It's unusual for me to comment on a book before I finish reading it, but in this case I just had to do so. I'm reading Nelson DeMille's story about an Vietnam War Veteran who goes back to investigate a murder that took place during the war. I'll do a full review on the story in a few days when I finish the book.
The subject line is part of a quote from the book and it struck me in that it could pertain to the struggle we in the U.S. continue to have with race. I've always thought that if the Civil War and the Reconstruction had taken place differently, race relations would be different. Maybe I take it a little to personally, but I've always felt that we Southerners unfairly get the blame for a lot of racial issues.
The book has nothing to do with race relations (or does it?) but everything to do with war. DeMille has some very colorful descriptions of battles and the characters "detective work." Bottom line, it's not a story for children.
The entire quote: "This animosity between the North and South Viets, the victor and the vanquished, went on, and it was a very complex thing, having less to do with the war, I thought, than what came after. War is simple; peace is complex."
What do you think? Does this apply to the Yankees and the Rebels?
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Old dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine
For some reason this weekend, this old Tom T. Hall song entered my ADD-rattled brain and I've had trouble getting it off my mind. A quick search this morning showed me I'm not completely alone (see this lady's blog about the song and her family).
In the song, the singer stops in a hotel bar in Miami for a quick drink before bed. He sounds like he'd prefer to be alone, but someone sits down beside him and begins to talk. Man, I hate it when that happens. But the singer learns something from the visitor as he explains "Ain't but three things in this world that's worth a solitary dime..." ...wait for it... "...But old dogs and children, and watermelon wine."
Hall has many songs that I love, including his hit "I Love". Some of his songs are funny, one that my kids have heard me sing a lot is "Sneaky Snake". I also like "Faster Horses" (another song about the virtues in life, in this case "faster horses, younger women, older whiskey and more money").
Probably my favorite song by Hall is the simple melody "I Like Beer". But of course a paragraph on simple melodies would be incomplete without the mention of the song "That Song is Driving me Crazy" - ever get a song stuck in your head and it won't leave? - this song will stay in your head for weeks.
Rhapsody describes Tom T. Hall as "story teller, poet, philosopher." I think when I die, I'd like to be known as a philospher (it would be even better to be thought that way now - but the pay isn't what it used to be). You can read the lyrics and even listen to "Watermelon Wine" on Rhapsody's site here.
In the song, the singer stops in a hotel bar in Miami for a quick drink before bed. He sounds like he'd prefer to be alone, but someone sits down beside him and begins to talk. Man, I hate it when that happens. But the singer learns something from the visitor as he explains "Ain't but three things in this world that's worth a solitary dime..." ...wait for it... "...But old dogs and children, and watermelon wine."
Hall has many songs that I love, including his hit "I Love". Some of his songs are funny, one that my kids have heard me sing a lot is "Sneaky Snake". I also like "Faster Horses" (another song about the virtues in life, in this case "faster horses, younger women, older whiskey and more money").
Probably my favorite song by Hall is the simple melody "I Like Beer". But of course a paragraph on simple melodies would be incomplete without the mention of the song "That Song is Driving me Crazy" - ever get a song stuck in your head and it won't leave? - this song will stay in your head for weeks.
Rhapsody describes Tom T. Hall as "story teller, poet, philosopher." I think when I die, I'd like to be known as a philospher (it would be even better to be thought that way now - but the pay isn't what it used to be). You can read the lyrics and even listen to "Watermelon Wine" on Rhapsody's site here.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Health care - who needs it?
I was probably 23 before I even thought about health care issues. I can't remember every going to a doctor as a kid, I know I had to have a physical before college. I also know I got my shots, some from the health department. I have a vivid memory of the polio shot, a lot of us were lined up in what might have been an old school (circa 1965). I went to the infirmary at school one time while in college, it was a waste of my time and the doctors' (a story for another day).
After graduating college at the ripe old age of 22, I got married. I had health coverage on my job and my wife had coverage on her job. About a year later, we decided it was time to start planning for a family, but planning didn't include insurance. When our daughter was born, we found that we had to pay her part of the hospital bill ourselves (I think it was around $2,000 -- I still have the bill somewhere).
It turns out a lot of people don't think about insurance until they start having families. And a lot of people don't want to sign up for insurance even if they think about it.
To me, that's freedom of choice. Certainly the bills are higher today than they were in 1983 when my first was born, but if a person decides to pay their own way, they should be allowed.
It concerns me that in one of the drafts of the new health care bills, people will be FORCED to have some form of insurance. They will no longer have the option to choose to pay their own way. Some Americans are all about freedom of choice, as long as you choose their way of dealing with problems.
After graduating college at the ripe old age of 22, I got married. I had health coverage on my job and my wife had coverage on her job. About a year later, we decided it was time to start planning for a family, but planning didn't include insurance. When our daughter was born, we found that we had to pay her part of the hospital bill ourselves (I think it was around $2,000 -- I still have the bill somewhere).
It turns out a lot of people don't think about insurance until they start having families. And a lot of people don't want to sign up for insurance even if they think about it.
To me, that's freedom of choice. Certainly the bills are higher today than they were in 1983 when my first was born, but if a person decides to pay their own way, they should be allowed.
It concerns me that in one of the drafts of the new health care bills, people will be FORCED to have some form of insurance. They will no longer have the option to choose to pay their own way. Some Americans are all about freedom of choice, as long as you choose their way of dealing with problems.
Friday, July 24, 2009
The push for health care - our economy depends on it
I have to give our current administration the credit, they've certainly learned the way to America's pocketbook. "It's the economy stupid!" is what I've been reading between the lines the last few days.
See, President Obama keeps telling us he inherited this mess, it was worse than anyone thought and the stimulus plan is working exactly as planned (was this Plan B or Plan C?). Then he tells us the we have to have health care reform in order to save the economy.
This way, he wins either way. If health-care gets voted in, obviously he's lived up to his campaign promises (until it doesn't work - then he changes his promises). If it doesn't get voted in, well he tried. If the economy continues to go south, it's not his fault, he tried to pass health-care to fix it. Soon, the economy will be the reason we do everything.
It really bothers me the "change" I've seen in the last six months. During the campaign, abortion issues were above his paygrade. Well, he's gotten a payraise and now we are funding abortion in other countries and he's pushing for funding here. The stimulus plan was needed immediately to fix our economy, the money was going to create jobs immediately and now it's working as designed and will take a few years.
Sadly, none of this surprises me, I expected it all along. Now what's next?
See, President Obama keeps telling us he inherited this mess, it was worse than anyone thought and the stimulus plan is working exactly as planned (was this Plan B or Plan C?). Then he tells us the we have to have health care reform in order to save the economy.
This way, he wins either way. If health-care gets voted in, obviously he's lived up to his campaign promises (until it doesn't work - then he changes his promises). If it doesn't get voted in, well he tried. If the economy continues to go south, it's not his fault, he tried to pass health-care to fix it. Soon, the economy will be the reason we do everything.
It really bothers me the "change" I've seen in the last six months. During the campaign, abortion issues were above his paygrade. Well, he's gotten a payraise and now we are funding abortion in other countries and he's pushing for funding here. The stimulus plan was needed immediately to fix our economy, the money was going to create jobs immediately and now it's working as designed and will take a few years.
Sadly, none of this surprises me, I expected it all along. Now what's next?
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Funny email response
I sent an email to an individual trying to set up a meeting for next Tuesday afternoon. The response I got said:
"Unfortunately Tuesday and Thursday afternoon I am volunteering to read to some 8-10 year olds. I felt I needed to work with some people that were properly mature for their age. I can understand tantrums from an 8 year old, it is the 30-60 year olds throwing tantrums around here that puzzle me."
I tend to agree.
"Unfortunately Tuesday and Thursday afternoon I am volunteering to read to some 8-10 year olds. I felt I needed to work with some people that were properly mature for their age. I can understand tantrums from an 8 year old, it is the 30-60 year olds throwing tantrums around here that puzzle me."
I tend to agree.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Mr. President, what's the rush?
* Forgot to thank Chuck for his link to the LA Times article. Thanks Chuck.
A couple of days ago, my wife asked me what the proposed healthcare bill would do to our medical coverage. The truth is, I don't know. I've heard lots about what it might do. I know that some proposed Medicare legislation will cut the payments for MRIs and "could affect the availability of MRIs and other tests particularly in rural areas." (see here) It's only logical that the same would be true of the proposed overall healthcare legislation.
I also know that the president thinks that sometimes "maybe you're better off not having the surgery, but taking the painkiller." He also thinks "that one way to shave medical costs is to stop expensive and ultimately futile procedures performed on people who are about to die and don't stand to gain from the extra care." (see here) While I actually agree with him on both of these fronts, I'm very sure I don't want the government involved in the decision. I also think that might be why some people pay into insurance in the first place, so they can have expensive life saving treatment when they need it.
But what scares me the most about the locomotive pushing its way through congress, is the need for speed. Why is it that this bill must be pushed through? If the health care bill is important (and it is), it's important to do it right. Instead, many in congress have laughed at the idea of actually reading the bill they will be voting on.
Take for example, Congressman Hoyer from Maryland. He said he's "laughing because ...(he doesn't) know how long this bill is going to be, but it’s going to be a very long bill." (see here). I also heard that the leaders of both houses of congress have said they won't read the bills, but I could not confirm those reports.
The last time a bill was pushed this hard, we ended up with the so-called-stimulus package. That bill wasn't read by most members of congress either. There are several organizations that are suggesting congress should actually know what it's voting for - "Let Freedom Ring is a conservative backed site that is attempting to get our representatives to read the bill before they vote on it. Backed by liberal organizations, ReadTheBill.org is pushing the same thing." (reference here)
I also think that we, you and I regular people, should have a chance to read the bill. We should know what our representatives know (or in this case, what they don't know). We should be able to examine the pros and cons and we should advise them on how we feel, so they can make the hopefully-intelligent decisions we have sent them to make.
A couple of days ago, my wife asked me what the proposed healthcare bill would do to our medical coverage. The truth is, I don't know. I've heard lots about what it might do. I know that some proposed Medicare legislation will cut the payments for MRIs and "could affect the availability of MRIs and other tests particularly in rural areas." (see here) It's only logical that the same would be true of the proposed overall healthcare legislation.
I also know that the president thinks that sometimes "maybe you're better off not having the surgery, but taking the painkiller." He also thinks "that one way to shave medical costs is to stop expensive and ultimately futile procedures performed on people who are about to die and don't stand to gain from the extra care." (see here) While I actually agree with him on both of these fronts, I'm very sure I don't want the government involved in the decision. I also think that might be why some people pay into insurance in the first place, so they can have expensive life saving treatment when they need it.
But what scares me the most about the locomotive pushing its way through congress, is the need for speed. Why is it that this bill must be pushed through? If the health care bill is important (and it is), it's important to do it right. Instead, many in congress have laughed at the idea of actually reading the bill they will be voting on.
Take for example, Congressman Hoyer from Maryland. He said he's "laughing because ...(he doesn't) know how long this bill is going to be, but it’s going to be a very long bill." (see here). I also heard that the leaders of both houses of congress have said they won't read the bills, but I could not confirm those reports.
The last time a bill was pushed this hard, we ended up with the so-called-stimulus package. That bill wasn't read by most members of congress either. There are several organizations that are suggesting congress should actually know what it's voting for - "Let Freedom Ring is a conservative backed site that is attempting to get our representatives to read the bill before they vote on it. Backed by liberal organizations, ReadTheBill.org is pushing the same thing." (reference here)
I also think that we, you and I regular people, should have a chance to read the bill. We should know what our representatives know (or in this case, what they don't know). We should be able to examine the pros and cons and we should advise them on how we feel, so they can make the hopefully-intelligent decisions we have sent them to make.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Jupiter Struck by Object, NASA Images Confirm
This article confirms that the planet Jupiter has been struck by a comet or an asteroid. You may think "so what, I'm not moving to Jupiter anytime soon and I don't know anyone who lives there."
But what if the comet or asteroid had hit the earth? Well, it would have been a very bad thing. All you have to do is watch the movies, like Deep Impact, Asteroid, or any Saturday afternoon B movie to understand.
Thankfully, our solar system has a couple of big planets out there that act as magnets to attract comets and asteroids. I mean, think of it this way, if you were aiming at planets, would you rather aim at a big target like Jupiter, or a small target like Earth?
So, we all can be thankful that Jupiter is out there. You know, when you think about it, it's almost like someone designed it that way :)
But what if the comet or asteroid had hit the earth? Well, it would have been a very bad thing. All you have to do is watch the movies, like Deep Impact, Asteroid, or any Saturday afternoon B movie to understand.
Thankfully, our solar system has a couple of big planets out there that act as magnets to attract comets and asteroids. I mean, think of it this way, if you were aiming at planets, would you rather aim at a big target like Jupiter, or a small target like Earth?
So, we all can be thankful that Jupiter is out there. You know, when you think about it, it's almost like someone designed it that way :)
Friday, July 17, 2009
The Great War: American Front - Book Review
The cover declares this book is "the definitive alternate history saga of its time." I have to agree. Harry Turtledove does his expected excellent job of telling a story that could be from a parallel universe. It's history, but not the way you remembered it.
At the beginning of the book, Turtledove sets the tone. It's near the end of the Civil War, but things have not gone well for Lincoln's USA. In fact, they have lost the war. The middle part of the North American continent is split into two nations, USA and CSA. The story line jumps to 1914 and the outbreak of The Great War. But the alliances aren't what you would expect. The Confederate States are joined by England and France. Which means that the USA allies with Germany.
The American Front details the battles between the USA and Canada and between the USA and CSA. President Roosevelt (Teddy) is guiding the USA, while President Woodrow Wilson guides the CSA. Slavery has ended long ago, but blacks are treated poorly in both nations. Armies discover machine guns, tanks, and chlorine gas. Trench warfare breaks out in Virginia, Kentucky and Utah.
Not only are there strange international alliances, there are a couple of intra-national alliances (or at least intra-continental). The Mormons of Utah originally were part of the USA, but they rebelled and tried to secede. Some Indian nations also sided with the CSA and fought against the USA.
Turtledove moves from the USA front lines to the Canadian, then to the CSA, then back again. You look at the war from the view of the soldiers, the workers in the steel mill, plantation owner and plantation workers. Socialism is about to break out and you see the war from a socialist's view.
A good bit of the book deals with the way blacks are treated. There's a lot of foreshadowing to indicate that the next book will focus on this issue as well. It's clear from this and other Turtledove books he believes that part of the reason for the Civil War was States' rights. But he also acknowledges the fact that slavery played a major part and shows that the problems didn't end in 1865.
I was very impressed with the book and have just ordered (thanks to my wife) the sequel and the third book in the series. Race relations have been on my mind a lot recently and all the political talk about socialism from the right wing feeds right into the story line. The book isn't negative on any of this, the reader is left to determine the impact.
Some of the language used in the book will probably offend a great many people. Words that were commonly (but rudely) used in the 1915 time period are used throughout the book. Being set in the middle of a war, there is a lot of profanity as you might expect. And there are some scenes described that would probably warrant keeping kids away (both for sex and violence).
My favorite quote from the book is a real quote from Vegetius of the Roman Empire "Let him who desires peace prepare for war."
I highly recommend the book.
At the beginning of the book, Turtledove sets the tone. It's near the end of the Civil War, but things have not gone well for Lincoln's USA. In fact, they have lost the war. The middle part of the North American continent is split into two nations, USA and CSA. The story line jumps to 1914 and the outbreak of The Great War. But the alliances aren't what you would expect. The Confederate States are joined by England and France. Which means that the USA allies with Germany.
The American Front details the battles between the USA and Canada and between the USA and CSA. President Roosevelt (Teddy) is guiding the USA, while President Woodrow Wilson guides the CSA. Slavery has ended long ago, but blacks are treated poorly in both nations. Armies discover machine guns, tanks, and chlorine gas. Trench warfare breaks out in Virginia, Kentucky and Utah.
Not only are there strange international alliances, there are a couple of intra-national alliances (or at least intra-continental). The Mormons of Utah originally were part of the USA, but they rebelled and tried to secede. Some Indian nations also sided with the CSA and fought against the USA.
Turtledove moves from the USA front lines to the Canadian, then to the CSA, then back again. You look at the war from the view of the soldiers, the workers in the steel mill, plantation owner and plantation workers. Socialism is about to break out and you see the war from a socialist's view.
A good bit of the book deals with the way blacks are treated. There's a lot of foreshadowing to indicate that the next book will focus on this issue as well. It's clear from this and other Turtledove books he believes that part of the reason for the Civil War was States' rights. But he also acknowledges the fact that slavery played a major part and shows that the problems didn't end in 1865.
I was very impressed with the book and have just ordered (thanks to my wife) the sequel and the third book in the series. Race relations have been on my mind a lot recently and all the political talk about socialism from the right wing feeds right into the story line. The book isn't negative on any of this, the reader is left to determine the impact.
Some of the language used in the book will probably offend a great many people. Words that were commonly (but rudely) used in the 1915 time period are used throughout the book. Being set in the middle of a war, there is a lot of profanity as you might expect. And there are some scenes described that would probably warrant keeping kids away (both for sex and violence).
My favorite quote from the book is a real quote from Vegetius of the Roman Empire "Let him who desires peace prepare for war."
I highly recommend the book.
$2000 Light Bulb - now free?
A couple of years ago, I posted an entry about a $2000 light bulb. The problem was that California was trying to mandate use of CFLs (I'm not sure if they ever succeeded) and the cleanup from dropping/breaking a bulb could cost as much as $2000.
Thankfully, things have gotten better. There's an EPA procedure for cleaning the bulbs up, documented in this PDF. I won't say it's easy, but it's doable. I remember as a kid, we used to break thermometers and let the mercury roll around in our hand, so the mercury in these new bulbs can't be that bad. I still believe in freedom and that market demands should dictate what bulb you choose to use.
Which brings me up to today, or actually yesterday. On a trip to my favorite toy store, Lowe's*, I saw a display of CFL's. I had seen the display before, but this time I looked carefully. You get seven 60-watt equivalent bulbs for $10. The box claims that the bulbs will save you $329 over the life of the bulbs. That's for all seven bulbs, over nine years, so it saves just over $5 per year or 43cents per month. Can you tell a difference of 43 cents in your electric bill?
In my book, these "typical savings" numbers are never enough to make my jump on the new product, but a little more analysis helped in this case. First of all, 7 bulbs for $10 is a reasonable price. Saving me the hassle of changing bulbs every few months is worth something. And long term savings is always good, even if you never notice the savings.
But the best news (pay attention now) is the bulbs come with a $10 coupon off your next purchase at Lowe's (for $50 or more). This effectively makes the pack of bulbs free. So, I spend $10 today, get light bulbs that save me 43cents a month, save the hassle of frequent changes and get the $10 back? This makes it an easy decision.
I just wish I could get some sort of sticker on the bulbs that say "I'm a capitalist, not an environmentalist" (with apologies to Star Trek fans) to explain why I'm buying CFL's.
* Note: In the interest of full disclosure, I'd like to note that Lowe's is one of my customers.
Thankfully, things have gotten better. There's an EPA procedure for cleaning the bulbs up, documented in this PDF. I won't say it's easy, but it's doable. I remember as a kid, we used to break thermometers and let the mercury roll around in our hand, so the mercury in these new bulbs can't be that bad. I still believe in freedom and that market demands should dictate what bulb you choose to use.
Which brings me up to today, or actually yesterday. On a trip to my favorite toy store, Lowe's*, I saw a display of CFL's. I had seen the display before, but this time I looked carefully. You get seven 60-watt equivalent bulbs for $10. The box claims that the bulbs will save you $329 over the life of the bulbs. That's for all seven bulbs, over nine years, so it saves just over $5 per year or 43cents per month. Can you tell a difference of 43 cents in your electric bill?
In my book, these "typical savings" numbers are never enough to make my jump on the new product, but a little more analysis helped in this case. First of all, 7 bulbs for $10 is a reasonable price. Saving me the hassle of changing bulbs every few months is worth something. And long term savings is always good, even if you never notice the savings.
But the best news (pay attention now) is the bulbs come with a $10 coupon off your next purchase at Lowe's (for $50 or more). This effectively makes the pack of bulbs free. So, I spend $10 today, get light bulbs that save me 43cents a month, save the hassle of frequent changes and get the $10 back? This makes it an easy decision.
I just wish I could get some sort of sticker on the bulbs that say "I'm a capitalist, not an environmentalist" (with apologies to Star Trek fans) to explain why I'm buying CFL's.
* Note: In the interest of full disclosure, I'd like to note that Lowe's is one of my customers.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
How much is that pack of cigarettes - Part 2
Back in May a year ago, I posted this entry about the cost of a pack of cigarettes. I showed how a pack a day, started at age 15 continued until retirement could cost you up to $1.6 MILLION.
Turns out, I may have UNDERestimated. This story, tells about a man who used his debit card to buy a pack and was charged slightly over 23 QUADRILLION dollars. Well, actually it was 148 trillion over, but what's a few trillion when you get that high?
After a while, he was able to convince Bank of America that this was an error and they resolved the problem. But it makes me wonder, how many packs could he have purchased for that much?
I heard this story on the radio today, then captured the link from Adam. Thanks Adam! Guess it's time to redo my spreadsheet.
At least we can be thankful that the debt hasn't climbed that high yet.
Turns out, I may have UNDERestimated. This story, tells about a man who used his debit card to buy a pack and was charged slightly over 23 QUADRILLION dollars. Well, actually it was 148 trillion over, but what's a few trillion when you get that high?
After a while, he was able to convince Bank of America that this was an error and they resolved the problem. But it makes me wonder, how many packs could he have purchased for that much?
I heard this story on the radio today, then captured the link from Adam. Thanks Adam! Guess it's time to redo my spreadsheet.
At least we can be thankful that the debt hasn't climbed that high yet.
Let's go surfing now, everybody's learning how
No, I'm not talking about that kind of surfing, I'm talking about internet surfing and I have a question for you: When you're surfing the web, where do you surf? While I'd like to be surfing the big waves off Maui, it seems that most web surfers prefer Facebook. According to this article, more time is spent on Facebook than any other site.
The article gives a lot of boring statistics (especially for us surfer dudes), the only interesting stat being that the average person spent just over 4.5 hours on the site in June.
Hulu made the list of most visitors to a site, which I think is neat when you think about Maui, Hulu and surfing (or is that hula?). Seems a lot of people are watching old TV shows on the web instead of Nikelodeon. MySpace is getting edged out by Facebook as anyone with teenagers and young adults know.
But I have to question, what do you do for 4.5 hours on Facebook? I go there, check my messages, and go somewhere else. I visit my Google personalized webpage a LOT and read news articles, check my email, etc.
So the question of the day is, where do you surf? How much time do you spend on any one website (or family of websites)?
P.S. For the record, that is not me in the picture, I'm much more buff, dude.
Monday, July 13, 2009
What is your level of immaturity?
The other day, I was reminded of an event from my childhood. For several years in a row Mr. Patterson was my Training Union teach (training union is an old Baptist thing, probably doesn't exist any more). Mr. Patterson tried to teach a group of boys age 10 or so a little bit about the Bible and how it fits into life.
The problem was that this group of boys was a little rambunctious. And no one wanted to take over. So each year as we got older, Mr. Patterson moved up with us. He was probably the only one who could manage us.
At the end of each year, Mr. Patterson held a party at his house. He had a pool in the back yard and we'd swim, eat burgers and do what boys do - make a lot of noise. Mr. Patterson filmed all of this on his trusty 8mm home camera (with no sound). Of course, this film had to be developed (no VCR's back then), so we couldn't watch it immediately, but we could watch the film from the previous year.
My single recollection of these films is remembering how silly (immature) we seemed the year before. "Man," we thought, "look at the ridiculous things we did last year." Of course we still did those things and the next year was exactly the same.
I recalled all of this when I heard a young adult talking about how immature a teenager seemed. "Man," they thought, "look at the ridiculous things they do. We used to do that." Pretty much the same attitude I had back when I was a kid.
As they said this, I thought how immature this young adult was and how they had so much to learn. Then it occurred to me, how immature am I now? My mother probably realizes that in 20 or 30 more years, I'm going to understand so much more about life.
I'm not sure any of us can see our own immaturity. I've decided that I'm going to (try to) stop pointing out this in others, they'll grown into their situation and in a few years think "Man, look at the ridiculous things we did last year."
The problem was that this group of boys was a little rambunctious. And no one wanted to take over. So each year as we got older, Mr. Patterson moved up with us. He was probably the only one who could manage us.
At the end of each year, Mr. Patterson held a party at his house. He had a pool in the back yard and we'd swim, eat burgers and do what boys do - make a lot of noise. Mr. Patterson filmed all of this on his trusty 8mm home camera (with no sound). Of course, this film had to be developed (no VCR's back then), so we couldn't watch it immediately, but we could watch the film from the previous year.
My single recollection of these films is remembering how silly (immature) we seemed the year before. "Man," we thought, "look at the ridiculous things we did last year." Of course we still did those things and the next year was exactly the same.
I recalled all of this when I heard a young adult talking about how immature a teenager seemed. "Man," they thought, "look at the ridiculous things they do. We used to do that." Pretty much the same attitude I had back when I was a kid.
As they said this, I thought how immature this young adult was and how they had so much to learn. Then it occurred to me, how immature am I now? My mother probably realizes that in 20 or 30 more years, I'm going to understand so much more about life.
I'm not sure any of us can see our own immaturity. I've decided that I'm going to (try to) stop pointing out this in others, they'll grown into their situation and in a few years think "Man, look at the ridiculous things we did last year."
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Profit in healthcare
You may have heard that the health care industry is stepping up to the newest health care plan working its way through congress. This article says that the drug companies were first to step up by giving up $80Billion and now hospitals are stepping up to accepting $155 in cuts. The reason they are willing to give this up (according to the article) is that "they're trying stave off a much bigger hit if the government sets up a public health insurance plan that pays them according to the relatively stingy fee schedule of Medicare."
So they see this as the least offensive option. But my question is, where will the cuts come from? Now I'm the first to say that hospitals charge very expensive rates. They routinely discount their rates 50% or more for insurance companies and my recent experience with some self-paid bills indicate that an individual can get the same discounts.
So these new cuts must be in addition. But what are they going to cut out? Just the "overhead"? Well, even if that's true, "overhead" results in jobs. In moving all records to electronic records, some paper pusher will lose a job. But my concern isn't just for paper pushers, it's for the other jobs. The person who cleans the rooms, the person who prepares the meals, and (most importantly) the nurses, doctors, aides, etc.
If profits are good (as I stipulated last month here), then profit in health care is good. And cutting that profit means job losses and (more scarily) potentially cuts in service.
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Michael Jackson takes on the world
I've decided that Osama Bin Laden was right, America is a paper tiger. For the last several days, America has been focused on the death of Michael Jackson. All this while we have an economy that needs attention, a president engaging in foreign policy with (IMHO) our number 1 enemy (Russia), a continuing war in Afghanistan and Iraq, etc. etc.
Some would blame the news media for this fiasco. I don't. Personally, I don't believe the media is in conspiracy to destroy the US. I think the media is as capitalistic as they come, they will put in the news whatever they think the consumers want.
Instead, I blame you and me. We need to turn off Entertainment Tonight and get our news from legitimate news sources, not tabloids. We need to tell the newscasters were more interested in the price of tea in China (literally) than in who is shacking up with Brittney Spears.
The media attention around the Michael Jackson mess amazes me.
Some would blame the news media for this fiasco. I don't. Personally, I don't believe the media is in conspiracy to destroy the US. I think the media is as capitalistic as they come, they will put in the news whatever they think the consumers want.
Instead, I blame you and me. We need to turn off Entertainment Tonight and get our news from legitimate news sources, not tabloids. We need to tell the newscasters were more interested in the price of tea in China (literally) than in who is shacking up with Brittney Spears.
The media attention around the Michael Jackson mess amazes me.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Gaffney serial killer is caught
Gaffney, SC is a small town best known for it's peach water tower, a symbol of the peach orchards in the area. Some have said the peach resembles the back-end of a woman bending over. In addition to the peach orchards, Gaffney, population around 13,000 is also home to Limestone College, a small "private, Christian, non-denominational, coeducational liberal arts college."
Recently, Gaffney has been terrorized by a serial killer who has murdered five people in three separate incidents. There has been no known connection between these people and no pattern. Yesterday, the suspect was killed in nearby Gaston County, NC after a shoot-out with police.
My family has two separate connections to Gaffney, about 50 miles away from my back door. My daughter-in-law's family lives in Gaffney and her mother works at Limestone College. They have lived in Gaffney their entire life. Additionally, my son-in-law's parents attended Limestone back before they were married. The town of Gaffney has been hit hard with this incident and they are all glad it's over.
Much will come out about the individual who committed these crimes. 41 year old Patrick Burris. During a press conference last night, SLED investigators waved a 25 page rap sheet - asking for an explanation as to why this man was on the streets. When captured, Burris was in the company of a couple - what is their role in this mess? Where has Burris been the last two weeks and what led him to Gaffney (he was caught about 30 miles away) to commit these murders?
There will be more research into all of this and I, for one, am interested in the answers. But for now, this saga is over and Gaffney can return to its peaceful nature again.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Mars & Venus for dummies
I said in my last post that I had trouble understanding the Mars & Venus thing. Once I realized that this was talking about men & women and not about planets, I was in even more trouble. But it seems like Governor Mark Sanford understands even less about the subject, so I figured I could help him out a little.
First, if you're hiding a relationship with an Argentinan mistress and you keep emails lying around, don't send your wife in to look for financial documents. Yep, Sanford sent his wife into his office and she found out about his affair. He had to confess and blow up the whole thing. It's almost like he wanted to get caught.
Second, once caught, don't ask permission from your wife to go see your mistress. Somehow, this seems obvious, but it must've gone over his head. The governor asked several times over the last few months if he could go see his sweetheart again. Maybe he was absent on the day they covered this in Cheaters 101 during his college days, you just don't do it. That's what cutting class will get you. I can just hear the conversation - "can I please just see her, just this once? I promise, we just need to talk." Yeah, right. Just talk.
Third, and this is important, if you're trying to make things up with your wife - especially if she seems agreeable to the idea - don't call someone else your soul mate. Now this is certainly one of those mars/venus things, but women tend to be a little jealous. Saying something like this is almost as bad as saying something like "yeah, she could lose a couple pounds" or "she doesn't look half bad once she puts the makeup on."
Now I should quickly point out that none of this comes from first hand knowledge. I did not attend Cheaters 101 class while in college (nor at anytime since) and didn't even sign up for it. My wife is very understanding, but has let me know in no uncertain terms what would happen if this ever became an issue with us (it's a scary story). And most importantly, I have NO DESIRE to find out what "the other side of the fence" is like (and the fear factor helps). My side of the fence is quite nice thank you.
But it sure seems the governor could learn a couple of lessons.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
And now the hard part
I've made the last two posts notes to my sons/daughters/-in-laws, with some directions on how they should treat their marriages. And now comes the hard part... living it on a day-to-day basis.
When I first got married, I naively was looking forward to the day when I could coast. Looking for that day when everything was safe. Once past that day, I wouldn't have to work to protect my marriage and I would know that my marriage would be safe forever and ever, amen.
Of course that's one of those fleeting thoughts and as soon as you express it, you realize how silly it is. No, you realize, you're going to have to work each day to prove your love to your spouse, to protect your heart from those that would steal it. You're going to have to show her each day that she made the right choice when she said "I do."
But then, I realized there's two simple reasons not to fear this continued work. First, it's not that hard. Watch your heart, don't get into situations that create an opportunity for problems. Listen to her (or him for the ladies) daily, actually care about what's going on in their life.
Second, the benefits of working on your marriage daily are fabulous. So while this is the hard part, in many ways, it's the easy part too.
When I first got married, I naively was looking forward to the day when I could coast. Looking for that day when everything was safe. Once past that day, I wouldn't have to work to protect my marriage and I would know that my marriage would be safe forever and ever, amen.
Of course that's one of those fleeting thoughts and as soon as you express it, you realize how silly it is. No, you realize, you're going to have to work each day to prove your love to your spouse, to protect your heart from those that would steal it. You're going to have to show her each day that she made the right choice when she said "I do."
But then, I realized there's two simple reasons not to fear this continued work. First, it's not that hard. Watch your heart, don't get into situations that create an opportunity for problems. Listen to her (or him for the ladies) daily, actually care about what's going on in their life.
Second, the benefits of working on your marriage daily are fabulous. So while this is the hard part, in many ways, it's the easy part too.
Monday, June 29, 2009
A note to my daughters/daughters-in-law
Last week, I published a note on the Sanford affair and included a note to my sons/sons-in-law. Now it's time for a counterpoint, a message to the girls in my life.
I need to start with a couple of strong caveats. I do not mean this as an attack or even a statement about Mrs. Sanford. I don't know (and don't want to know) anything about her marriage and (to date) she has acted with class. In fact, this doesn't apply to anyone who has had problems in the past, it applies to future actions only. Second, no where does this give any man any excuse to cheat. That's inexcusable. I'm hoping I can tell some women how to make their marriage better.
And my final caveat is that I am not now, nor ever have been (or desire to be) a woman. I struggled with the mars/venus thing when I thought it related to planets, once I discovered it was about men & women I was even more confused. I claim no special knowledge about women, a lesson I've learned the hard way several times.
That said, I saw something in Mark Sanford's letters that needs to be pointed out. He was looking for someone to confide in. He was looking for someone to share his daily life with. He found it in the wrong place.
There's a song that says "he'll have good times doing things that you don't understand." You don't have to understand the things your husband enjoys. But you can still listen to him talk about those things. Or go watch him do them. Cheer him on. And "if you love him, ... be proud of him." There isn't a man alive who doesn't want his woman to be proud of him. And he needs to hear it.
You also need to watch yourself and choose your friends carefully, especially the opposite sex. If you're confiding with another man things you haven't confided with your husband, you're committing emotional adultery. This can quickly lead to physical adultery.
Ok, there I said it. I've probably proven how little of the mars/venus thing I understand. And who knows how many times I'll have to clean up the mess I created with this post, but at least it's out.
I need to start with a couple of strong caveats. I do not mean this as an attack or even a statement about Mrs. Sanford. I don't know (and don't want to know) anything about her marriage and (to date) she has acted with class. In fact, this doesn't apply to anyone who has had problems in the past, it applies to future actions only. Second, no where does this give any man any excuse to cheat. That's inexcusable. I'm hoping I can tell some women how to make their marriage better.
And my final caveat is that I am not now, nor ever have been (or desire to be) a woman. I struggled with the mars/venus thing when I thought it related to planets, once I discovered it was about men & women I was even more confused. I claim no special knowledge about women, a lesson I've learned the hard way several times.
That said, I saw something in Mark Sanford's letters that needs to be pointed out. He was looking for someone to confide in. He was looking for someone to share his daily life with. He found it in the wrong place.
There's a song that says "he'll have good times doing things that you don't understand." You don't have to understand the things your husband enjoys. But you can still listen to him talk about those things. Or go watch him do them. Cheer him on. And "if you love him, ... be proud of him." There isn't a man alive who doesn't want his woman to be proud of him. And he needs to hear it.
You also need to watch yourself and choose your friends carefully, especially the opposite sex. If you're confiding with another man things you haven't confided with your husband, you're committing emotional adultery. This can quickly lead to physical adultery.
Ok, there I said it. I've probably proven how little of the mars/venus thing I understand. And who knows how many times I'll have to clean up the mess I created with this post, but at least it's out.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
SC Governor found out
A couple days ago, I posted that the SC Governor was missing. Well, he turned up yesterday. Not in a good way.
By now, most everyone knows the whole story. Originally, no one knew where he was for 5 days, then they said he was hiking, then it was found he was in Argentina. Having an affair. A tryst. A fling. Whatever name you want to put on it.
At this point, I think the governor should resign. He has lied to his staff and to the state for the last year. Some of the lines were not overt, he never said he wasn't having an affair. No wagging his finger at the TV saying "I did not have sex with that woman." But regardless, he lied. And the next time he stands up to fight fiscal irresponsibility, we will wonder about his purpose. He has shown a willingness to lie to his wife, his children and to all of us.
I don't think he should be impeached. I haven't read the SC constitution, so I'm assuming it's like the US constitution. That allows impeachment for "high crimes and misdemeanors." This (so far) was neither. Lying is not the same as perjury (like lying to congress). There may come some facts about his misuse of public funds and my feeling on this may change. But for now, I don't think he should be impeached.
My hat is off to his wife. She has shown a willingness to try to rebuild the marriage. She didn't have to do this. The choices are all hers at this point. But, she seems willing to try. What a classy lady.
I want to give a message to my sons and sons-in-law. Watch yourself carefully. If it can happen to this man, it can happen to you. Never, never develop a "dear, dear friend(ship)" with a lady. It can only lead to problems. In this case, Sanford apparently had a friendship with this lady for 7 years, before it turned sexual. In my opinion, his adultery started long before the last year. I firmly believe that you can't have a close relationship with any woman other than your wife.
And finally, we need to pray for this man. It's not clear to me if he is truly repentant yet. But he has completely destroyed his wife and family. If he takes my advice and resigns, he will lose his job. Where will his income come from? We need to pray for his wife and his kids.
By now, most everyone knows the whole story. Originally, no one knew where he was for 5 days, then they said he was hiking, then it was found he was in Argentina. Having an affair. A tryst. A fling. Whatever name you want to put on it.
At this point, I think the governor should resign. He has lied to his staff and to the state for the last year. Some of the lines were not overt, he never said he wasn't having an affair. No wagging his finger at the TV saying "I did not have sex with that woman." But regardless, he lied. And the next time he stands up to fight fiscal irresponsibility, we will wonder about his purpose. He has shown a willingness to lie to his wife, his children and to all of us.
I don't think he should be impeached. I haven't read the SC constitution, so I'm assuming it's like the US constitution. That allows impeachment for "high crimes and misdemeanors." This (so far) was neither. Lying is not the same as perjury (like lying to congress). There may come some facts about his misuse of public funds and my feeling on this may change. But for now, I don't think he should be impeached.
My hat is off to his wife. She has shown a willingness to try to rebuild the marriage. She didn't have to do this. The choices are all hers at this point. But, she seems willing to try. What a classy lady.
I want to give a message to my sons and sons-in-law. Watch yourself carefully. If it can happen to this man, it can happen to you. Never, never develop a "dear, dear friend(ship)" with a lady. It can only lead to problems. In this case, Sanford apparently had a friendship with this lady for 7 years, before it turned sexual. In my opinion, his adultery started long before the last year. I firmly believe that you can't have a close relationship with any woman other than your wife.
And finally, we need to pray for this man. It's not clear to me if he is truly repentant yet. But he has completely destroyed his wife and family. If he takes my advice and resigns, he will lose his job. Where will his income come from? We need to pray for his wife and his kids.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Profit revisited
Last November, I posted an entry about profits. (see here) The basic point I tried to make was that profits are not immoral or evil and it's actually good for companies to make a profit.
Lately, I've dug up an old memory from back in the 1990's related to profit. It seemed very important to me. During that time, we were experiencing what some people called a "rolling recession". One industry would be hit with hard times for a while, then another. One of my co-worker's parents ran a fishing boat, somewhere up North. Small, family-owned business at it's best.
One day he reported a story where he asked mom & dad how the business was doing. "Hard times" they said, they had to run the business with just 3 or 4 workers. The output was higher than ever, but competition and the "rolling recession" was hitting the business hard.
He explained that in good times, they had 8-10 people working for them. "How are you able to make it with just that few people?" he asked them. "What's different?"
Their reply was that in good times, they hired more, in rough times they trimmed down. A higher gross profit allowed them to spread the wealth (at their choice).
It seems to me that when companies like this profit, it's a good thing. They hire more workers. Sure, they aren't as efficient as they could be, and the consumer ends up paying for it, but (if there is competition) the consumer doesn't really lose out.
More about profits on another day...
Lately, I've dug up an old memory from back in the 1990's related to profit. It seemed very important to me. During that time, we were experiencing what some people called a "rolling recession". One industry would be hit with hard times for a while, then another. One of my co-worker's parents ran a fishing boat, somewhere up North. Small, family-owned business at it's best.
One day he reported a story where he asked mom & dad how the business was doing. "Hard times" they said, they had to run the business with just 3 or 4 workers. The output was higher than ever, but competition and the "rolling recession" was hitting the business hard.
He explained that in good times, they had 8-10 people working for them. "How are you able to make it with just that few people?" he asked them. "What's different?"
Their reply was that in good times, they hired more, in rough times they trimmed down. A higher gross profit allowed them to spread the wealth (at their choice).
It seems to me that when companies like this profit, it's a good thing. They hire more workers. Sure, they aren't as efficient as they could be, and the consumer ends up paying for it, but (if there is competition) the consumer doesn't really lose out.
More about profits on another day...
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
SC Governor missing?
It's been all the talk on the local news, our governor is missing. Most of my readers are out of state, and therefore unconcerned. But I promise you, this story gets better.
Seems at least one person has a unique idea of what he might be doing. You see, Governor Sanford is known for being conservative. In fact, he takes conservative to a new level, refusing to ask for some of the stimulus money because it would cause more debt for US citizens.
In the Governor's first term of office, he decided to make a point out of his desire for fiscal conservativeness. He wanted to come out against pork spending in the state budget, so he walked into the legislative office with a pig under each arm.
His latest disappearance occurred over the weekend, with his last known location somewhere outside Atlanta. His own wife said she didn't know where he was. Finally, last night, his spokesman said he was hiking the Appalachian Trail.
The interesting turn of events is pointed out by this Christian Science Monitor story that realizes that the hiking takes place on Naked Hiking Day.
Now the thought of this conservative governor hiking naked may amuse some people, but it's a picture I personally don't need. Even the write of the article admits it's unlikely.
Alas, I just heard news that Governor Sanford will emerge tomorrow (hopefully fully clothed). The mystery will soon be over. But it's had a lot of play on the local news.
Seems at least one person has a unique idea of what he might be doing. You see, Governor Sanford is known for being conservative. In fact, he takes conservative to a new level, refusing to ask for some of the stimulus money because it would cause more debt for US citizens.
In the Governor's first term of office, he decided to make a point out of his desire for fiscal conservativeness. He wanted to come out against pork spending in the state budget, so he walked into the legislative office with a pig under each arm.
His latest disappearance occurred over the weekend, with his last known location somewhere outside Atlanta. His own wife said she didn't know where he was. Finally, last night, his spokesman said he was hiking the Appalachian Trail.
The interesting turn of events is pointed out by this Christian Science Monitor story that realizes that the hiking takes place on Naked Hiking Day.
Now the thought of this conservative governor hiking naked may amuse some people, but it's a picture I personally don't need. Even the write of the article admits it's unlikely.
Alas, I just heard news that Governor Sanford will emerge tomorrow (hopefully fully clothed). The mystery will soon be over. But it's had a lot of play on the local news.
And the blogs were silent
Ok, maybe a little over-dramatic. It's been about a week since I posted, I promise to get back at it. In addition to the funeral last week, my wife went in for back surgery. So I spent Friday-Monday sitting at the hospital with her.
The surgery went well and she was able to walk some and even take on steps. We're home and she's made it up the stairs to our room (hopes to make it back down today). She continues to progress and gain strength.
We had an interesting experience at the hospital ("interesting experience" and "hospital" probably shouldn't be in the same sentence). This hospital is relatively new (1-2 years) and ONLY does surgeries. They have NO emergency room. No Pediatric ward. No Labor & Delivery. ONLY surgeries. Mostly hips & knees, but other miscellaneous surgeries too (I wish had more information on that).
There are two floors active - one for administrative, X-Rays, Labs, etc, one for surgery and patient rooms. The third floor is built out, but has not yet been used. There is a fourth floor, but it's not built out yet. There are 36 patient rooms on the second floor.
Since these type surgeries are elective and can be scheduled, they tend to be scheduled early in the week. Doctors don't want to be on call on weekends. In our case, we went in on Friday. So the hospital was less than full capacity. In fact, for part of the weekend, there were eight patients, for the rest there were only four. During one "event" in our room (sounds ominous - it wasn't) we had 100% of the on-duty hospital nursing staff in our room - two nurses and a nurse supervisor.
I was VERY impressed with the way everything was handled. Job separation was very fluid among the nursing staff, various levels of nurses, even housekeeping. If you needed something, it got done. No one said "I'll have to call someone else, that's not my job".
But the world moves on, and a lot happened while I was out. I'm going to catch up on my blog reading and news reading and post more this week. Oh and there's that silly thing called a job, whereby I work a little here and there and my employer sends me a little money (not enough) here and there.
More to come...
The surgery went well and she was able to walk some and even take on steps. We're home and she's made it up the stairs to our room (hopes to make it back down today). She continues to progress and gain strength.
We had an interesting experience at the hospital ("interesting experience" and "hospital" probably shouldn't be in the same sentence). This hospital is relatively new (1-2 years) and ONLY does surgeries. They have NO emergency room. No Pediatric ward. No Labor & Delivery. ONLY surgeries. Mostly hips & knees, but other miscellaneous surgeries too (I wish had more information on that).
There are two floors active - one for administrative, X-Rays, Labs, etc, one for surgery and patient rooms. The third floor is built out, but has not yet been used. There is a fourth floor, but it's not built out yet. There are 36 patient rooms on the second floor.
Since these type surgeries are elective and can be scheduled, they tend to be scheduled early in the week. Doctors don't want to be on call on weekends. In our case, we went in on Friday. So the hospital was less than full capacity. In fact, for part of the weekend, there were eight patients, for the rest there were only four. During one "event" in our room (sounds ominous - it wasn't) we had 100% of the on-duty hospital nursing staff in our room - two nurses and a nurse supervisor.
I was VERY impressed with the way everything was handled. Job separation was very fluid among the nursing staff, various levels of nurses, even housekeeping. If you needed something, it got done. No one said "I'll have to call someone else, that's not my job".
But the world moves on, and a lot happened while I was out. I'm going to catch up on my blog reading and news reading and post more this week. Oh and there's that silly thing called a job, whereby I work a little here and there and my employer sends me a little money (not enough) here and there.
More to come...
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
a great loss
Yesterday, my former father-in-law passed away. Some of you know that I was married before I met my current wife. I still kept in touch with her family, especially her dad. He was an important man in my life and one that I admired greatly.
I never called him by his first name, it was always Mr. Tumblin. For someone to have gone through as much pain and suffering, he was an exceptionally happy man. He grew up in the depression and I never heard him complain about it. He dropped out of college to go to war, but I never heard him complain about that either. And believe me, I heard a LOT of stories about his time in the army.
After the war, he went to college again, but never finished. He got married and started a family. He was a rural route postal carrier and was proud of what he did. His daughter had open heart surgery at the age of four. Being the man he was, he just kept going, dealt with all the fears and pains without complaint.
One of his greatest joys was his grand-children. having 5 grand-daughters and one grand-son, he loved having them around. Once he decided to buy hearing aids and spent a small fortune on them. Unfortunately, they didn't solve his most pressing need - he wanted to hear his grandchildren. These little ones had high pitched voices and even with the aides, he couldn't hear them. The hearing aides wound in in a drawer, unused.
He lost his wife to cancer. He sat by her side for the few months she was in the hospital. He taught me an important lesson - we asked what we could do and he said "Just pray!". Several years later, he lost his only daughter after a short illness. The lesson I learned from him then was we just needed to be thankful for the time we had her.
One of the most important lessons he taught me was on the unlikely subject of racism. He grew up in a time and place where races were treated differently. It wasn't a matter of hatred. It was just what was done. But he also showed love to one individual of another race who touched his life. He showed it by caring for her when her own family wouldn't. And he showed respect to others, based not on the color of their skin, but based on what they did and what they could do. He showed me that racism can be overcome, one person at a time.
I had breakfast with Mr. Tumblin last week. We talked and he told stories. I'm not sure if I could remember a single one, but I'd probably heard them all several times. I'm glad that I was able to share the time with him and hope that I made his heart a little lighter for that day.
The last several times I had breakfast with him, I had noticed some of his problems. Trembling hands, sometimes forgetting where he was in a story, other problems that he wouldn't want me to mention. He was beginning to face the reality that he might not be able to take care of himself. Because of the man he was, I knew this would be a problem for him. In some ways, I'm not sure if he could have lived that way. Now that problem is solved. I've heard him talk about his faith and I know he was a Christian, so I'm not worried about his soul. I know he's in a place of no more suffering.
I knew him for for 30 years and if I live another 30, I hope that I can begin to live like he did. We will miss him greatly.
I never called him by his first name, it was always Mr. Tumblin. For someone to have gone through as much pain and suffering, he was an exceptionally happy man. He grew up in the depression and I never heard him complain about it. He dropped out of college to go to war, but I never heard him complain about that either. And believe me, I heard a LOT of stories about his time in the army.
After the war, he went to college again, but never finished. He got married and started a family. He was a rural route postal carrier and was proud of what he did. His daughter had open heart surgery at the age of four. Being the man he was, he just kept going, dealt with all the fears and pains without complaint.
One of his greatest joys was his grand-children. having 5 grand-daughters and one grand-son, he loved having them around. Once he decided to buy hearing aids and spent a small fortune on them. Unfortunately, they didn't solve his most pressing need - he wanted to hear his grandchildren. These little ones had high pitched voices and even with the aides, he couldn't hear them. The hearing aides wound in in a drawer, unused.
He lost his wife to cancer. He sat by her side for the few months she was in the hospital. He taught me an important lesson - we asked what we could do and he said "Just pray!". Several years later, he lost his only daughter after a short illness. The lesson I learned from him then was we just needed to be thankful for the time we had her.
One of the most important lessons he taught me was on the unlikely subject of racism. He grew up in a time and place where races were treated differently. It wasn't a matter of hatred. It was just what was done. But he also showed love to one individual of another race who touched his life. He showed it by caring for her when her own family wouldn't. And he showed respect to others, based not on the color of their skin, but based on what they did and what they could do. He showed me that racism can be overcome, one person at a time.
I had breakfast with Mr. Tumblin last week. We talked and he told stories. I'm not sure if I could remember a single one, but I'd probably heard them all several times. I'm glad that I was able to share the time with him and hope that I made his heart a little lighter for that day.
The last several times I had breakfast with him, I had noticed some of his problems. Trembling hands, sometimes forgetting where he was in a story, other problems that he wouldn't want me to mention. He was beginning to face the reality that he might not be able to take care of himself. Because of the man he was, I knew this would be a problem for him. In some ways, I'm not sure if he could have lived that way. Now that problem is solved. I've heard him talk about his faith and I know he was a Christian, so I'm not worried about his soul. I know he's in a place of no more suffering.
I knew him for for 30 years and if I live another 30, I hope that I can begin to live like he did. We will miss him greatly.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Anyday payday, how about today - revisited
Last May (slightly over a year ago), I did a three part series on Payday lending. In the first part (here), I talked about the business and some of the requirements for the business. In the second part (here), I talked about what two states (SC & Ohio) were doing to try to stop the business and in the final part (here), I gave my opinion.
I won't rehash all that was said back then, but I will say that this conservative who prefers less government interference spoke in favor of more government regulation and less payday loans. If you're interested in the details, go back and read those articles. I'll be glad to answer any posts.
Since that time, Ohio passed new legislation aimed at killing the Payday loan industry. The industry used loopholes in the law and kept working. SC failed to pass any legislation, but this year tried again. The legislation passed, however, it was vetoed by Governor Sanford.
According to the Greenville News, "The regulations this bill would place on payday lending would not force the lenders out of business." Of course if you read my initial posts, you'll see that this only partly true, Payday lending can't survive outside its current business model. The bill would have limited the loans to $550 and "consumers would be prohibited from having more than one payday loan outstanding at any given time." There would also be "a one-day waiting period would be established between loans for the first eight loans, with a two-day waiting period on any loans beyond that." This would keep borrowers from paying off one of the loans with a new one. "A statewide database would be created to track who is eligible for payday loans."
All of this seems reasonable. However, the governor disagreed. He said "it is this administration's abiding belief that government's role is not to protect people from their own actions." (Newark Advocate). He also said "he recession leaves consumers needing the ability to get access to cash to avoid eviction, foreclosure, bankruptcy and having their lights turned off."
The bill had an unexpected advocate - Advance America. Now you may be surprised that a payday lending company would support the bill. They said the bill "would have provided consumers who choose to use the cash advance product in South Carolina with comprehensive reforms and protections." (Charleston Regional Business Journal) Advance America realizes that if the bill had succeeded, it would have been free to continue to compete, while smaller companies may have had trouble with the new legislation.
Remember, the best payday loan is your own payday loan. Put $500 in the bank for the emergencies that come up. When an emergency comes up, pull it out, then put it back just like a payday loan. You'll save yourself large fees and maybe even gain a little interest.
I won't rehash all that was said back then, but I will say that this conservative who prefers less government interference spoke in favor of more government regulation and less payday loans. If you're interested in the details, go back and read those articles. I'll be glad to answer any posts.
Since that time, Ohio passed new legislation aimed at killing the Payday loan industry. The industry used loopholes in the law and kept working. SC failed to pass any legislation, but this year tried again. The legislation passed, however, it was vetoed by Governor Sanford.
According to the Greenville News, "The regulations this bill would place on payday lending would not force the lenders out of business." Of course if you read my initial posts, you'll see that this only partly true, Payday lending can't survive outside its current business model. The bill would have limited the loans to $550 and "consumers would be prohibited from having more than one payday loan outstanding at any given time." There would also be "a one-day waiting period would be established between loans for the first eight loans, with a two-day waiting period on any loans beyond that." This would keep borrowers from paying off one of the loans with a new one. "A statewide database would be created to track who is eligible for payday loans."
All of this seems reasonable. However, the governor disagreed. He said "it is this administration's abiding belief that government's role is not to protect people from their own actions." (Newark Advocate). He also said "he recession leaves consumers needing the ability to get access to cash to avoid eviction, foreclosure, bankruptcy and having their lights turned off."
The bill had an unexpected advocate - Advance America. Now you may be surprised that a payday lending company would support the bill. They said the bill "would have provided consumers who choose to use the cash advance product in South Carolina with comprehensive reforms and protections." (Charleston Regional Business Journal) Advance America realizes that if the bill had succeeded, it would have been free to continue to compete, while smaller companies may have had trouble with the new legislation.
Remember, the best payday loan is your own payday loan. Put $500 in the bank for the emergencies that come up. When an emergency comes up, pull it out, then put it back just like a payday loan. You'll save yourself large fees and maybe even gain a little interest.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Book 'em Danno
This morning our local station did a "Timeline" story, a story where they explain something significant that happened this day, June 13. Now I would have thought they would have recognized my son-in-law's birthday or maybe granddaughter #3's one month birthday, but rather they focused on a court decision, the decision of Miranda v. Arizona.
Most of us are familiar with the Miranda decision, from watching television (analog or digital). The decision (1966) marked a time when the Supreme Court ruled that an individual must be told his rights when arrested, you know, the right to remain silent, the right to an attorney, etc.
But I got to thinking, whatever happened to Mr. Miranda? Well Wikipedia is always a good source, especially if you aren't writing a paper. In this Wikipedia article, it's all spelled out. Seems 22 year old Ernesto Miranda was arrested for robbery and while under arrest, he confessed to raping a girl 2 days earlier. At trial, his victim positively identified him and his confession was entered into the courts.
The Supreme Court indicated that Miranda didn't know (or wasn't told) his rights and sent the case back to trial. Now Paul Harvey would say, here's the rest of the story. When the case went back to trial, the prosecution entered the same witnesses and "other evidence" (Wikipedia isn't known for detail). The result? Miranda was convicted, sentenced to 20 to 30 years, served 5 years in jail, was released on parole and went on to lead the life of a prosperous citizen.
Well, maybe not that last part. Seems he spent time autographing Miranda cards for police officers and then was stabbed to death in a bar argument four years later. Even when given the protection of his full rights, he was still convicted. And in his final trial, he was afforded the same rights he gave his earlier victim.
Moral of the story: Just because someone gets a big case named after them, doesn't mean they weren't guilty.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
My newest granddaughter
Frequent readers of my blog may be experiencing a little deja vu or thinking "wait, Randy's rerunning blog posts." Quite the contrary, this is a NEW blogpost about a new granddaughter. Yes, I told you about Kayden back in December and Audry in January (actually came 12/31) and about Caroline a few weeks ago. Now, it's Anna Grace's turn.
Last night at around 8:45, Anna Grace made her entrance. She weighed 7,11 (Oh thank heaven!) and measured 20+3/4 inches long. She joins her three girl cousins (all 6 months old or younger) and her lone boy cousin (3 years old - details way back here).
Although I had nothing to do with the name choice, I think it's perfect. She will teach all of us, so much about God's grace.
Congratulations Adam & Emily, you have a beautiful little girl. And no idea what you have coming at you. (But I'll give you a hint - it's wonderful!)
For more information, see my wife's blog in one of her very infrequent blogposts.
Last night at around 8:45, Anna Grace made her entrance. She weighed 7,11 (Oh thank heaven!) and measured 20+3/4 inches long. She joins her three girl cousins (all 6 months old or younger) and her lone boy cousin (3 years old - details way back here).
Although I had nothing to do with the name choice, I think it's perfect. She will teach all of us, so much about God's grace.
Congratulations Adam & Emily, you have a beautiful little girl. And no idea what you have coming at you. (But I'll give you a hint - it's wonderful!)
For more information, see my wife's blog in one of her very infrequent blogposts.
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
NC Law bans texting while driving
I'm traveling through NC this week, so I heard on the radio about this new law in NC that bans texting while driving (see news story here). The station I was listening to asked listeners what they thought of the idea.
I confess I only heard one or two callers and then not completely, definitely not a representative sample. One caller complained that police officers had enough to do as it was, burdening them with more workload was counterproductive. He claimed they "barely knew enough about the law to make arrests." His tone was very anti-police.
I also confess to wanting less government interference in our lives. But this one seems reasonable. I've seen people texting, sending notes on Blackberries, etc and it just doesn't seem safe. Passing a specific law, rather than having police interpret bad driving, seems like it will help.
First, some number of people will follow the law, simply because it's the law. Ok, that's a small number, but it's significant. Then, some will be afraid of the $100 (plus court costs) fine and will stop. Others will hear about friends who were ticketed and decide to save the $100 for themselves. Regardless, the number of texting drivers will decrease and that's good.
I've also heard of an increasing number of warrants being drafted for cell phone records. Seems you can't hide, they will find out if you've been texting while driving. And expect the lawsuits to be quite large.
I once held an instant messenger conversation with someone and then found out he was using his laptop while driving. My last message to him was that I was not going to do this and I shut down the instant messenger session. I have no doubt that he continued to use his laptop while driving, but I didn't want to be a part of the wreck he caused. That's been 2 or 3 years ago, he now has a Blackberry and I don't want to know what he does with it or when he does it. But I don't have to be a part of it...
I confess I only heard one or two callers and then not completely, definitely not a representative sample. One caller complained that police officers had enough to do as it was, burdening them with more workload was counterproductive. He claimed they "barely knew enough about the law to make arrests." His tone was very anti-police.
I also confess to wanting less government interference in our lives. But this one seems reasonable. I've seen people texting, sending notes on Blackberries, etc and it just doesn't seem safe. Passing a specific law, rather than having police interpret bad driving, seems like it will help.
First, some number of people will follow the law, simply because it's the law. Ok, that's a small number, but it's significant. Then, some will be afraid of the $100 (plus court costs) fine and will stop. Others will hear about friends who were ticketed and decide to save the $100 for themselves. Regardless, the number of texting drivers will decrease and that's good.
I've also heard of an increasing number of warrants being drafted for cell phone records. Seems you can't hide, they will find out if you've been texting while driving. And expect the lawsuits to be quite large.
I once held an instant messenger conversation with someone and then found out he was using his laptop while driving. My last message to him was that I was not going to do this and I shut down the instant messenger session. I have no doubt that he continued to use his laptop while driving, but I didn't want to be a part of the wreck he caused. That's been 2 or 3 years ago, he now has a Blackberry and I don't want to know what he does with it or when he does it. But I don't have to be a part of it...
My favorite hotel chain
I've been traveling a good bit lately and I'm trying to book all my stays at a hotel in the Hilton chain. These include Hilton, Hilton Gardens, Hampton as well as Doubletree and Homewood Suites (mostly, I use the first three).
Recently, on two separate occasions, I stayed for free (once for two nights) using the points I've built up. I like a free weekend (even if I was helping someone move).
Last week I found an extra charge on my corporate charge statement for a hotel that I have used several times. I made a few phone calls and found out that the charge was for a reservation made in my name, but was a no-show.
What really bothered me about the charge was they didn't award my any Hilton points. If I was going to pay for the stay, at least I could get reward points, right?
So, I made a few other phone calls. Looks like I made the reservation, the date of travel was a week where my plans were very fluid. I must have made the plans, then changed them and never cancelled. I don't remember it, but it must have happened.
So today, I called the Hilton again. Monica in accounting (who I had talked with last week) answered the phone and I explained the situation. She remembered me and I asked if there was something we could do about the charge. I explained I was a frequent guest and didn't feel I should have to pay.
To my surprise, Monica agreed to reverse the charge - "this time" - but she admonished me to please call next time so they could rent the room. I told her I would and that I would definitely stay at her hotel again. I thanked her and will be watching for the credit to show up on my account.
Now, the last time I stayed at this particular hotel, they were no where near full. I doubt that the room would have been rented even if I had called. But the hotel had within their rights to charge me for the room and I (or my employer) would have had to pay. I'm very glad they reversed the charges.
This particular Hilton gives me a free buffet breakfast including a made to order omelet, so it was already top on my pick list, but after this treatment it will stay there.
Recently, on two separate occasions, I stayed for free (once for two nights) using the points I've built up. I like a free weekend (even if I was helping someone move).
Last week I found an extra charge on my corporate charge statement for a hotel that I have used several times. I made a few phone calls and found out that the charge was for a reservation made in my name, but was a no-show.
What really bothered me about the charge was they didn't award my any Hilton points. If I was going to pay for the stay, at least I could get reward points, right?
So, I made a few other phone calls. Looks like I made the reservation, the date of travel was a week where my plans were very fluid. I must have made the plans, then changed them and never cancelled. I don't remember it, but it must have happened.
So today, I called the Hilton again. Monica in accounting (who I had talked with last week) answered the phone and I explained the situation. She remembered me and I asked if there was something we could do about the charge. I explained I was a frequent guest and didn't feel I should have to pay.
To my surprise, Monica agreed to reverse the charge - "this time" - but she admonished me to please call next time so they could rent the room. I told her I would and that I would definitely stay at her hotel again. I thanked her and will be watching for the credit to show up on my account.
Now, the last time I stayed at this particular hotel, they were no where near full. I doubt that the room would have been rented even if I had called. But the hotel had within their rights to charge me for the room and I (or my employer) would have had to pay. I'm very glad they reversed the charges.
This particular Hilton gives me a free buffet breakfast including a made to order omelet, so it was already top on my pick list, but after this treatment it will stay there.
Monday, June 08, 2009
Voicemail 101
Some people hate dealing with voicemail. Actually, I typically don't mind. It's an effective way to communicate. You can call someone, tell them what you want, they can call you back, tell you the answer - effective communication.
So what happens when someone calls and leaves a message like this - "Hi this is John, I need to talk to you, call me." Then you call him, he's not in - "Hi, this is Randy, returning your call, call me back."
Then you get on the phone, John calls back, blah, blah, blah.
So, instead of getting on the phone, you wait on John to call back. And wait. And wait. How long is the appropriate time to wait?
Wouldn't it be better if John left a message instead?
(You might guess, this was a frustrating day).
Friday, June 05, 2009
Stock picks
I mentioned in my last post that I purchased some GM stock last year. I have never made public my stock picks in the past, so I decided this might be a good time to explain.
I'm not a big believer in buying individual stocks and in fact, I'm not sure I'm a believer in mutual funds. The former bears more explanation, the latter, well, it's just not time to discuss that now. With individual stocks, you put a lot at risk. One of my MBA professors said that a stock's value represented the market's opinion on future value. It's sorta like taking a vote on how good you think the company will be 5 years down the road. And if you think voting is the right way to determine value, take a look at our presidential elections over the last several cycles: Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, Bush II, Obama - I think the word "fickle" applies.
So if you assume the market is fickle, individual stocks are scary. However, I decided several years ago, that I could afford to invest a small amount of money in individual stocks. My first attempt to beat the market was by buying Palm stock. I was impressed with the product, they were way down in price and I thought they were making some good technical and marketing decisions.
After about 2 years, my value was up about 50%. I saw some folks using Blackberries and decided to sell. Timing on the buy and the sell was not perfect, but who can argue with 50% over 2 years.
My second attempt at stock picks was a company named Ahold. Years ago, Ahold moved into the U.S. by buying the grocery chain I worked for, Bi-Lo. They had grown since that time and reached a peak. Then they hit some accounting scandals. When I chose them, they were making several corporate decisions to restructure and to sell Bi-Lo. To make a long story short, there were some good days and some bad days, but I made about 100% over 3 years. Again, no one can argue with success.
My goal has been to pick stocks on companies that are down, but have a solid product and a decent plan. Then hold the stock for at least 2 years. Don't try to time the entry or exit to the best day, but choose a "season" when it's low to enter and a "season" to exit when it's high.
In August of last year, I chose GM & Ford. I did this because I thought they were "too big to fail" and the government would bail them out. They did, several times, but finally, the downward momentum killed GM. Ford is up about 30% from where I got into it and I think it will go on up. I'm not sure it will go up enough to recoup my GM loss.
My fundamental mistake here was buying not what I thought was a stable company, but based in what I thought the government would do. I should have remembered the word "fickle" (see above).
I should also point out that this is not a pump-and-dump blog. You won't see other stocks mentioned here, at least not daily. I won't try to convince you to sell or to buy. If comments show up about the latest greatest thing or something "they" don't want you to know, I'd strongly advise you to ignore them or at least investigate before you make a decision (I typically don't edit comments out, but may if needed). I just wanted to share my experience and see/hear your opinions...
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Misc topics and random thoughts
Camping trip was great. I took about three short hikes. The first one was on a trail I hadn't seen before, part of the Palmetto Trails to Jocassee Gorges. It's a 12.5 mile hike, I did a small part of it, but was expecting visitors, so headed back. From what I can see, it's a good hike but not real scenic. The second hike was along the Carrick Creek. On this hike I was accompanied by my three year old grandson. We hiked for about 20 minutes, took a 10 minute break, then hiked another 10 minutes before heading back. The hike is supposed to last about an hour, but with his short stride, I'm sure we didn't go half way in 30 minutes of walking. The last hike was back along the Palmetto Trail, but he was tired so we didn't go far.
All in all the trip was great. Two nights in a tent, far from everything. I'll post more about it later.
While I was gone, GM announced bankruptcy. I haven't blogged about it, but last August I bought some shares of GM on a lark. This was back in early August, before the bottom fell out. My theory was that the government would bail them out and the stock would go up. They did get a bail-out that month and the stock ticked upward for a day or two, then the credit market fell and, well, it was a lark.
I don't mean to imply that I backed the bail-out. I think it was a bad idea. But I really didn't think the government would let them go bankrupt. Who knows what will happen now. Maybe I'll blog more about that later too.
This past weekend, an abortion doctor was shot and killed. Make no mistake, this was murder. The conservative blogs that I read agree. The doctor has been called a killer (and I agree with that), but it doesn't make his murder any less of a murder. His (alleged) killer has been arrested. He deserves a fair trial, but assuming he is found guilty (and I see no reason why not), he should probably face the death penalty. It was simple pre-meditated murder.
All in all the trip was great. Two nights in a tent, far from everything. I'll post more about it later.
While I was gone, GM announced bankruptcy. I haven't blogged about it, but last August I bought some shares of GM on a lark. This was back in early August, before the bottom fell out. My theory was that the government would bail them out and the stock would go up. They did get a bail-out that month and the stock ticked upward for a day or two, then the credit market fell and, well, it was a lark.
I don't mean to imply that I backed the bail-out. I think it was a bad idea. But I really didn't think the government would let them go bankrupt. Who knows what will happen now. Maybe I'll blog more about that later too.
This past weekend, an abortion doctor was shot and killed. Make no mistake, this was murder. The conservative blogs that I read agree. The doctor has been called a killer (and I agree with that), but it doesn't make his murder any less of a murder. His (alleged) killer has been arrested. He deserves a fair trial, but assuming he is found guilty (and I see no reason why not), he should probably face the death penalty. It was simple pre-meditated murder.
Monday, June 01, 2009
Camping trip - take two
Last August I tried to go camping but was rained out (read about it here). Today, I leave for another attempt at the trip. If the weatherman is accurate, and if I believe in signs today like I did last August (see the post), this trip is meant to be.
Some family members are supposed to visit tonight and I'll grill some burgers. My 3 year old grandson is supposed to stay with me and tomorrow, we'll do some hiking, then come back the following day.
Wish me luck.
P.S. Sorry, that's not my tent in the picture. But one can hope....
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Bird tows balloon around the world in record time. - Guest post
Greenville, SC (AP) - The Audobon Society released some stunning news today. News of something almost too amazing to be true. In what was previously a closely guarded secret, the Audobon Society has been working with NASA and the US Department of Defense to develop a super-secret spy mechanism, designed to look like an ordinary bird. Apparently, the bird looks so real, that the only clue it's a machine is inside the mouth, where access to the GPS and digital display are located.
The first sustained flight test of this device began last week in Cape Canaveral, timed to coincide with the Space Shuttle's recent mission to repair the Hubble telescope. NASA felt launching the test at that time would distract any and everyone from noticing the bird. They've been tracking the device around the globe over the past several days, with a fiber-optic cable tethered to the hot air balloon you see in the picture.
It was thought the hot air balloon would make the bird even less noticeable as it relayed valuable data to computers located on the balloon. In effect, the bird towed the hot air balloon around the world and has made it all the way back to Greenville, SC before turning south and heading back to the launch site.
Dr. Timothy "Slim Tim" Simmons tagged along in the balloon itself, monitoring the in-flight testing data. "It performed far better than we ever dreamed, failing only 1 out of 157 individual test tasks. It was remarkable. As soon as we install the radio control software, we'll be able to control the flight path from terra firma instead of a hot air balloon. We are all looking forward to that day."
NASA spokesman Bill Jameson declined comment, citing DOD regulations. The White House denied any involvement, but did say they felt this kind of technology might prove useful in future hostile engagements, allowing the US Military to render medical aid much quicker to wounded troops by pinpointing their exact global location to within 6 feet.
********
Eric over at The Edge of the Galaxy took my challenge and wrote the headline and story above to go along with the picture my wife took. He wins the big prize ($5) in my contest. Thanks Eric! The check is in the mail...
Friday, May 29, 2009
Roundup
I'm going to steal an idea from my blog-friend Neil and post a list of other blogs I've seen this week. Maybe I can be Neil's padawan blogger.
Don't forget my contest. You can win a big prize ($5), just for making up a story. Post it in the comments or send me an email. Today's the deadline. The judges will vote tomorrow and the winning story published.
I confess I stole the idea from the contest from (or was inspired by) the Lazy Man and Money. Lazy is one of the blogs I've been reading about practical money management. He received two copies of a book, 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget, and is giving one away. Be sure to read the comments, some are funny, some are sad. See his post here.
Another practical money management blog I've been reading is The Simple Dollar. A recent post focused on Quantity Surcharge. You always thought that the bigger bottle of ketchup was cheaper, right?
Probably my favorite blog of late is Free by 50. It's not as much day-to-day practical information, but probes deep on some subjects. Home ownership, foreclosure, subprime lending, etc. Be sure to read several posts to get a feel for the blog.
I first heard Gerri Detweiller on the radio, she focuses on consumer alerts of all types. She's the credit advisor for credit.com. She doesn't blog every day, but her posts are good.
Don't forget my contest. You can win a big prize ($5), just for making up a story. Post it in the comments or send me an email. Today's the deadline. The judges will vote tomorrow and the winning story published.
I confess I stole the idea from the contest from (or was inspired by) the Lazy Man and Money. Lazy is one of the blogs I've been reading about practical money management. He received two copies of a book, 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget, and is giving one away. Be sure to read the comments, some are funny, some are sad. See his post here.
Another practical money management blog I've been reading is The Simple Dollar. A recent post focused on Quantity Surcharge. You always thought that the bigger bottle of ketchup was cheaper, right?
Probably my favorite blog of late is Free by 50. It's not as much day-to-day practical information, but probes deep on some subjects. Home ownership, foreclosure, subprime lending, etc. Be sure to read several posts to get a feel for the blog.
I first heard Gerri Detweiller on the radio, she focuses on consumer alerts of all types. She's the credit advisor for credit.com. She doesn't blog every day, but her posts are good.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Memorial Day
Today, while you're eating your burgers and hot dogs or steaks or whatever you decide to cook on the grill, pause for a minute to think about those who never made it back. From Europe or Asia, or the Middle East. Maybe from some country that they couldn't even pronounce. Maybe they never made it out of the US, but they still died serving out country.
Many didn't know what they were fighting for, they just fought because they were told to fight. In doing so, they preserved the right for you and I. They paid the ultimate price and today we remember them. Remember their families, their mothers and fathers, their children.
Remember.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
$ - Contest - you make the story - cash prize - $
This weekend is the time for Freedom Weekend Aloft, our annual hot air balloon festival. In addition to the balloons, there is live entertainment, rides for the kids, a Frisbee Dog contest and more.
This year the balloons came over our neighborhood. One landed in the street less than a block away. My wife took the photo at the right of one of the balloons that flew overheard. She didn't realize the bird was in the picture until she got home and downloaded the pics.
I was trying to decide a caption and a story to go along with the picture and decided to hold a contest. You, my faithful readers, can write your own caption and story and post it here. I'm actually going to give a cash prize! Ok, it's not great, but I figure with this being Memorial Day weekend ("first enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War" according to Wikipedia), I can spring for a crisp Abe Lincoln, a $5 bill.
So here's the challenge. Come up with a caption or headline for the picture and short story to go along with it. On Saturday, May 30, I'll review all of the entries and announce results. I'll send the winner $5 by either snail-mail or PayPal (if I can figure it out), so be sure I can get in touch with you by email if you think your story is best. I may engage the services of an additional judge. Decisions of the judges will be arbitrary and final, no whiners allowed.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Credit Card Bill
You may have heard that the congress has passed a new bill, changing the way credit cards work. Congress is working to protect consumers, who have been bearing the burdens of the companies (who else would bear the burden? See the bottom of this note). No matter that the Federal Reserve had already tightened a lot of the rules, congress wanted it's name on a bill.
The new law (to be signed soon) will make it harder for people under age 21 to get cards, and "it would also ban rate hikes unless a consumer is more than 60 days late -- and then restore the previous rate after six months if minimum payments are made." (According to CNN) There are other items reported to be in the bill, I found a good list at the Simple Dollar (this site). He even some predictions as to what might come about in the future. Some of bill's line items include restrictions on raising interest rates without a 45 day notice, putting a stop to double-cycle billing, which hit me back in April 2007 (see here). Teaser rates that last a couple of months would be gone for good.
So what do you think of this new bill? I'll share my opinion. I don't think much about it. And neither should you. Not that I think bad about it, just that I haven't wasted many brain cycles thinking about it.
I'm one of the freeloaders, the folks who charge using their credit card, then pay it off each month. I never (except in April 2007) get hit with interest rates, fees, etc. In fact, I get reward points which I trade in on free travel, so I'm making money off the cards (well, not much). I pay no annual fee and therefore, I'm getting a free ride. The credit card companies are making this money by charging fees on other people. They charge interest, late fees and annual fees.
So this sounds like a reverse "tax", much like the lottery (see my note here), a Robin Hood thing - take from the rich, give to the poor. So this legislation seems like a good idea, right?
Actually, I think it's not a good idea. First, there seems to be some hypocrisy here. We're telling credit card companies they've been bad corporate citizens, but we're not telling the consumers they've been bad. Isn't that a little one-sided. Additionally at a time when we're trying to encourage our banks and financial institutions to be cut their expenses and be more liquid, we are cutting one of their tools to increase their liquidity. If they can't make a profit "on the backs of the consumers," how will they make a profit? If they don't make a profit, they will go out of business and then who profits? Certainly not the consumer.
Many conservatives have been saying that a likely change will be increases in annual fees. People like me will suddenly see new fees where they had none before. The Simple Dollar (another reference) disagrees. No problem, I'll change cards or eliminate them all together.
You may say that it's fine for me to suggest I'll change or eliminate cards, what about those who can't afford to do that? They have a super high balance and bad credit and can't get new cards. My answer is simple, if you can't afford the stuff you bought, you shouldn't have bought it. Credit cards are nothing more than a way of deferring payment on something. If you can't afford it today, what makes you think you can afford it a month from now? Instead of paying $25 a month for that big LCD TV, why not save $25 a month and pay for it in cash?
One thing is certain, this new legislation will make credit cards less attractive. Those with poor credit are less likely to get cards, because the companies can't charge the exorbitant fees. And those who pay the cards off monthly are likely to see less benefits. In reality, this is probably a good thing. Which brings me back to the original statement. Why did congress do this? Most of the line items in this bill were already set to take effect next year due to the changes made by the Federal Reserve. So why all the ranting and raving? Because congress wanted to have their name beside something good.
Seems like much ado about nothing.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Sweet Caroline - *updated*
No, I'm not talking about that song by Neil Diamond (which can be seen/heard here). I'm talking about my newest grand-daughter, Caroline Adair Beam. She was born early this morning (4:44am - that's easy to remember) and is my oldest daughter's first child. She came a little earlier than expected, weighing in at 6 pounds 8 ounces and measuring 18 inches.
Caroline joins her two newly born girl cousins Audry (detailed here) and Kayden Grace (detailed here) and will likely torment their 3 year old cousin Anthony (way back here). He's in for a mess between these three and another girl on the way (just hang on Anna Grace, your time's coming).
I will have to share this little girl with her paternal grandfather who is on a local talk-radio show. He & I tend to think in some similar ways, he was able to start playing the Neil Diamond song a few months ago when they chose the name. I may have him beat though, I think I still have the song on an 8-track tape somewhere.
For Caroline's dedication here, I'll use some of the words Neil Diamond wrote: "Sweet Caroline - good times never seemed so good." And when I see her, it will be "Hands, touchin hands - reachin out - touchin me - touchin you."
I'm also going to repeat what I said with some of the others - babies are a sign from God that He intends for the world to continue. A miracle from God, babies teach us so much. Caroline has the ability to teach her parents, her grand-parents, aunts and uncles. Or to be used by God to teach them.
It will be late this week before I get to see this beautiful child, I planned a full week out of town and can't back out of it. Congratulations Adam & Ashley! I know you will be great parents.
*Update* Caroline's paternal grandfather called into his radio program to announce her birth. But I scooped him here.
Caroline joins her two newly born girl cousins Audry (detailed here) and Kayden Grace (detailed here) and will likely torment their 3 year old cousin Anthony (way back here). He's in for a mess between these three and another girl on the way (just hang on Anna Grace, your time's coming).
I will have to share this little girl with her paternal grandfather who is on a local talk-radio show. He & I tend to think in some similar ways, he was able to start playing the Neil Diamond song a few months ago when they chose the name. I may have him beat though, I think I still have the song on an 8-track tape somewhere.
For Caroline's dedication here, I'll use some of the words Neil Diamond wrote: "Sweet Caroline - good times never seemed so good." And when I see her, it will be "Hands, touchin hands - reachin out - touchin me - touchin you."
I'm also going to repeat what I said with some of the others - babies are a sign from God that He intends for the world to continue. A miracle from God, babies teach us so much. Caroline has the ability to teach her parents, her grand-parents, aunts and uncles. Or to be used by God to teach them.
It will be late this week before I get to see this beautiful child, I planned a full week out of town and can't back out of it. Congratulations Adam & Ashley! I know you will be great parents.
*Update* Caroline's paternal grandfather called into his radio program to announce her birth. But I scooped him here.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Star Trek - no spoilers
Ok, tonight I went to see the new Star Trek movie. Don't worry, I won't spoil it for you. I will tell you that it will blow your mind. Ok, if you watch the Big Bang Theory and you're like Sheldon, that means I already spoiled it. But if so, that's just too bad.
I will say the movie was great. It stayed true to The Original Series (TOS), with a few changes that were explained. Yes, there were one or two cheesy lines, but they were easily overlooked (I'm a blogger, not a critic). There was very little use of old tricks from the series and when they were used, they made sense.
You get introduced to most of the characters from TOS. I have to say my favorite is Bones (Dr. McCoy). You learn new things about him that are funny. The character is better than I ever imagined. I never saw Nurse Chapel, but heard her name called once. And Yeoman Rand was missing (or at least I missed her). All of the other characters were there. And very believable.
The movie had some good special effects, but the writers didn't rely on that to make the movie. Ok, there was too much hand to hand fighting and maybe a little too much space fighting, but hey this is Star Trek. Yes, Kirk is shown with his shirt off, but again...
My only complaint was the profanity. We made it through three years of the series without any profanity, we could have gone through two hours of the movie without it.
I give the movie a solid thumbs up and I'd go see it again.
You also meet Captain Pike. Some of us remember Captain Christoper Pike from TOS or the original pilot. Something about him stuck with me through the whole movie. When I got back here, I looked him up on the Internet and realized that he was played by Bruce Greenwood. This is the same guy who starred in my all-time-favorite-too-soon-cancelled TV Show "No Where Man." (sometime I have to see if I can get that on DVD). It made me like Captain Pike even more than I did in the original pilot.
I will say the movie was great. It stayed true to The Original Series (TOS), with a few changes that were explained. Yes, there were one or two cheesy lines, but they were easily overlooked (I'm a blogger, not a critic). There was very little use of old tricks from the series and when they were used, they made sense.
You get introduced to most of the characters from TOS. I have to say my favorite is Bones (Dr. McCoy). You learn new things about him that are funny. The character is better than I ever imagined. I never saw Nurse Chapel, but heard her name called once. And Yeoman Rand was missing (or at least I missed her). All of the other characters were there. And very believable.
The movie had some good special effects, but the writers didn't rely on that to make the movie. Ok, there was too much hand to hand fighting and maybe a little too much space fighting, but hey this is Star Trek. Yes, Kirk is shown with his shirt off, but again...
My only complaint was the profanity. We made it through three years of the series without any profanity, we could have gone through two hours of the movie without it.
I give the movie a solid thumbs up and I'd go see it again.
You also meet Captain Pike. Some of us remember Captain Christoper Pike from TOS or the original pilot. Something about him stuck with me through the whole movie. When I got back here, I looked him up on the Internet and realized that he was played by Bruce Greenwood. This is the same guy who starred in my all-time-favorite-too-soon-cancelled TV Show "No Where Man." (sometime I have to see if I can get that on DVD). It made me like Captain Pike even more than I did in the original pilot.
New way to invest $50,000
Seems like someone has found a new way to invest money, by building a nickel pyramid. On my Google home page, I have a selection that is the "How To" of the day. Actually, there are three entries and they sometimes change more than once a day, so it's just the "How To" section. Today, they had an article on "How To Coin Stack a Nickel Pyramid."
Seems you take eleven nickels and make a stack. Then you build a base that is 2x2, that is four stacks close together. This is followed by a fifth stack on top of the four. That gives you a pyramid of two levels.
Now to make it a pyramid of 3 levels, you need 9 at the bottom, 4 at the second level and one on the top. It doesn't take an Egyptian to see that this pyramid can quickly start costing some money.
See the complete "How To" here. It shows a pyramid that it says is over 1,000 nickels. That's a little over $50. I think somehow they cheated, it looks like it has 15 levels to me and would be like the pyramid in the video, over 13,000 nickels and about $682.
But the guy in the video has a goal of over 1million nickels. That would be 65 rows. And about $50thousand. So if this guy is successful, he'll have $50thousand tied up in nickels on his dining room table. That would be about 25thousand rolls on nickels. I don't think you can get that at the drive thru of your local bank.
Of course any time we talk about investing, you're going to want to know the return. How much money will you get back when you cash in all those nickels? Well, it's not hard to figure. And the return isn't that great. But it's a lot better than most stocks have done the last year or so...
Enjoy making your nickel pyramid.
Seems you take eleven nickels and make a stack. Then you build a base that is 2x2, that is four stacks close together. This is followed by a fifth stack on top of the four. That gives you a pyramid of two levels.
Now to make it a pyramid of 3 levels, you need 9 at the bottom, 4 at the second level and one on the top. It doesn't take an Egyptian to see that this pyramid can quickly start costing some money.
See the complete "How To" here. It shows a pyramid that it says is over 1,000 nickels. That's a little over $50. I think somehow they cheated, it looks like it has 15 levels to me and would be like the pyramid in the video, over 13,000 nickels and about $682.
But the guy in the video has a goal of over 1million nickels. That would be 65 rows. And about $50thousand. So if this guy is successful, he'll have $50thousand tied up in nickels on his dining room table. That would be about 25thousand rolls on nickels. I don't think you can get that at the drive thru of your local bank.
Of course any time we talk about investing, you're going to want to know the return. How much money will you get back when you cash in all those nickels? Well, it's not hard to figure. And the return isn't that great. But it's a lot better than most stocks have done the last year or so...
Enjoy making your nickel pyramid.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Happy Mother's Day
How many women in your life do you need to thank on this special day? How many have shown their selflessness, have given up part of themselves to be a mother to you?
At the risk of boring my readers, I wanted to list a few of the special moms in my life. Of course I have to start with the one that brought me here, my own mom. As far back as I remember, she was a working mom. Oh, I remember when she first got the job as the substitute teacher and can't recall what she did before that. Or the job at the temp agency. But in my mind she was always a working mom. Cook, cleaning, all the rest too. Even found a way to slip me a little cash on weekends when I was in college, when I know she didn't have the cash for herself. Somehow thanks doesn't seem to cut it as a response.
The second mother I need to thank is the mother of my children. Some of you know that my first wife passed away 10 years ago. She gave 15 years of her life to raising our 3. Boy if she could see them now.
God is good and in everything He finds ways to show His glory. A little over eight years ago, I met a woman who was a mother herself. Her kids were out of the house, she had "finished" the job of raising her kids (do you ever finish?). She gladly stepped in to help complete the job with mine. She's given up a lot of her dreams over the last eight years to make sure that they have a chance at theirs. Trying not to overshadow their own mother, but also trying to help them in the way that she knows will result in mature adults (after all, she was already batting 1000).
And then there's our girls and girls-in-laws. All four are mothers or will be in about a month. For one of them, this is their first mother's day with a little one. For two, they have the sweet knowledge that in a few days or weeks, they will hold the little one in their arms. They all have no idea what the next 18 years will bring, but I know that they will devote everything to the little ones.
I could go on and talk about my sister and her giving up her career for the second time to devote to her daughter, or my sisters-in-laws and how they drop everything to take care of theirs. You get the picture.
To all of these mothers, and all of you mothers out their, thank you for what you do, have done and will do. Thank you for giving of your life to take care of us. Thank you for giving up the things you want for being mothers. Happy Mother's Day. Somehow, one day just isn't enough.
At the risk of boring my readers, I wanted to list a few of the special moms in my life. Of course I have to start with the one that brought me here, my own mom. As far back as I remember, she was a working mom. Oh, I remember when she first got the job as the substitute teacher and can't recall what she did before that. Or the job at the temp agency. But in my mind she was always a working mom. Cook, cleaning, all the rest too. Even found a way to slip me a little cash on weekends when I was in college, when I know she didn't have the cash for herself. Somehow thanks doesn't seem to cut it as a response.
The second mother I need to thank is the mother of my children. Some of you know that my first wife passed away 10 years ago. She gave 15 years of her life to raising our 3. Boy if she could see them now.
God is good and in everything He finds ways to show His glory. A little over eight years ago, I met a woman who was a mother herself. Her kids were out of the house, she had "finished" the job of raising her kids (do you ever finish?). She gladly stepped in to help complete the job with mine. She's given up a lot of her dreams over the last eight years to make sure that they have a chance at theirs. Trying not to overshadow their own mother, but also trying to help them in the way that she knows will result in mature adults (after all, she was already batting 1000).
And then there's our girls and girls-in-laws. All four are mothers or will be in about a month. For one of them, this is their first mother's day with a little one. For two, they have the sweet knowledge that in a few days or weeks, they will hold the little one in their arms. They all have no idea what the next 18 years will bring, but I know that they will devote everything to the little ones.
I could go on and talk about my sister and her giving up her career for the second time to devote to her daughter, or my sisters-in-laws and how they drop everything to take care of theirs. You get the picture.
To all of these mothers, and all of you mothers out their, thank you for what you do, have done and will do. Thank you for giving of your life to take care of us. Thank you for giving up the things you want for being mothers. Happy Mother's Day. Somehow, one day just isn't enough.
Friday, May 08, 2009
Randy's popularity is dropping
Well, it looks like my popularity is dropping. Or at least the popularity of my name. Seems the Social Security Administration has been tracking the popularity of names and you can find your name at this site.
Being adventurous, I looked at my name popularity over the last 50 years. You're given the rank in popularity from 1 to 1000. Looks like in 1958, my name was the 32nd most popular name. Comparatively, in 2008 (the most recent year reported), my rank was down to 301 (up from 321 in 2007).
So I did a little math and created a popularity index. The index will be a value from 0.1 to 100. Looks like 1959 was my best year (which happens to be the year I was born, so I guess mom & dad inflated the number that year). But no matter how you look at the chart above, looks like I'm headed downhill.
My kids aren't helping much, I had two grandchildren born in December and two more due in June (with one threatening to make an early appearance). But all four of these are girls, not much chance for a "Randy" in the bunch.
So, it sounds like it's time for a new "rule" from me to my kids. From now on, you are only allowed to have BOYS and you MUST name them "Randy". Even if you have more than one, after all if George Foreman can name all his kids George, you can name all of your kids "Randy." And remember, you do this because "I'm the Dad."
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Unthink what you thought about KFC
That's KFC's tagline for their new grilled chicken. Earlier this week, Oprah announced that you could download a coupon good for a free 2-piece meal. Apparently, KFC underestimate the demand. The website was very busy and KFC stores have "sold out" of the free meals. There were rumors of a riot in NY City, but KFC says that's not true.
Anyway, I printed my limit of four coupons and decided to take my son out to lunch. Hey, if it's free, I'm a big spender. I even gave the two extra coupons to my daughter and her husband (their kids can go hungry). The coupon was truly a freebie, you get two pieces of chicken, two sides and a biscuit. Manager's choice on the kind of chicken (white/dark meat) and the kind of sides.
We first encountered some skepticism about our coupons as they didn't have a good clear watermark (I guess my laser printer didn't print them well). But after conferring with someone in the back, they decided my coupons were genuine and granted me my free meal. Apparently, it's not really the manager's choice what kinds of chicken and sides you get unless the young lady at the counter was the manager (if so, why did someone else have to approve the coupon?) She quickly boxed up two pieces of chicken a side of potatoes and a side of cold slaw. I was surprised that she didn't ask if I wanted a drink (which I did).
So, we spent $1.59 for a medium drink (+ tax times two for two drinks) and had a meal. After we ate, I explained to my son that this was a marketing test to see how people liked the new taste. He said it was ok, but not great. I agreed. This is supposed to be lower fat, lower cholesterol. But if I'm going to KFC, I want the hard stuff.
If you try the grilled chicken, I'd be interested in what you think.
P.S. My daughter called, they wouldn't let her use the two coupons I gave her. Seems they couldn't see the watermark. Even though all four coupons were printed at the same time.
Anyway, I printed my limit of four coupons and decided to take my son out to lunch. Hey, if it's free, I'm a big spender. I even gave the two extra coupons to my daughter and her husband (their kids can go hungry). The coupon was truly a freebie, you get two pieces of chicken, two sides and a biscuit. Manager's choice on the kind of chicken (white/dark meat) and the kind of sides.
We first encountered some skepticism about our coupons as they didn't have a good clear watermark (I guess my laser printer didn't print them well). But after conferring with someone in the back, they decided my coupons were genuine and granted me my free meal. Apparently, it's not really the manager's choice what kinds of chicken and sides you get unless the young lady at the counter was the manager (if so, why did someone else have to approve the coupon?) She quickly boxed up two pieces of chicken a side of potatoes and a side of cold slaw. I was surprised that she didn't ask if I wanted a drink (which I did).
So, we spent $1.59 for a medium drink (+ tax times two for two drinks) and had a meal. After we ate, I explained to my son that this was a marketing test to see how people liked the new taste. He said it was ok, but not great. I agreed. This is supposed to be lower fat, lower cholesterol. But if I'm going to KFC, I want the hard stuff.
If you try the grilled chicken, I'd be interested in what you think.
P.S. My daughter called, they wouldn't let her use the two coupons I gave her. Seems they couldn't see the watermark. Even though all four coupons were printed at the same time.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Sinko de Mayo!
Happy Sinko de Mayo everyone. A co-worker from out of town is coming in today and it was my job to co-ordinate dinner. So yesterday I sent out a note suggesting a Mexican restaurant. I included this bit of history and decided to put it on my blog today.
For those not familiar, Sinko de Mayo represents a big event in Mexican history. The actual event has been over-shadowed by the parties, so most people aren't familiar with the history. Details are sketchy, but it appears that a shipment of mayonnaise was being delivered from Spain to Mexico, but there were significant taxes on the mayonnaise. Taking a clue from the Boston Tea Party, native Mexicans slipped onto the ship and loaded it with charges. When the charges exploded later that night, the ship sank - hence the phrase "Sinko de Mayo!". The holiday comes on May 5 this year.
Enjoy the day!
(Oh and Adam, the exclamation points are for you!!!)
For those not familiar, Sinko de Mayo represents a big event in Mexican history. The actual event has been over-shadowed by the parties, so most people aren't familiar with the history. Details are sketchy, but it appears that a shipment of mayonnaise was being delivered from Spain to Mexico, but there were significant taxes on the mayonnaise. Taking a clue from the Boston Tea Party, native Mexicans slipped onto the ship and loaded it with charges. When the charges exploded later that night, the ship sank - hence the phrase "Sinko de Mayo!". The holiday comes on May 5 this year.
Enjoy the day!
(Oh and Adam, the exclamation points are for you!!!)
Monday, May 04, 2009
Who's your daddy?
When I say this phrase, it comes out "Hoosier daddy?" (which is approved by Wikipedia) or "who's yo daddy". Wikipedia says the phrase "is commonly used as a boastful claim of dominance over the intended listener." I've been thinking about this phrase and how it relates to our present day government. It's been rolling around in my mind for a while and I had the chance to explain it to one of my daughters this weekend while my son was listening.
As I explained to my daughter, "yo daddy" does things for you when you are young. He buys you things like clothes, food, shelter and maybe some things you want as opposed to need. As you get older, you find that "yo daddy" has certain rules. Rules for the way you drive, rules for where you can go and sometimes rules for who you can see.
When you borrow money to buy something like a car or a house, you accept a new daddy. The bank becomes "yo daddy." They make sure you keep insurance on your car, make sure you pay taxes for your house and will probably require you to risk some of your own money. They will likely look over your shoulder to make sure you're getting a good deal and not getting ripped off. FHA loans used to require extra inspections as "yo daddy" was stricter than most.
One of my daughters (who was the one hearing this) decided she didn't like her daddy's rules and decided to move out on her own. She's learned that some of her daddy's rules weren't all that bad after all.
Now, the government wants to step up help people in a lot of new ways. I'm convinced that universal health care is coming, we just don't know the style it will take yet. There is already an expanded health program for children, there's a promise of new medicine from stem cell research, new foreign policy, etc. The question comes up "hoosier daddy?" What rules will "yo daddy" have for you to live by?
As I explained to my daughter, "yo daddy" does things for you when you are young. He buys you things like clothes, food, shelter and maybe some things you want as opposed to need. As you get older, you find that "yo daddy" has certain rules. Rules for the way you drive, rules for where you can go and sometimes rules for who you can see.
When you borrow money to buy something like a car or a house, you accept a new daddy. The bank becomes "yo daddy." They make sure you keep insurance on your car, make sure you pay taxes for your house and will probably require you to risk some of your own money. They will likely look over your shoulder to make sure you're getting a good deal and not getting ripped off. FHA loans used to require extra inspections as "yo daddy" was stricter than most.
One of my daughters (who was the one hearing this) decided she didn't like her daddy's rules and decided to move out on her own. She's learned that some of her daddy's rules weren't all that bad after all.
Now, the government wants to step up help people in a lot of new ways. I'm convinced that universal health care is coming, we just don't know the style it will take yet. There is already an expanded health program for children, there's a promise of new medicine from stem cell research, new foreign policy, etc. The question comes up "hoosier daddy?" What rules will "yo daddy" have for you to live by?
Friday, May 01, 2009
Swine Flu Prevention
My dear sweet wife sent me this note with a simple solution to prevent swine flu.
Don't do what this little girl is doing!!
Don't do what this little girl is doing!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)