THE CHRISTMAS MOVIE SEASON

I guess I should have entitled it "Holiday Movie Season" as I will be addressing movies, not Christmas movies, specifically, though most of those are not worth even searching to digital cable for. To what I refer is the latest state of movies coming out of Hollywood lately. There is nothing new to write about, right? The U.S. is not in a recession and run by a dictatorial Czar-loving narcissistic megalomaniac with no clue as to how to run a bake sale let alone the most powerful nation in the world, right? The federal government is not running automobile companies and financial institutions with no intention of realizing a profit and all the complications this creates, right? Housing foreclosures aren't at an all-time high and unemployment isn't at near 10%, right?

My point, Hollywood is so myopic about "their" president and his floundering administration that they have resorted to comic books, children's' fairy tales and remakes of excellent movies that don't need remaking. Cases in point, Ironman, Gulliver's Travels and True Grit, respectively. I haven't seen Ironman, Jack Black is "Gulliver", 'nough said, and True Grit will only be "quirky" and far more violent with Rooster, played by Jeff Bridges, will undoubtedly be darker and more "troubled". I will not be watching the remake of the greatest Duke movie.

A WORD ABOUT GRANDPARENTING

As awesome as being a dad has been, being a grandpa is as fun and challenging. Tonight was a especially so. Upon my arrival from a long week at work (boy, I love saying that after having not to say it for six months), I was assigned a pizza and a movie pick-up. Papa Murphy's was easy, The movie was a little more challenging. It was suggested (by Grandma) that The Little Mermaid be a choice and something else. I got a Little Mermaid, and chose a Curious George. It turns out both were good choices.

Our little one was a constant barrage of questions while watching the mermaids. She had to make sure that they had no feet and was uncertain as to the fate of a killed mermaid mom. While she was able to follow the movie, to a point, these questions continued to haunt her. As the movie progressed, it became a little too scary and Curious George replaced the mermaids in a flash. Fewer questions arose here and homemade chocolate chip cookies were shared and sleepiness began arriving. I just wish it had been from our little one. Another well-spent night with our precious one.

MORE POST ELECTION OBSERVATIONS

What a deference a week makes, well, actually, not even a week. Our state dictator, Diamond Jim Doyle, after having over forty-five Wisconsin communities vote to not fund a sales tax to pay for a train that was being forced on them had his Secretary of Transportation release a statement to the effect of stating that no more money or time is to be spent on the train until further notice. This came on Friday. And these were communities that would have been "served" by this boondoggle. Then, as is Doyle's modus operandi, a weekend press release is delivered and he has relinquished is control over all the choo-choo decisions, after having approved, all on his own, the spending of $97million the state does not have. He is letting "the next gubernatorial administration" decide how to proceed with the project. Doyle has never made me happier than by handing this over to Governor-elect Walker who vowed to stop this project in its tracks (pun intended).

The voters spoke, loudly, and for once, a dictatorial government listened. God bless America!

A LITTLE SOMETHING ABOUT THE ELECTION

It was another great day to be an American citizen yesterday. A major national election was held and another complete turnaround in governance was accomplished without firing a shot or overrunning a capitol. It is the essence of this representative republic (this is NOT a democracy).

This being said, elections themselves are civil, organized, well run (even considering fraud) and downright boring. It is the campaigns that are messy. These are allowed to have lies spread and can get utterly mean. These thirty-second radio and television advertisements may or may not be slick, depending upon the candidate's funds and target audience. The voter is ultimately on his own to ascertain the truth. Luckily, the internet makes this task easier, but here, too, there is inherent falsehoods to mire through.

Anyway, the results were, as is the case in all elections, mixed. Here in Wisconsin, it is a good day for conservatism, though some did not win, most did. The proof will be in the governing pudding, that is, will the conservatives in now back in charge in Wisconsin govern or dictate.

One more thing. On the literal eve of voting day, the lame duck Governor and the lame federal administration entered into an agreement to spend $810,000,000.00 neither entity has on a train on which neither has been officially authorized to move for a population that does not want it. This is what I see as dictating, not governing. the theory is that "if we build it, they will come". We live in the twenty-first century, not the nineteenth. Besides, I'm still waiting for the jet pack I was promised in the 1950's!

MY UNDERPANTS SPLIT THIS WEEKEND

The #15 Wisconsin Badgers knocked off the #1 Ohio State Buckeyes! What a game! So, my Badger undies worked, but, for the second weekend in a row, my Packer boxers failed me.

I have two pairs of of boxers I wear specifically for my football teams. They are actually quite generic. One pair is red with gray whistles, the other is green with goldish footballs. The Badger undies have only "failed" once this season - they've lost only one game all season while I've worn them. the Packers, on the other hand, have now lost three games. I am now able to wear these any time I choose as they are no longer a necessity for the "we are able to give our less experienced players some valuable playing time" Packers. This is the best they are able to do now - merely keep the score close.

"RECOVERY SUMMER" - HUHN?

We've heard a lot about what our Glorious Leader and his minions have termed "Recovery Summer". Here it is October 13 and the recovery is stalled. We have experienced fourteen consecutive months of falling employment (stuck at 9.6%) and horrible economic news, and, if you listen to the media, all caused by George W. Bush. Who has been in charge of the economy the last fourteen months, for that matter, the last twenty-two? Mr. Bush has been amazingly absent over this time, though not other former presidents who are not his father.

Uncle Joe (Biden, the Vice-President) says that his administration's policies have "created or saved" over 3.3 million jobs since implementation of the stimulus - Porkulus I call it. Let's see, given that Porkulus costs us $850,000,000,000, my ancient math skills have determined that these jobs cost us U.S. taxpayers $257,575.75 per job. What a bargain! Because of this, the administration is having what they call a "communication challenge" to convince us that this was good for us. Uncle Joe actually said "it's just too hard to explain" and Daddy Barry said "lightening-fast news cycles confuse us". That MUST be it. We're just too dumb to understand all this math stuff. Maybe they could take a lesson or two from the late Great Communicator. But that would be sleeping with the enemy. November 2nd is coming!

POVERTY IN AMERICA

It has been determined by the government's own statistics that there are the most people/families in poverty in the U.S. than any time since 1960, the year the elitists decided that it was their duty to keep them poor forever.

First, let's examine what "poor" means in the United States of America.

• Poverty is defined as just over $21k, before deductions, for a family of four.
• Over 95% of all "poor" families have color televisions.
• Over 90% of "poor" families have air-conditioned dwellings.
• Over 90% of the "poor" own cars, computers, cell phones, etc.

Second, what would be the cry from the lawmakers if this statistic were reached during the administration of that evil George Walker Bush? Where is the outrage now (crickets chirping)?

Third, because of the definition of "poor" my wife and I would not have qualified as "poor" while I was unemployed!

On another front, in a tell-all book by the wife of the President of France, Carla Bruni, it was revealed the our current first lady, Michelle, My Bell, Obama, is " 'in hell' " referring to her role. One word of advice for Meeeshlell - QUIT! Just give it all up. Fire your staff of twenty-two. Remove the funds from the budget. Close the office. Move back to Chicago, or Harvard or or Hawaii or Kenya.

TIZ'S THIRD YEAR

Today marked the second anniversary of the very day we met our precious granddaughter, Tizita Desta - her second "Tiziversary" as my better half coined it. We met her as she sleepily toddled off her third plane ride of the "day" that was nearly twenty-two hours long.

It began in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, then on to Amsterdam (I believe), then to Chicago and finally to Appleton. After all this, she had to meet more strangers, my wife and I as well as her paternal grandparents. She was a really charming trooper as I recall, though quiet and taking everything in. The end of our first meeting was another walk to her parents car in the dark and into a very foreign object, an automobile car seat. She never batted an eyelash nor fussed. By this, I knew she was comfortable with her parents.

The next day was a lunch time meeting where she had pizza for the first time. She ate it, but does not any more. We visited for short periods after this, at the request of her parents, so that she could bond with them better at her own house while getting to know us. I will never forget the first time she actually came to me on her own. It was sometime in October as she was wearing a Halloween outfit we bought her. We brought with us a plastic shopping bag full of gourds. she peered in, then grabbed the bag and sat between my legs on floor in front of me. I am truly a grandfather. It is a sobering, humbling feeling.

Happy Tiziversary, Tiz!

NINTH "9/11"

It is September 11. Again. To those of us with any memory at all, it was nine years ago this morning when the United States of America was attacked by a foreign, religious-zealot-run, jealous-of-our-successes entity. One of those "entities", the Imperial Kingdom of Japan, no longer exists. It was dispatched by what one of the Kingdom's admirals called "a sleeping giant", and by only two bombs. Because we acted methodically, but with the ultimate force, that Kingdom is now a republic and a close ally. The other, not so much.

After nine years, one and half of which was been overseen by a "Community Organizer" Marxist, we no longer are using the terms"terrorist", "war on terror", "Muslim extremist", "evil-doer", "axis of evil", etc. as our "leaders" have failed to lead us. the "Apologist-in-Chief" has bowed to foreign heads of state, apologized for our successes and even emphasized our weaknesses. He has contempt for our free market, christian morals philosophy and dishonors our troops and all those whose lives were sacrificed on that fateful day nine years ago by setting arbitrary surrender dates for the "man-made disasters", one of which has already been accomplished.

As Americans, we have a unique opportunity, no, an obligation to vote. This next Tuesday is primary election day here in Wisconsin - which I hope will become an earlier date for the sake of our troops serving over seas. If you believe that the memory of those innocent sacrifices of nine years ago are being honored by our current ruling class, then stay away from the polls. If, like me, you have an opposite opinion, which has been termed "racist", please vote for those who believe that the United States of America is "a shining city on a hill", "the greatest nation on earth", that the free market, lowered taxes and reduced government are worth the effort. Specifically, vote the bums out!

THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF MY LIFE (I HOPE)

Well, the first day of my new employment gig is under my belt. It doesn't feel as though I've actually been away from the work, the task of getting the work done. The place is like most very small businesses. Sparse but adequate, functional and matching furniture; a part-time administrative assistant (whom I've yet to meet); quiet but well lit environment. There isn't free coffee, not even a refrigerator. It's all about getting the work done as quickly and as cost effectively as possible. They are not in this to impress clients with a remarkable edifice and fancy surroundings. They're in it for the work and, of course, the profit of doing business.

Wish me luck as I begin what I hope and pray will be the remaining employment experience of my life. I REALLY don not want to go through the last six months ever again.

WELL, THE VACATION IS OVER

Yes dear readers, my forced vacation, which has just passed its six month mark, has come to an end. After 194 applications (some of these multiple times to the same opening at different times), I have landed a position with Kapitan Engineering, Inc. http://www.kapitan-eng.com/

As the web site states, the main focus of Kapitan is telecommunications, infrastructure planning and mapping and civil engineering. My role, according to the boss, is to be the computer aided drafting (CAD) "go to guy". With my twenty-five-plus years of said experience, this should be a good fit for both Kapitan and me.

This proves the statistics really apply in my case. First, the average length of unemployment is six months. My sentence was just five days over this. Second, the job seeker is told constantly not to "settle" for a job in panic or haste, that just like investing, one needs to be in it for the long haul. I am glad I adhered to this advice and did not "settle" for Walmart or some low-paying factory or warehouse job - not that these places were beating down my door to hire me anyway. And third, it is said that about 75% of all jobs found are through networking. In my case, a friend suggested I call Kapitan. I did, and almost two months to the day later I have been hired.

This also strengthens my belief in prayer. Since the very first day of my latest unemployment stint, I have prayed every day, multiple times, that God would grant me this latest gift and at His time frame, not mine. It is He who has blessed me with my talents and abilities and now, again, a place to put them to work to His glory. I guess that this forced vacation was His way of allowing me to spend far more time with my wife helping her at her work and at home while she won the bread and to spend extra quality time with my precious granddaughter. It has also helped us learn how to better manage the monetary gifts God has bestowed and the lessons we learned from Dave Ramsey. Sherri and I even made short lists of things on which we were going to spend money once I got back to work, even if I did have to "settle". God's ways are truly mysterious.

THE PRESIDENT VISITS WISCONSIN

A presidential visit, buy any president, is always a big deal. We, as good citizens and good Christians, must respect the office, even if the person holding it is not what we would like. That being said, I wish he would pay for these campaign trips himself!

He started his campaign tour in Menomonee Falls where a closed speech was delivered at a company that supplies what he terms as "green jobs". They're "green" because they build batteries. The reports from this event mentioned that the company, ZBB, received a stimulus loan of $14million to expand and "maybe" create 80 new jobs. As I watched, I commented that if this company can't sell its batteries for wind turbines in the next year, what with the lack of an energy policy or a budget, the company would be out of business in a year. Wow, was I right on.

On "Newsbusters.org", they highlighted a Wall Street Journal report on ZBB. It turns out that this company, this perfect evidence of the green economy working, is hemorrhaging money. They've lost $20million in the last four years. Their last CEO had to resign for improper tax filing (surprise!). The WSJ also reported that, because the plant uses only 10% of its production capacity, it cannot actually qualify for the $14million reportedly being loaned. In 2006 when they went public, a share sold for $6. Today it closed at $0.70. That's why it's a good investment for the government stimulus money, right?

The Wisconsin trip was also marred by a private pilot who had the audacity to fly within 30 miles of downtown Milwaukee and, accordingly, was forced down by two F-16's here in Watertown. I could hear the planes from my underground lair. What a surprise for him. Imagine not knowing the every move of a president. This isn't the President's fault, but the enhancement to the story is impossible to ignore.

From the private speech to the failing business he went on to a $250-per-plate fund raising luncheon for the Democrat candidate for governor, who just happens to be a former Democrat Congressman and current Democrat Mayor of Milwaukee. (I used "Democrat" so often because the media doesn't.) After this, his limousine entourage left out the back door to avoid the unwashed. Four hours later it was off to more comfortable environs, for him - L.A. I say, keep campaigning, Mr. President, because for every politician you've backed, all have lost an election. and, as long as you're not in Washington, you're not playing President, you're playing campaigner - a more comfortable role.

"LET THEM EAT CAKE"

During the end of the reign of Marie Antoinette in France, the elitist ruling class had all the money and the rest of the subjects - an apt term for those being "ruled" - had nothing. At one point an advisor happened to mention that these subjects were running out of bread to eat and the queen said "let them eat cake". As if that would have been an appropriate alternative.

We in the United States of America some 120 years or so later are experiencing this very same situation. The leader of the current ruling regime, Barrack Hussein Obama and his wife - who has a 21-person staff where all other First Ladies have had a staff of five or less - have just returned from separate vacations. He spent his birthday weekend in Martha's Vineyard, you know, the typical American vacation spot, among other places, while his wife, one daughter and a 60-70 person accompanying entourage spent a week in Costa del Sol in Spain. Another typical American vacation spot.

All this, in itself, isn't a bad thing. A President needs a vacation more than the rest of the working class with all of its pressures. His wife is also entitled to a little respite occasionally as well. But to use two 767 jet planes paid for by the taxpayers, one carrying the First Lady, her daughter and 60 to 70 others across the Atlantic Ocean to a location considered to by the swankiest of the swanky and with a crime rate to rival Detroit's, all at the expense of us in a time where the unemployment rate is at 9.6%, the national debt has climbed to $14trillion and the deficit is amounting to $500million per day, is atrocious! This coming from a newly-elected President upon inauguration told the American people that we all needed to make sacrifices in order to turn things around. He promised hardship and belt-tightening. Boy did he deliver on that promise!

I guess he doesn't included himself and his in "WE". That's nice to know.

STUFF IS HAPPENING

Stuff is really happening in the U.S. of A. The oil leak is completely capped on day 107. THANK YOU, MR. PRESIDENT! Oh wait, he did nothing to actually help, except approve over $200million to BP to help clean up their mess and more to help study how the spill affected...BP. The leaking oil has all but suddenly disappeared. The President, while not admitting it was his fault to begin with, that the economic downturn could be worse if he hadn't done something to save it. Congress has decided, yet again, to ignore its main ruling document, The U.S. Constitution, not to even present a budget, let alone actually vote on one (I guess, technically, this would be something not occurring). The U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHoud, visited Wisconsin recently to shove $810million at us for a choo-choo train to nowhere and condescendingly stated (the modas operandi for the BHO regime) that if we don't use the money for the choo-choo train, we can't have it and that it isn't our money but the federal government's and we have no say as to how to spend it. I say good riddance. It's money we don't have for a choo-choo train that doesn't even exist as law anywhere in Wisconsin. Progress from "progressives". No thank you (again).

ANOTHER DAY - ANOTHER TEST

Here I am in the sixth month of my forced vacation and a week after a family get-together in the north woods of Wisconsin and I receive a notice from the City of Madison. This city has been a constant prospective employer for me. I believe I've applied for no less than six positions there. I've applied this time out of my chosen historic field - engineering - as a Parking Enforcement Officer. That's right, I meter maid, so what are ya gonna make of it? Anyway, the notice was for a scheduled test to which I was commanded to take without any chance of a reschedule. Oh, by the way, there are 351 applicants for three (3) positions!

I was able to talk to an acquaintance who holds a position of this type already as to what to expect from the test. He said it was a lot of double and triple ways of asking the same questions. I found he was correct, luckily.

The test was one one of the easiest I've ever taken. It began with a photocopied yellow pages map of the downtown area and over twenty questions mostly as to routes to be taken from one destination to another. I don't see why that was so difficult. The hardest part was locating the specific streets from the list and the coordinates from the map. Remember, I do have a college degree in geography. I wasn't sure as to what the intent was, to find the quickest or the safest or the most cost effective route. I chose what I perceived as the quickest. It moved on to a huge section if situational ethics. Then came sections on observation and proof reading and reading comprehension. This section was really stupid because the answers were in the document and could be referred to at will with a quick scan.

The entire test took me seventy-five minutes and I took my time. This is the third civil service exam I've taken and the second in Madison. I'll probably get a 75% and be listed #300 after all this bragging. We'll see in two weeks.

SUMMER VACATION - 2010

We've just returned from a terrific summer family vacation in the north woods of Wisconsin, specifically Mercer. I highly recommend the area if you're interested in that type of vacation. We owe it all to my lovely partner, Sherri, who diligently planned the entire operation beginning in fall of last year. She did the internet searches. She kept all the participants in the loop. She saved our money, even with my layoff, to pay for the largest chunk. She planned the dates, even as to who should sleep where (just to keep the peace). Even with all this planning, the vacation was a relaxing dream, especially for those who actually need a vacation.

Our home for a week On Martha Lake

Our pier looking NNW to Martha Lake

We all got to do things we wanted with or without others:

A solitary canoe ride

Lake of the Clouds in Michigan with two of my favorite girls

Most of the days ended just like this:

(No caption needed)

The group varied from our three-year-old granddaughter to a ten-year-old boy, the son of the lady friend of my brother-in-law in attendance to his seventeen-year-old hunting and fishing daughter to the city slickers of my younger daughter and her husband to the professor and...my older daughter (parents of granddaughter) to my eighty-one-year-old mother-in-law (wow, there were a lot of hyphens in that phrase). Yet all were surprisingly easily entertained (the Wii helped) and able to relax (adult beverages helped) and go with the flow - or lack thereof. We even sat around roaring fires and s'mores at dusk and even managed a few songs on the last night!

Thanks again, Sherri, for another splendid family vacation.

IT'S CAPPED - FOR NOW

As of 3:25pm EDT* the oil leak 5,000 feet below the water surface of the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana's coast has ceased. At least for now, according to the experts of BP. That's right, I, and even some in the MSM (Mainstream Media), give the credit to he evildoers, British Petroleum, and NOT the BHO regime. Daddy did NOT plug the leak today. BP did! After all it was under BP's watch that the leak-causing explosion took place in the first place. We must wait and see as more needs to be done to permanently stop the oil flowing, but this is a cautiously optimistic occurrence. I'm ecstatic that I don't have to thank the President for saving us!

* per The Associated Press - Photo per Drudge Report

CENSUS VISIT

Today, during sweltering heat (before the cool front breezed through), a stimulus job worker (Census Bureau temp) came to the door. She had a form showing my address, but the remainder blank and stated that the Bureau had not received anything from out household (see earlier post regarding the Census). She asked if anyone - or we - lived here on April 15. I failed to ask her why that particular date was the one the Bureau used for the form, but I digress.

She gave me some schtick about her not being able to legitimize the form unless I answered the questions. I told her there were three people living in the home and that's all the Bureau needed. She said she understood, but needed more info. I reluctantly gave her my name and phone number and expected a call from a supervisor. She spent a little too much time on my porch and left dejected. I remained indignant to the end that the only information the bureau needed was the amount of people at the residence. I asked her if she had enough information, but she actually said "no" and showed me the uncompleted five-page form. During this entire tete-a-tete she said "that is your prerogative as a citizen, but I'm here to get the information". I politely refused to complete the form and told her that I would fill out the entire form when the President brought it to me.

AN UNEMPLOYED DAY

What does one do when one is unemployed and his wife has a weekday off? Take a bike ride on a recreation trail. Military Ridge State Recreation Trail is a 30+ mile (48.3 km - this is important later) trail in south central Wisconsin from southeast of Madison to the west - Verona to Dodgeville. It follows a former railroad bed as do most recreation trails in this state, so the grade is very manageable and the scenery varied from bucolic to urban.

Anyway, this particular trip began with a pause as just as I prepared to load the bike rack and its occupants onto the 12-year-old Ford Wagon, a cloudburst erupted. I was not about to get soaked for the sake of loading bikes. So we waited. After attaching the rack and bikes, I removed the seats (to prevent our seats from getting wet, just in case) and we left for Verona. We are map people, especially with me being a geography major, so we headed for the nearest trail head to help save money on the gas. No GPS for us!



We arrived in due course without difficulty and proceeded with a picnic lunch
under a threatening sky and on top of a picnic table to attempt to fool the bugs. This actually worked! We proceeded on the dampened gravel trail westward hoping to avoid being rained on. There isn't much more unpleasant than riding a bike in rain-soaked clothing. We were going to be wet enough from the inside with the humidity as high as it was this day.


As we progressed down the trail we experienced thunder, dark thick clouds and even a brief shower where we shielded ourselves under the canopy of trees covering stretches of the trail. While we avoided getting soaked, the trail itself, of course, did not as evidenced by this photo:




We dried and we were able to eventually brush off a good portion of the mud. And as we continued to our goal destination of Blue Mounds, the skies cleared, at least in this general area and the trail was drier as well. The humidity was still high, but the temperature dropped slightly and a breeze was evident, so the ride was far more pleasant. As we proceeded, the trail was marked every mile - we began at mile three - and my riding and life partner kept track on her odometer, though it is stuck on kilometers, so we are able to do some quick mental math by rounding. It turns out that one mile equals 1.609 kilometers, so we use 1.5 for easier mental conversion.

We arrived in Blue mounds, mile twenty-one (about 30 km) and took a rest. Here at a city park we observed some guys playing horseshoes and I thought that I should start an unemployed guys' horseshoe tournament in Watertown. Sherri told me that that might be too restrictive and that I would most likely have to include working men who worked other shifts. I shrugged, but agreed. We began our return trek to Verona's east side.

We stopped in Mt. Horeb to buy snacks and planned to buy a second soda where we bought one from the same machine at the same park shelter no more than two hours previously. It was at the very park where Sherri took what was almost a shower in what she calls a wonderful restroom. The park facilities hard marvelous accoutrements and we recommend them should you ever take this same trail. This is in Waltz Park on Mt. Horeb's east end. Anyway, as we arrived to Waltz Park, I inserted my dollar bill and the machine took it, but did not allow me to retrieve my Diet Dr. Pepper as it had before. Being tired and sweaty, I was slightly perturbed, but we ate most of our salty treats anyway. We continued to Verona without incident, but with several rests as 34.5 km is about our limit.

All-in-all it was a good day and another bicycling tail to tell, but, boy are my legs sore (as well as my posterior).

INDEPENDENCE DAY - 2010

We are approaching another Independence Day, or, as many refer to it as merely "The 4th of July". Our founders declared our independence from England on this date in 1776 when they felt that the exorbitant taxes assessed by the Monarchy was the last straw in the bale. These brave men pledged their time, talent, treasures and, if needed and in many cases, their very lives to ensure that those wanting freedom from an oppressive government, present and future, got it.

We could be nearing a similar crossroads on this Independence Day, though not as bloody a battle, by just as serious. We have an oppressive elite minority governing the majority (us). They are spending our future incomes at a rate so quickly that children being born today will have great-grandchildren who will not be able to pay off the current debt, let alone accumulated yet unforeseen debt for which their great-grandchildren will responsible.

We have an administration that takes fifty-one days to meet with the CEO of a company responsible for a huge oil leak and seventy-two days to agree to allow foreign governments to help clean up this deep water oil leak, but still hampers the coastal state governors with red tape, environmental handcuffs and drilling moratoriums and still won't suspend the Jones Act (not the one that makes Puerto Rico a U.S. territory, the other one that deals with foreign shipping vs American shipping and their legal entanglements).

This same administration demeans more than half of its citizens because we dare protest its decisions. Some of these protesters even voted this same administration into office! Maybe this Independence Day will be the beginning of another rebellion.


As we celebrate this truly American holiday, the absolute fave of my late friend and father-in-law, let us remember, not only mentally but verbally, the reason we celebrate. It is our duty and responsibility to pass this information on to the next generations. Happy Independence Day fellow patriots! Independence indeed.

FATHER'S DAY - 2010

"This is the day the Lord has made. Let us be glad and rejoice in it" - Psalm 118:23-25

I rejoice every day at fatherhood. It is one of my joys in life - along with "sonhood" and "husbandhood". Life itself is a miracle, and to have been allowed to assist in this miracle is a true blessing from God. Fatherhood is actually easy, that is, the actual act. Being a Dad (or Papa in a the case of a son-in-law) is NOT for sissies. It is very hard work. It demands sacrifices of time and treasure. This is stuff no one teaches us to do. We have only examples shown us by our fathers or uncles or neighbors. We do, however, have an instruction book entitled "The Holy Bible", though fewer Dads and even fewer "fathers (baby daddies)" today, I fear, follow it. The Author is on our side and we dads can take advantage of His guidance as often as we need to - all we merely need do is ask.

As difficult as it is being a Dad, it is made easier with a great Mom (Mama) doing much of the heavy lifting, so to speak. you Dads know what I mean. We are all lost, floundering in quicksand, without Mom. But even with that, our children deserve to have us in their lives. And so do their mothers.

I thank God every day for my partner in this world and for all the other blessings, large and small he bestows. Happy Father's Day, Heavenly Father, and thank you for these many blessings, in your Son's name.

THANKS & ALL FIXED (I GUESS)

First, a thank you to all my fans for the positive feedback regarding the new look. All right, both readers. Still, thanks.

Second, This technician took a nice jab at previous technicians for shoddy work while doing nothing inside the the house except a power supply test - or so I was told. Anyway, this one said the outdoor splitter was not weather proofed properly. Hmmm, I put this addition on in 2004 (?) and this splitter lasted until this month to go on the fritz? Oh well. I told this guy that if it fails again, I'll be calling again. That's what I pay for. Our President should be fixing this problem of the Internet rather than demanding a "kill switch" from the FTC. Get your tool belt, Barry, and git bizzy!

LOOK! NEW LOOK, BUT SAME OLD CRAP

This new group of templates popped up, and I thought the blog could use a change, so...

As for content, sorry, no change there. So, here we go! The internet router/modem we're using here at the Madj Hosienda is getting to be hit and miss. We have another technician (I like using the entire word as I have spent more than half my life as one) scheduled to service us tomorrow. This is the third scheduled and the second to show in a month as our service was down briefly again this evening. My better half is always very concerned in this regard, though, because I am baffled by the technology, tend to be more lesai faire. Anyway, the last time the technician said the router/modem was bad but changed his diagnosis and merely changed the power supply chord. Since then, we've lost service at least twice, calling the provider each time, setting service times. This time I am insisting on a new router/modem, I mean it!

As proven to be a good (and the only) plan of attack for setting blame by our leader ,The One, I blame George W. Bush, Dick Chaney, Republicans, Sarah Palin, conservatism, free market capitalism, Evangelical Christians and our God and global warming for this service necessity.

BHO AND THE LATEST DISASTER

Here it is, about a month into "the biggest oil disaster in history" (not counting the constant leakage of oil tankers crossing the oceans to bring overseas oil to the US because we aren't allowed to get our own and the oil-producing countries that have no environmental laws, i.e. Rwanda) and our President has been on both sides of the fence. BP and its employees gave BHO over a million dollars in campaign contributions and has bent over backwards to appease the envirofreaks since the beginning, so BHO has to tread lightly on BP's toes while still seeming to be tough on them. The man who has fixed America seems unable to plug the hole, so his answer to his daughter's question, "did you plug the hole yet, Daddy?" is an unequivocal "NIET!".

Part of the reason it has taken so long to "plug the hole" is because the "hole" is in 5,000 feet of water and the only access to this point is from the surface by unmanned robotic submarines with cameras attached. And this depth was necessary because shallow water drilling ist verboten by the all knowing, all seeing U.S. Congress. If this "hole" had occurred in shallow water BHO could have already plugged it with known conventional methods. But the depth has presented new problems and The One's expertise in deep water water oil pipe leak repair is proving, dare I say, somewhat limited. I am HOPEful, though, that this will CHANGE and the sheer magnitude of his personality will "plug the hole" as it has with all the other problems he has solved.

Now, how 'bout plugging the "hole" at our southern border Mr. President.

MEMORIAL DAY - 2010

This Memorial Day weekend began, as last year, in the Manitowoc/TwoRivers area where we rode the bike trails there that we enjoy so - The Rawley Point and Mariner Trails. The Rawley Point Trail runs from the north end of Two Rivers through Point Beach State Park to Lake Michigan. The Mariner Trail runs from the south end of Two Rivers into Manitowoc. All totaled it was about twenty-five miles of nice flat riding - a great way to begin the cycling season.




The second day, Sunday, we ventured to the north end of Oshkosh (we stayed at the kids' house while they left town for the weekend) to find the largest cemetery I've seen since Arlington in DC. Here it is (sorry for the size).

This photo shows the Veterans' section of this vast expanse. This is a sobering reminder of the ultimate sacrifice made by ordinary citizen/soldiers (service members, men AND women) in order for the rest of us to sit on our fat duffs and "celebrate" the day in their honor.

As a kid I remember traveling with my dad to numerous cemeteries to honor the war dead. He was in an honor guard with The American Legion. He marched, fired blank rounds from an M-1 and other "Legion kids" and I scrambled to retrieve the spent shell casings. Most of them were returned for reloading at a later date, some we kept - don't know why. As my dad aged, he moved up the ranks in The American Legion and was elected the State Commander in 1972. That year I went to the Legion-sponsored Badger Boys State and dad was a big deal there. That's when I found out how big, anyway. I was actually elected County Sheriff of the "State's" largest County and, thus, a delegate to the "State" convention. This was my first real foray into any real politics. I was, however, student body president of my junior high three years earlier.

Anyway, these numerous cemetery visits and parade witnessings were the excuses I have to skip these remembrances since, but I have grown to appreciate the valor and honor those having served and presently serving in our armed forces depict in their service to keep this, STILL, the "Greatest Country on the Planet". God Bless them and God Bless America!

WISCONSIN POLITICS GETTING INTERESTING

For the first time in a long time Wisconsin politics is actually getting major media attention, though, as is the case in today's media, not the entire story. But I digress.

U.S. Congressman Paul Ryan, a Republican from Janesville, is getting national attention as a stalwart, bright, energetic conservative, unafraid to question The One in person. Our U.S. Senator, Russ "Soupy Sales" Feingold may be in a fight for his seat, even with inferior opposition, just "because". Democrat U.S. Congressman David Obey (Oh-bee not Oh-bay, thank goodness) has decided to forfeit his twenty-second term because he is "tired". He is down in the polls to ANYone running against him as he is the architect of BHO's Porkulous Major.

Also, the Milwaukee Common Council and maybe even the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) Board of Education (a term used only very lightly in this case) have decided to make official a boycott of Arizona because Arizona had the audacity to pass a strict anti-ILLEGAL immigration law - one EXACTLY worded as the Federal law that is ignored everywhere in this country - to protect itself from illicit drugs, kidnappings, murders, rapes and other crimes. THAT ouhgta show 'em! (LOL) When asked how much business the MPS does with Arizona businesses, the Board member threatening to raise the resolution admitted that he wasn't sure. I give credit to the local television station (WTMJ4) for not only asking the question, but airing it and the response.

See, it is getting interesting.

TO WALMART OR NOT TO WALMART

In the second time in as many months, two different Walmart stores have offered me employment. "Great! Congratulations!", you say? Well, not so great. The first one was a third shift stocker for $9.65/hr (including shift premium). The second was today as an Asset Protection Assistant for $8.95/hr. How do families make ends meet with wages like these? Even rents are in the high $500 to low $600 for decent apartments. Throw in kids and car payments and - voila - working poor. It's not Walmart's fault. It's their business model. I make more with unemployment compensation than the pretax take-home from either of these. AND, if I lost one of these jobs, the unemployment would be less than minimum wage, I fear. I've even just finished applying to four factory jobs, all paying in excess of $11.00/hr and within easy driving distance, or even local. I know I won't get any of these, but one can dream.

God has quite a sense of humor, or the devil is quite the tempter.

THE REPUTATION OF A USED CAR SALESMAN

At the end of my last post I wrote of a possibility of my being an automobile sales person (selection specialist is preferred now) by the end of the week. My lovely wife even commented on it perhaps being God-sent. Well, I completed the first day of training by Tony today. I called said wife at noon and gave a positive progress report. So far, so good. Excitement ensued, I was told later. By the end of this training session, however, my perceived enthusiasm waned. Tony continued droning on on about how to prevent the customer from making any negative reaction and to sell the car today. My stomach was in a knot. My blood pressure must have been a billion over 300 million. I couldn't possibly go home and tell my life partner (just as ridiculous as "selection specialist") that I (we) just blew a good sum of cash on training materials I will probably not bring home and/or never use. The risk factor was WAY too high and my body was even rebelling because of it. That's right, I've decided to cease pursuing my dream of becoming a vehicle selection specialist. Back to hitting the pavement.

On a good note, my three-year-old granddaughter drove her new (to her) pre-owned Cadillac Escalade. It was a gift from a friend of a friend. It is a battery powered two-seater complete with FM radio and CB. I missed this while having my hopes and dreams dashed (yet again)!

MUCHO MACHO

On an afternoon walk today, using one of the usual routes, I came upon an unusual scene. Two guys from a construction crew outside a tavern renovation project at The Rusty Nail Saloon were engaged in a non-construction activity. One was shouting to the other "No, go around the other side of the trailer. Hurry! They're going to get hit by a car!"

This is obviously serious. Here, two macho guys - construction workers, working on a macho job - renovating a tavern none-the-less and the tavern is named "The Rusty Nail Saloon". Thus, mucho macho. Back to the story.

The urgency was wrangling a duck brood from crossing a busy state highway. Here this macho guy was chasing a female duck and her ducklings back onto the curb. He even bent down slowly, gingerly cupped his hand and gently and slowly lifted two stranded ducklings onto the curb and chased them as well. I called back "Now you can add duck wrangling to your resume".

Speaking of resumes, I will be taking, in my mind, a huge risk beginning tomorrow - I am going to a Ford dealership to undertake the training to become an automobile salesperson. I have NEVER sold anything before in my life. The entire process that lead me to this point had - and still has - my skeptic's radar humming overtime.

I answered an ad in the local newspaper which wanted people to show up for interviews. I gave it a shot. I met with Tony - an Italian-American stereotype from Boston - who explained that he was the trainer. It was his sole responsibility to choose a small number of people from two days of interviews to take the three-day training course and, thus, become a certified Ford salesperson and become hired at this dealership. I was his first interview. He chose me immediately. He said I had "the look". He also said "I'm gunna make you alotta money". If he said this to all those chosen, I have no idea. So, chances are, be the end of this week I will be a car salesman. Ooh boy. Wish me luck.

THE STATE BUREAUCRACY AT ITS FINEST

In order to continue receiving my well-deserved government handout, I was summoned to appear at a "reemployment seminar" at a state employment office building eighteen miles from my home. That was bad enough, but when I discovered that the seminar was to take place during the most enjoyable time of my unemployed week - that time my Tizu visits after preschool - it was irritating. Then as a topper, it was 80 degrees! There I sat in a "training" room at a government service center listening to a government hack drone on and on about how to look for jobs in Jefferson County and that it is important to have a GED.

She kept on repeating the lie that all the services that this wonderful bureaucracy provides are free. I did not have the heart to correct her, to let her know that the state has no money of its own, that it all comes from tax payers, US. I was only one of two people dressed in casual business attire. The other wasn't even the government employee - she wore jeans and Birkenstocks. I also think I was one of only three with college degrees. There were five unemployed truck drivers, which struck me (and others it was divulged) as quite odd with all the ads for same in the papers and on line.

Anyway, this entire "orientation" was to inform us of all the employment retraining services available, like the use of a telephone to call prospective employers, computers for training to use something called the "internet" and to learn how to use them to type. This agency could also teach us needed math, reading and comprehension skills.

Did the bureaucrats who chose the attendees required to be "orientated" actually look at what criteria was used? I just took a test that required knowledge of geometry, trigonometry, civil and structural engineering, along with 135 others for a construction inspection job! I guess I should have been "orientated" sooner sos I could answer the questions. Oh well, I least I still "paid" for sitting on my behind.

Oops, I almost forgot, this "orientation" counted as my required two job applications for this week. Catrina - her actual name - actually said we could breathe a sigh of relief for a week and not have to undergo the strain of job searching for the week. Oh happy days!

APRIL FOOL'S DAY

I've always disliked April Fool's Day. It's like all the other "made up" days. One is coerced into going along with the customary prank-playing, etc. It is kind of cute, however, to see small children attempt the concept by repeating "look, your shoe is untied" or " your nose is gone" and then jumping way off the deep end into ridiculousness.

My fear this year is that the joke will be on me. I'm still jobless and have been required to attend a State-run job search seminar in two weeks. That should be a hoot! An entity partially responsible for the high unemployment rate giving advice as to how to get employed when jobs are fleeing the state at 10,000 or so per month partially due to the heavy state tax burden. Notice the "Catch-22"-like situation?

Anyway, at least the weather is beautiful right now - near 80 - and Tiz was here again (it's Wednesday) and will be here for Easter weekend and beyond.

I am aware that God has a plan, but I wish he wasn't quite so busy.

ENJOYING LIFE'S SIMPLE PLEASURES

Well, I've received three unemployment checks now. Prospects are dim. I've got a call into a 3rd shift manager at a Walmart in another city, for pity's sake! But, it is Wednesday, and that means Tizu Time! My granddaughter attends my wife's three-year-old preschool class and then my daughter brings her to our house for a few hours. This has gone on since September, but I have been privy to this for only the last month.

Even with inclement weather the visit is filled with busyness - making brownies, mixing water with stuff in a bowl, playing with playdough. But now that the weather is turning, that means chasing outside, walking to playgrounds, chasing outside. I'm all in.

The point, though, is that these visits from Tizu are the height of my week now that I am jobless. Her innocence, vigor and zest for life with her entire future before her is intoxicating and, to be honest, tiring. These simple walks and talks are what I wish life could always be about.

HOW POOR IS POOR?

Just because one's financial life is in the crapper, it doesn't mean one (or two) is poor. I've lost my third job in four years for the companies' financial situations. By the grace of God I found the last two jobs shortly after being "let go". But this time things are different. The unemployment rate is hovering at ten percent, the State and federal governments are talking MORE tax increases after over spending by billions and trillions respectively. And there is no end in site. The only consolation I have is that I am able to receive "unemployment" continuously for over two years. Whoo-whoo. To top this all off, we, as a couple, are not "eligible" for any government assistance other than the aforementioned "unemployment". We are too "rich" to receive it.

After close examination, though, we are richer than a lot of people. We resigned ourselves long ago that we were never going to be financially "well off". We have each other, our family and friends. We are able to adjust our lifestyle - to a point - to match our current "income". We still have God's grace and understand that this earthly life is merely temporary and temporal and that hardship is due to our sinning ways. Our ultimate home is heaven and, thus, we are rich beyond all measure.

I MAY HAVE TO RETHINK OBAMACARE

Now that I've had my third employer in four years say to me "John, you are a great asset to (blank), but the economics - blah, blah blah, yadda, yadda, yadda - we're going to have to let you go", I may have to rethink government-provided health insurance, especially for us "poor" people. The employer is compelled by law to provide its health insurance program (COBRA), at the former employee's expense, of course, but they always make it seem as though they're being benevolent.

This time the two owners sat a group of us in the company's newest conference room and let us all go at the same time. As soon as I heard the schpeal, I rose and left the room while the President shoved a copy of the COBRA info at me telling them I needed to call the unemployment office before they closed, because I'd been through this before, as it was 3:00PM and the office closed at 4:30 and I still needed to pack. I have found that 3:00PM on Thursdays need to be avoided. But I digress.

As I packed up the car, two of the layoff rookies were still talking while I had already set up my unemployment and packed up, I poked my head in turned in my key and asked if I needed to show up on Friday. Bob said I did not and, again, that he was sorry, which was a nice gesture from the Jester (see "The Company Christmas Part" entry from last year).

On Saturday, I smoked a cigar after scraping some snowflakes off the driveway and having applied to about six employment opportunities on line since Friday morning to celebrate the first day of the rest of my life. I may want to hope for a change in health insurance coverage after all,

ANOTHER OLYMPIAD HITS THE AIRWAVES

Another Winter Olympics is upon us. While I like watching them as much as the next guy, why can't a "major" network that has numerous Olympic Games broadcasting experience under its collective belt still use the original format and the same horrible coverage priorities to cover this quadrennial event? NBC owns, what, tens of networks? Today, (day one of competition), only two networks, NBC and CNBC, were utilized to show events. Maybe not many were under way, but it might be interesting to see, oh, I don't know, all of ONE event. There was a hokey prelim on CNBC and the only 5000M men's speed skating and some of the only women's biathlon. Why don't we get to see most of the events? Again, they own multiple networks.

NBC will spend multiple days of network time on figure skating and ski boarding, but mere minutes on biathlon, cross country skiing, and other less American-popular events. Maybe if we were exposed to these events for longer periods of time our athletes would be more interested in them and become more proficient at them.

To top it all off, media has dolts like the insignificant Bryant Gumble complaining (yet again) that there are too few black faces in the Winter Olympics, like it's a white man's conspiracy to omit blacks from these games. I just watched Shani Davis finish 12th in the 5000M, he being a man of color who will participate in the 1000m and 1500m also.

Personally, I am always amazed at the melting pot that is America. Look at the names of the competitors from other countries. The names of our athletes are, in many cases, nearly the same, i.e. Mueller, Weber, Krammer, Christiansen, etc. I will still try to enjoy the Olympics, though I will still complain about the horrible coverage and broadcasting by the network.

TOUGH MONTH FOR THE PRESIDENT

First, he loses an election EVERYONE knew the Democrats would win - the Senate seat formerly occupied by the late "swimmer", Ted Kennedy to an "upstart" Republican State Senator backed heavily by every Massachusetts union and the President himself, which, in turn, ended the easy push through the Senate of the health care reform bill. Then the unconstitutional McCain-Feingold was struck down by the evil constitutionalists on the U. S. Supreme Court. Then the plan to try the 9/11 terrorist in New York City had be scuttled. Then even the sock puppet press could not avoid his lack of transparency in the health care reform process. Boor BHO.

I have a suggestion as to how BHO can save face in the trials matter, move the venue again. I suggest:

• Detroit, especially at night. Even if riots did occur, nothing could be harmed.
• Death Valley in summer.
• The Bonneville Salt Flats in summer.
• ANWAR (Alaska National Wildlife Refuge) where I've been advocating oil drilling. Since the drilling of oil won't be allowed, how about drilling terrorists. Oh, and hold these in January, of course.
• The Everglades in August.
• Washington, D.C. so BHO can watch the proceedings from his house.
• Chicago, the center of BHO's universe, any time of year (how about Comiskey?).
• San Francisco during Gay Pride Week.
• Disney World, also during Gay Pride Week.
• Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.

Maybe you have other suitable locations to try the 9/11 mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-conspirators.

SUPERBOWL XLIV IS SET!

I have watched all of the previous 43 Superbowls (well, most of the games) and this one, while excluding my beloved Packers, is an especially sweet one. This year the Indianapolis Colts return to play the Superbowl virgins New Orleans Saints. Most pundits were picking these two teams just after mid season as both were on their respective runs to undefeated seasons. As it turned out, no team went undefeated but Indy (16-2) and NO (15-3) came close.

The sweet ingredient came in how The Saints arrived. They beat the Minnesota Vikings in overtime. The game came to overtime by the Saints intercepting a pass at the end of regulation of a tied game while Minnesota was driving. The REALLY sweet part is that this quarterback has a history of ending seasons (and playoff games) with interceptions with other teams. This quarterback was a Packer legend, Brett Favre, who broke almost every passing record for the Packers and the league, including the most career interceptions - when a QB plays for seventeen years, throwing an average of 3500 yards per season, it stands to reason. But I digress.

Favre threw his twentieth playoff interception on an audible - a play the QB calls instead of the one called by the coach. Then, as has happened to Minnesota four other times, they lost the conference championship. This time by a field goal in overtime. Favre ended his Packer career with an interception in a playoff game, retired, came out of retirement to play for the Jets, ended that season with an interception, retired AGAIN, came out of retirement AGAIN, signed with the hated Viqueens as we Packer fans "lovingly" refer to them, and ended this season with an interception. He has not yet committed to retirement this year. It's still early.

BHO - ONE YEAR IN

Well, it's been one year, exactly, into the Barack Hussein Obama presidency. Do you feel safer? Are you wealthier? Heck, do you still have a job? Do you have free health care? Is Guantanamo Bay prison closed? Are we out of Iraq? Are we winding down Afghanistan? Has every bill presented to Congress in the past 365 days been available for public viewing on television and on the Internet in printer-friendly format? Is the employment rate under 8% because the porkulous bill was hurried to vote? Are the investment houses, banks and car companies taken over by the federal government running leaner, at a profit and in a "cleaner" fashion? Is the world's (mostly over China and India) air cleaner? Are the Olympics going to take place in Chicago? Was the Senate seat formerly occupied for forty-two years by the late "Swimmer" re-seated by a Democrat after BHO visited Massachusetts?

I hate to say "I told you so"; wait, I do like to say that! Only 1,095 days left!

HUMAN TARGET

A new Fox network television show in the veins of Jason Bourne meets James Bond meets The Terminator, "Human Target" http://www.fox.com/programming/shows/?sh=humantarget is on as I type. I'm a sucker for this junk. There is, however, already a "turn off" aspect of this episode. It is taking place on a government-financed bullet train in California that supposedly cost only 62 billion dollars of taxpayer money. The target is the engineering firm's team leader for the project (who, coincidentally, is also a whistle blower). I am anticipating this being some "right wing militia group" or corporate sponsors hell-bent on stopping the project, especially after it's already been constructed and fully funded in perpetuity. The target is to be protected by a private security firm. That's where Christopher Chance comes in. He forces the bad guys to concentrate on him rather than the intended target. Lots of shooting, fighting, explosions and and witty repartee.

Wow! Was I off about the attempted killer. I turns out it was the team leader's jealous husband. Well, to be honest, she was having an affair, but that doesn't necessarily warrant killing anybody. Anyway, my cynical nature is still in tact.

Vote against boondoggle government choo-choos and their legislative reporters.

AVATAR JUNKIES

The latest film by James Cameron , "Avatar", has had rave reviews and has been panned. So it goes with films. Some say it is the weired work of an ecstasy-ladened has-been looking to, yet again, bash the U.S., her military and her governmental format. Others have declared it a monumental shift in the way movies will be produced from now on (as if special effects are new to film, but I digress). Still others are taking their attachment to this fiction to another level.

In this article http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/11/avatar.movie.blues/index.html the author sited examples of people who leave the theater so enthralled with the beauty of the fictitious planet Pandora (any relation to the famous box is most likely intentional) that they state on a blog that they have considered suicide in order to take themselves to a place like Pandora so they can become the planet's inhabitants. As the kids tweet "LOL"! That was my initial reaction.

Is this society in such a sad state of affairs that computer-generated beings from a fictitious planet in a fictitious future cause lonely, depressed human beings to assume by ending their real lives that, because they simply will it to be, they will become these fictitious beings? Culling of the herd, I guess.

55YEARS AND COUNTING

Today is my the beginning of my fifty-sixth year on this planet. Even though my birthday is close to Christmas, I have never been forced to celebrate it simultaneously. My mother, as a boy, and now, my wife, have seen to that. It is an act of love I have always appreciated. I know and appreciate the fact that it takes extra planning.

As an "old guy" I now get to do more reflecting (and maybe DEflecting). I wonder how much longer I will have to - be be allowed to - work in order to have a somewhat unencumbered retirement. I have often stated that I may have to "die at my desk", especially considering the past couple of economic years, not to mention those to come with the way the state and federal legislatures have burdened our incomes with added taxes - called fees, and investments, etc.

On the other hand, I could just give up and let Daddy Obama take care of me and my wife. If he has it his way, I will most likely end up in federal prison because I will not be able to afford his health insurance nor the fine required for not buying it, which is actually less money than imprisoning me in the first place. If you are wondering, once I am imprisoned, my wife will be a welfare case and Daddy Obama will be caring for her as he now case for her mother and my parents somewhat (especially health care).

Anyway, I have had a good day and a great birthday meal. My wife decided to make lasagna from scratch from a recipe found on line. She also made my favorite cake - German Chocolate. She also has been making shadow box-like framed scrapbook page mementos and made one of the holiday party given by my employer last December (reference that post below). She also makes her own greeting cards and I was not excluded from this past time either.

Thank you, Sherri. You are generous to a fault. I love you.

HAPPY NEW YEAR - 2010

Well, another memorable year has ended and a new one begun. As I age, all years are memorable, however, they seem to meld.

My wife and I did something unusual for last night - we went out!

We went to dinner with an old friend from college (her roommate) and then on to a biker bar in Greenfield to take in a band for which the percussionist is a classmate, as is his wife, of my two dates. The expectations were, how shall I put this, not real high. It was a "biker" bar and the friends (couple) are not all that close, but, we had nothing else to do.

The food was better than expected at Champs, but the music venue was surprisingly pleasant, even considering its smokiness. The band performed '60's and '70's covers and were better than expected as well. The bar had been freshly painted a beige color and had lots of polished aluminum and steel grate tables, resembling a bike production or maintenance garage. Pretty cool. Then, as the magic hour approached, a generous spread of home-made snack meats, cookies, deviled eggs and cheese trays were offered free (no cover charged even) and the typical festive trinkets were distributed. Then the piace (sp?) de resistance, champagne was poured, again on the house. All-in-all, it was a pleasant and memorable New Year's Eve.

I recommend "Fat Boy's Roadhouse" in Greenfield, WI for your New Year's Eve festivities, if you're looking for an inexpensive, casual but enjoyable experience.

As for the year to come, I pray for health (not health care), happiness and success for us all and for cooler heads to prevail in regards to government's intrusion and deficit raising.