Monday, January 10, 2011
Saturday, January 08, 2011
I think yesterday was one of the worst days my wife has had in a long time and a very expensive date to boot. My day started out with a wake-up call from my wife. She had locked herself out of the house and needed a number for a locksmith. After paying him a few bucks to let her in the next adventure began.
On her way to work, she did a 360 in the snow and a police officer stopped her and asked her why she was driving recklessly. What a hoot, considering people were having wrecks and slide-offs everywhere. Fearing for her life, she went to the tire store and purchased two rear tires. Problem solved and off she went to work.
Later that evening she returned home to a cold house. The furnace was broke and when the technician finally showed up, ten o’clock on a Friday night, he decided we needed a new blower. Cha-ching!
All told, it was a very expensive day. On the other hand, I went to the library and spent no money. However, I did answer the phone about ten times during the day and each time it was another disaster. Today she is snowed in and hopefully that will not cost us a cent.
On her way to work, she did a 360 in the snow and a police officer stopped her and asked her why she was driving recklessly. What a hoot, considering people were having wrecks and slide-offs everywhere. Fearing for her life, she went to the tire store and purchased two rear tires. Problem solved and off she went to work.
Later that evening she returned home to a cold house. The furnace was broke and when the technician finally showed up, ten o’clock on a Friday night, he decided we needed a new blower. Cha-ching!
All told, it was a very expensive day. On the other hand, I went to the library and spent no money. However, I did answer the phone about ten times during the day and each time it was another disaster. Today she is snowed in and hopefully that will not cost us a cent.
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Every weekday morning, about 6:00 A.M., I get into my car and turn on Glenn Beck. Cruising the Richland bypass on my way to the Hanford site, I sometimes listen to ten minutes more or less of Beck. I say more or less, because sometimes he acts like a two year old and makes no sense whatsoever.
One minute he is a rational, thoughtful man, espousing what is right with America and the next he is the biggest Chicken Little the nation has ever seen. If you believe the right wing pundits then the Democrats want to destroy the nation. By providing the poor and the hungry with food, shelter, and health care, we are conceivably ruining the nation formed by our ancestors.
Now little mention is made of the fact that many of our forefathers employed indentured servants and owned slaves. Health care was essentially a thing only the rich could afford and even then bleeding by leeches was not exactly cutting edge technology. The forefathers made little mention of real equality, the doctrine of all men are created equal pales when the aforementioned servitude is realized. They created a Republic and not a Democracy for the good of the rich, who could not stomach the thought of a poor uneducated person voting for something they could not understand.
Both of our political parties are mean spirited, corrupt, and blind. Neither party has the best interest of the people at heart. What they care about are the corporations, the lobbyists, and the rich who fill their coffers with money.
In the same vein, the talk show hosts are beholding to the same corporations and rich. Would Bill O’Reilly exist without the Fox Network? Would Rush Limbaugh survive if he were not beholding to the rich conservatives? Glen Beck touts the benefits of owning gold. How many Americans can invest the kind of money it takes to acquire gold? By hawking the merits of gold, Beck has pushed up the price, thereby insuring his holdings increase in value as do the stocks of the companies who support him.
Make no mistake, the politicians and talk show hosts only care about feathering their beds and lining their pockets. This is nothing new; it has been this way since at least the aftermath of the civil war. Our politicians and corporations have succumbed to greed and pilfered our manufacturing jobs, sending them to foreign countries and they will not come back. In my mind, they have committed treason for the worst of reasons. Treason for ideological beliefs is a reason I can understand, even if I do not believe it is the way to change. Treason for money is an affront to God. When the worship of money supersedes the needs of your countrymen and you prosper off the misery of the masses, then you are evil, through and through.
However, some would have us believe that the rich earned their money the good old-fashioned American way, by screwing the other guy and getting ahead and they should be worshiped. Punish every corporate CEO that moved a viable, functioning, profitable company, to another country, for their own financial gain. Strip them of their riches and deported to the countries that they seem to like better than us.
That will never happen though, the rich own the legal system, they own the politicians, they own the talk show hosts. The downfall of this nation that Glen Beck assures us is near, started a long time ago. It began with the notion that money, not God, not good, not honor, not family; money was the end all that has to be gained at all costs. Jesus had it right when he said it is easier for a rich man to go through the eye of a needle then it is for him to get to heaven. He did not say it was impossible, just very improbable.
One minute he is a rational, thoughtful man, espousing what is right with America and the next he is the biggest Chicken Little the nation has ever seen. If you believe the right wing pundits then the Democrats want to destroy the nation. By providing the poor and the hungry with food, shelter, and health care, we are conceivably ruining the nation formed by our ancestors.
Now little mention is made of the fact that many of our forefathers employed indentured servants and owned slaves. Health care was essentially a thing only the rich could afford and even then bleeding by leeches was not exactly cutting edge technology. The forefathers made little mention of real equality, the doctrine of all men are created equal pales when the aforementioned servitude is realized. They created a Republic and not a Democracy for the good of the rich, who could not stomach the thought of a poor uneducated person voting for something they could not understand.
Both of our political parties are mean spirited, corrupt, and blind. Neither party has the best interest of the people at heart. What they care about are the corporations, the lobbyists, and the rich who fill their coffers with money.
In the same vein, the talk show hosts are beholding to the same corporations and rich. Would Bill O’Reilly exist without the Fox Network? Would Rush Limbaugh survive if he were not beholding to the rich conservatives? Glen Beck touts the benefits of owning gold. How many Americans can invest the kind of money it takes to acquire gold? By hawking the merits of gold, Beck has pushed up the price, thereby insuring his holdings increase in value as do the stocks of the companies who support him.
Make no mistake, the politicians and talk show hosts only care about feathering their beds and lining their pockets. This is nothing new; it has been this way since at least the aftermath of the civil war. Our politicians and corporations have succumbed to greed and pilfered our manufacturing jobs, sending them to foreign countries and they will not come back. In my mind, they have committed treason for the worst of reasons. Treason for ideological beliefs is a reason I can understand, even if I do not believe it is the way to change. Treason for money is an affront to God. When the worship of money supersedes the needs of your countrymen and you prosper off the misery of the masses, then you are evil, through and through.
However, some would have us believe that the rich earned their money the good old-fashioned American way, by screwing the other guy and getting ahead and they should be worshiped. Punish every corporate CEO that moved a viable, functioning, profitable company, to another country, for their own financial gain. Strip them of their riches and deported to the countries that they seem to like better than us.
That will never happen though, the rich own the legal system, they own the politicians, they own the talk show hosts. The downfall of this nation that Glen Beck assures us is near, started a long time ago. It began with the notion that money, not God, not good, not honor, not family; money was the end all that has to be gained at all costs. Jesus had it right when he said it is easier for a rich man to go through the eye of a needle then it is for him to get to heaven. He did not say it was impossible, just very improbable.
Monday, January 03, 2011
I vow to write more often in my blog, at least once a week. For some odd reason I have forgone writing in the blog and devoted much of my free time to writing articles for suite101. While my insular Tahiti does not provide me with any income, it does provide me with a mental break from writing for profit.
Although if the profit be a mere twelve dollars then perhaps the writing for comfort is just as worthwhile as writing for a mere pittance. Therefore, in the interest of mental health I have decided to spend more time writing about whatever pops into my head.
A few nights ago saw the departure of a seesaw year in my life. I started 2009 in Florida, in a job I loved, with a second rate company, in a state that is too hot to live in. I ended 2010 in Washington, as a subcontractor, close to the mountains, and working with a bunch of people who I consider the best group I have ever worked with in thirty-three years of my adult working life. How was that for a nice run-on sentence?
The pitfalls of working two thousand miles away from my home are numerous. I have seen my wife twice in the last four months. I have not seen anyone else in my family in those four months. I miss my daughter more than words can say. This Christmas was the first time in her life, and mine, that I did not spend with her since she was born. I miss my extended family at church, I miss my neighborhood, and I miss my friends.
Money is the root of all evil, but there are no jobs at home, and I must work all these miles away from my beloved ones to pay for the mistakes I have made career wise. I believed the silver-tongued boss from my last job and in doing so; I lost thousands of dollars, and gave up a lucrative job. I sought riches and found despair. In the end, I used the skills I acquired in the Navy to find a job. I believe that I am a better person, at least experience wise, than I was before. I lost my job, but found myself in the process. I am not the great deceiver of a salesman that can persuade a client to part with their money for empty promises.
I hark back to the principles that I find hold the most value in my life. Gale Sayers put it best in his book aptly titled I Am Third. God is number one, my family in number two, and I am number three. If I must sacrifice for the comfort and welfare of my family then I will do so. I argue with my wife about God. I desire to pursue and closer relationship with the almighty. God has opened a door and I see the door open and I know what is on the other side, yet it is not time to enter. Why, maybe because it would mean the end of my current existence and I mean in the spiritual sense and not physical.
This year looks to be interesting as the old Chinese curse portends. I shall endeavor to find employment at home, I shall continue to work here at Hanford as long as the Obama money holds out, and I shall hone the talent that God gave me. Finally, I pray that the coming year brings me closer to my family and farther away from the pull of the almighty dollar.
Although if the profit be a mere twelve dollars then perhaps the writing for comfort is just as worthwhile as writing for a mere pittance. Therefore, in the interest of mental health I have decided to spend more time writing about whatever pops into my head.
A few nights ago saw the departure of a seesaw year in my life. I started 2009 in Florida, in a job I loved, with a second rate company, in a state that is too hot to live in. I ended 2010 in Washington, as a subcontractor, close to the mountains, and working with a bunch of people who I consider the best group I have ever worked with in thirty-three years of my adult working life. How was that for a nice run-on sentence?
The pitfalls of working two thousand miles away from my home are numerous. I have seen my wife twice in the last four months. I have not seen anyone else in my family in those four months. I miss my daughter more than words can say. This Christmas was the first time in her life, and mine, that I did not spend with her since she was born. I miss my extended family at church, I miss my neighborhood, and I miss my friends.
Money is the root of all evil, but there are no jobs at home, and I must work all these miles away from my beloved ones to pay for the mistakes I have made career wise. I believed the silver-tongued boss from my last job and in doing so; I lost thousands of dollars, and gave up a lucrative job. I sought riches and found despair. In the end, I used the skills I acquired in the Navy to find a job. I believe that I am a better person, at least experience wise, than I was before. I lost my job, but found myself in the process. I am not the great deceiver of a salesman that can persuade a client to part with their money for empty promises.
I hark back to the principles that I find hold the most value in my life. Gale Sayers put it best in his book aptly titled I Am Third. God is number one, my family in number two, and I am number three. If I must sacrifice for the comfort and welfare of my family then I will do so. I argue with my wife about God. I desire to pursue and closer relationship with the almighty. God has opened a door and I see the door open and I know what is on the other side, yet it is not time to enter. Why, maybe because it would mean the end of my current existence and I mean in the spiritual sense and not physical.
This year looks to be interesting as the old Chinese curse portends. I shall endeavor to find employment at home, I shall continue to work here at Hanford as long as the Obama money holds out, and I shall hone the talent that God gave me. Finally, I pray that the coming year brings me closer to my family and farther away from the pull of the almighty dollar.
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