, and one of those might look good in the livingroom.

Status Symbols (or lack there-of)

I was striving for average.

But I came up short.

Now I'm crushed.

The Flower Child Heritage

Most Americans that reached maturity after the second world war have been living in a dream world. War is something distant and doesn't effect them, so they're free to pursue their lives of pleasure unopposed. Much of it started with the kids coming of age in the sixties, the "turn on-tune in-drop out" crowd with free love, zero responsibility, the world owes me a living mental set. Now their kids have reached adulthood, raised in those households, and are quite prepared to carry that to the next ridiculous extreme.

America has had a good run for it. The most advanced, freest society ever in the history of the world - but just as many ancient empires it started as a Republic, has degenerated into a Democracy and is well on it's way to Empire. Somewhere in that line is where the barbarians storm the gates and it all falls down. Those ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it, and we're so ignorant of history in this country, and of about any other important line of study, we've degenerated into the "bread and circuses" level of the latter days of the Roman Empire. When the young people can recite all the current movies, who stars, what they're about - can tell you all the latest video games and have mastered them - know all the current recording stars and what records they have out - can tell you what's good and what's bad at all the fast food chains - what's the best way to steal a car, or the best way to beat Wal-Mart security - then you have an entire generation of people totally ignorant of anything important about maintaining this greatest of all nations we've so enjoyed.

I fear for America's future.

Thanksgiving Holiday

We drove up to Indiana to our daughter's home for Thanksgiving. My wife and daughter conspired over the traditional bounteous spread for the occasion with both turkey and ham, candied yams, cranberry sauce and of course the first dish any Midwestern girl child learns to cook, green bean casserole. And yes there were pumpkin pies to finish off. I love those things. It's one of the few portable pies. I can wander through the dining room, slip my hand under a slice and take it with me (which I did on several occasions before we started back home Friday noon). We also brought some pumpkin pies back with us so I can pick up where I left off here at home.

Grand-daughter turns 17 Monday so she's having a party today (Saturday). My youngest son agreed to emcee the affair so came down after work Friday night. My Indiana daughter came back with us until Sunday, and the son drove down with the daughter's boyfriend. Basically we just moved the celebration from Indiana to Kentucky. The high today is supposed to be 70 degrees and sunny so they're going to have a wiener roast to start the party. I will join in that but then retire to my home to stay out of the chaos of multiple teen-agers all in one small space. About the only preparation I need to do is drag out the lawn tractor, hook up the trailer and cart the logs from the edge of the woods to the firepit, then light it off. This is an important event for the grand-daughter. It's her first social affair since moving here and she's been nervous about it. I told her to just relax and enjoy herself. They will like her just fine for who she really is.

I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving.

Hoosier Hysteria

I dropped my grand-daughter off at school the other evening. She was attending a high school football game. She was excited. They have a good team and have won almost all their games this season. Her excitement reminded me of Hoosier Hysteria during my school days. Basketball was the game in Indiana back then. May well still be and it may still be called Hoosier Hysteria, but each year the whole state would be caught up in the play-offs for the county, sectional (groups of counties) and state championships. Of course the state champion each year would generally be from one of the huge high schools in the big cities, Indianapolis, Muncie, South Bend or such, but not always. In 1954 when I was a freshman in high school, Milan, a very small town in southeast Indiana upset the whole state with it's David vs Goliath winning of the state championship in Indianapolis. The movie "Hoosiers" is based on that win (with a liberal amount of fiction thrown in). The producers of the movie added a special flavor of the game for us Hoosiers by hiring Tom Carnegie to announce the game, and filming it in the Butler Fieldhouse. When I was a student back then listening to the games, first on radio then later seeing them on television, Tom Carnegie was always the distinctive voice of the announcer of these games and they were always in the Fieldhouse.

My senior year in high school (56-57) our small town team won the county championship then the sectional and went on to the state games at the Fieldhouse. We had visions of being another Milan but had the misfortune to face Crispus Attucks, one of the best teams in the state at our first game in Indianapolis. Though our team played a good game they had boys seven and eight inches taller than ours, and we lost. Of course they were the town's heroes, putting our little town in the state records and being seen state wide on every television set there was. Chrispus Attucks went on to second place that year loosing to South Bend Central in the final game.

Uninsured Motorist

We were living in Vegas and my wife was driving along hear the Convention Center one day. Intending to make a left turn at the next light she moved into the turn lane. The car in front of her had also moved into that lane running too fast. That car slammed into the back of a car waiting at the light for the turn arrow. It immediately reversed bumping the front of our car, and sped away. She was able to get the license number and waited with the driver of the damaged car for the police. It turned out the car and plate were registered to a lady that had moved out of state several months earlier. Before she left she'd sold the car to some Mexicans for cash and signed the title over to them. The police found the car abandoned in an apartment complex with the signed title still in the glove box. Basically the law said "oh well".

There are literally hundreds of thousands of such cars on the roads of America, not properly titled, uninsured, most driven by illegals. That's one of the reason you pay a pretty good premium for uninsured motorist policies. Not wanting to be responsible for a vehicle no longer in my possession, the couple of times over the years I've sold a car privately, I've gone to DMV with the buyer and transferred title right then. I think if the law stopped saying "oh well" when situations like that happen, but held the person responsible that officially still owns the car - then publicize the outcome, it would stop a lot of those casual sales of vehicles that seem rampant today. It would also get a lot of uninsured cars off the roads.

Wasting Time

I'd dragged my favorites from the old computer to the new one, so I was browsing old links this evening. Every so often I'd find one that was no longer valid but I ran onto one that was still active even though I've had it bookmarked several years. I don't know why I get a kick out of these singing horses but I do. If you click on this link, then click on each of the four horses they start to sing. Click one again and he stops. That's it, just stupid but for some reason tickles me. I must have a simple mind.

CCW

Contrary to what the anti-gun people might try to tell you, state after state is realizing an armed citizenry reduces crime, and they are changing the laws to allow the honest citizen to carry a concealed weapon. Between 1986 and 2006 the blue on the maps indicate which states will issue such permits. If you click on the link you can see a short run animated map that shows year by year as it advances from 1986 to 2006. Here's the first and last years on that map. Big, big difference. Hat tip to http://www.gun-nuttery.com/rtc.php

A New Direction?

Several people have sent me this recently. I don't know the origin but liked the clarity of thought.

A New Direction For America -- Vote DEMOCRATIC!" Let's analyze this empty and misleading promise.

The stock market is at a new all-time high and America's 401K's are back. A new direction from there means what?

Unemployment is at 25 year lows. A new direction from there means what?

Oil prices are plummeting. A new direction from there means what?

Taxes are at 20 year lows. A new direction from there means what?

Federal tax revenues are at all-time highs. A new direction from there means what?

The Federal deficit is down almost 50%, just as predicted over last year.
A new direction from there means what?

Home valuations are up 200% over the past 3.5 years. A new direction from there means what?

Inflation is in check, hovering at 20 year lows. A new direction from there means what?

Not a single terrorist attack on US soil since 9/11/01. A new direction from there means what?

Osama bin Laden is living under a rock in a dark cave, having not surfaced in years, if he's alive at all, while 95% of Al Queda's top dogs are either dead or in custody, cooperating with US Intel. A new direction from there means what?

Several major terrorist attacks already thwarted by US and British Intel, including the recent planned attack involving 10 Jumbo Jets being exploded in mid-air over major US cities in order to celebrate the anniversary of the 9/11/01 attacks A new direction from there means what?

Just as Bush had planned and foretold us of on a number of occasions, Iraq was to be made "ground zero" for the war on terrorism -- and just as Bush said they would, terrorist cells from all over the region are alighting the shadows of their hiding places and flooding into Iraq in order to get their faces blown off by US Marines rather than boarding planes and heading to the United States to wage war on us here. A new direction from there means what?

Moreover, bear in mind that all of the above occurred in the face of the 1999 tech crash, the epidemic of corporate scandals throughout the 90's, and the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks on NYC years in the planning which collectively sucked 24 trillions dollars and 7.8 million jobs out of the US economy even before G. W. Bush had time to unpack his suitcases in the White House.

It's easy for the Democrats to attempt to discredit, disgrace and defame our commander in chief, George W. Bush -- that's what they do. What's not so easy for them to do is to refute irrefutable facts, no matter how they might try.

That makes me so mad

I heard a story years ago about a happy boy. He was just happy all the time regardless of the situation. His father thought this unnatural so deciding to cure him of that, locked him in a room full of horse manure in the barn. A couple of hours later the farmer peeped in through a hole and saw the boy with a big smile on his face tossing horse manure every which way. He unlocked the door and asked the boy how he could be so happy locked in that room. The boy said "I figure if there's this much horse shit in here there has to be a pony here for me somewhere".

It's human nature to externalize our emotions, responding to outside situations rather than choosing to be happy. How often have you heard something like "He makes me so mad", "She just aggravates the dickens out of me", or on the other side "I'd be so happy if I could just figure out how I can afford that new car, or house, or dream vacation".

People can't make you angry. You have to respond to their actions with anger. It's as if they hand you a knife, but you have to take it and stab yourself. You will continue (for many their whole life) to respond with anger until you choose to stop allowing external forces to govern your emotions.

I've seen people put themselves in severe financial binds just to acquire that dream car they know would make them so happy. A couple of years later it has a few scratches, something dreamier is on the market, and they are making huge payments on what is now a used car.

I've known people that had good jobs, a nice home, good car, wonderful family, all the bounty afforded to the average American and yet they would never be able to be happy. They can't keep up with the Jones', their home isn't the biggest in town, their car isn't the most expensive, their kids aren't the perfect angels only found in fairy tales. Life isn't a fairy tale, and if it has to be to "make" them happy they'll never be happy. They'll just continue to externalize their emotions, enjoying brief moments of happiness amidst a life filled with disappointments, anger and sadness.

The world may not afford you all your desires but you can always choose to be happy right where you are.

First you have to realize it is a choice.

Things to do

Let's see, what was it I was supposed to do tomorrow? Oh yeah, go vote. We're about 3-4 miles from the polling place, a community building in the park at Sulphur Wells. There really is a sulphur well there and at one time there was a health resort built around it. Most of the buildings have burned or collapsed since then and the grounds along the creek were converted into a town park. Our last time to vote we had no delay at all being the only voters there at the time. It was the primaries and the ladies manning the polling place were very cordial when we came in until we told them we were Republicans - a bit of a frost settled over their countenance. We have quite a few of the older people around this area whose families have been voting straight Democrat since the Great Society, and will continue to vote FDR's party to their dying day.

The first presidential election I exercised my right to vote was 1960. I voted for Kennedy but he lost the election if you just counted the popular vote. He became our president because he won the electoral vote. The electoral vote seems to be an item of discussion around these parts. It amazes me how many people want to get rid of that. I could understand their desire if they were living in one of the populous cities or areas of the country, but living here and wanting to dump the electoral vote only tells me they have no understanding of the importance of that system at all. Dump the electoral vote and you basically get rid of any real representation of all the "fly over" states. There would be little or no reason for national candidates to even campaign here since the big cities and most populous areas would decide who wins and who loses. I wonder what would become of "federal" money to maintain the infrastructure of these less populated areas? I think the attitude in Washington would quickly become "Who cares, your vote don't count". We would have to change the Pledge of Allegiance - "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the democracy for which it stands...."

Fall around our place

These pictures were taken about a week ago and we've dropped a lot of leaves since then.

The Military Responds