(Note: See update at end of post)
As in my last post, I want to say how good a run of sports we here in Wisconsin, USA - for my international reader(s) - thus far this fall. The Badgers rolled over Nebraska, a powerhouse in their own right, in their Big Ten (+2) opener. The Packers have a ten game winning streak all the way back to last season and they still have lots of work to do to get as good as they were last year. Then there are the Brewers. Just last week they looked unstoppable as they were up two games to none in their divisional playoff. Then they had to travel to Phoenix.
Before they left Milwaukee, I stated that all the Brewers had to do was win one lousy game. Well, instead they lost two. A train wreak ensued where their fortunes reversed and the series was tied. I figured their season, though very successful and exciting, was over. Their mettle was tested and was lacking. They choked. Still, all they needed was to win one lousy game today; just one lousy game. They've already won over ninety, what's one more. Well, it was a good ride while it lasted and we will, as all real fans do, "wait until next season".
Long story short, yaddah, yaddah, yadda, wonder of wonders, the Brewers WON their fifth in the series in the tenth! On to the League Championship Series against....well we don't know yet. the other series, also taken to five games, was played after the Brewers-Diamondback series.
Still, a great time to be a sports fan in Wisconsin this fall of 2011.
Update: This just in: The St. Louis Cardinals defeated "the best team in baseball", The Philadelphia Phillies, 1-0. This means the Brewers get home field advantage through the NLCS vs the Cards beginning Sunday. Go, Brewers!
Friday, October 7, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
A BLOG UPDATE
A lot has occurred since my last entry.
I've learned of a future grandson to be in our arms by Easter (hopefully). Tiz cannot wait to be a big sister. A boy will be a new adventure for me (us) as all other offspring of our generation have been female - my two girls, my brother's three and my brother-in-law with one. Even my son-in-law as three nieces.
Then, we've reconnected with two separate old friend couples. One, Sherri and Jeff, form college whose wedding we attended and Sherri wore my wife's dress of the year before. The other, Patti and Tom who shared our apartment building with us in our first as a married couple on our own away from familiarity.
I've also been reminded of the circle of life. Just as I learned of the joy of hearing of a grandson, I learned of the fate of my mother as cancer biopsies were undertaken. She failed the tests. That is, she was given six to nine months remaining with chemotherapy helping relieve her discomfort. Then as the first chemo was given, more tests, of course, and the prognosis not only changed, it worsened. The original was revised to two weeks and heavy pain relievers and the ceasing of chemo. Even more tests, with revised prognosis to maybe the weekend. As my mother was being transferred form the hospital of the testing to the hospice, the weekend prognosis proved incorrect as well. She barely made it to the next morning. On our way to our reunion with Patti and Tom mentioned above, we received the call from my sister, the P.O.A. and first contact, that Mom had passed. My wife and I stopped by to console my sister and discuss the next step(s). It was decided that nothing would be done over the weekend and postponing our trip would not prove anything.
The weekend proved cathartic and very therapeutic as both Patti and Tom have lost. parents as well as my wife.
Also, within this time frame, the Milwaukee Brewers clinched their division title and home field advantage in round one, the Wisconsin Badger football team beat Nebraska, an annual powerhouse, handily after four straight weeks of inferior opponents and my beloved Green Bay Packers have dominated their first four (this season) to begin 4-0, and extended their winning streak to ten, including last season and the Superbowl.
All-in-all, it is a great time to be alive in Wisconsin right now, though, I know that my heavenly home is to be far more glorious and joy-filled.
I've learned of a future grandson to be in our arms by Easter (hopefully). Tiz cannot wait to be a big sister. A boy will be a new adventure for me (us) as all other offspring of our generation have been female - my two girls, my brother's three and my brother-in-law with one. Even my son-in-law as three nieces.
Then, we've reconnected with two separate old friend couples. One, Sherri and Jeff, form college whose wedding we attended and Sherri wore my wife's dress of the year before. The other, Patti and Tom who shared our apartment building with us in our first as a married couple on our own away from familiarity.
I've also been reminded of the circle of life. Just as I learned of the joy of hearing of a grandson, I learned of the fate of my mother as cancer biopsies were undertaken. She failed the tests. That is, she was given six to nine months remaining with chemotherapy helping relieve her discomfort. Then as the first chemo was given, more tests, of course, and the prognosis not only changed, it worsened. The original was revised to two weeks and heavy pain relievers and the ceasing of chemo. Even more tests, with revised prognosis to maybe the weekend. As my mother was being transferred form the hospital of the testing to the hospice, the weekend prognosis proved incorrect as well. She barely made it to the next morning. On our way to our reunion with Patti and Tom mentioned above, we received the call from my sister, the P.O.A. and first contact, that Mom had passed. My wife and I stopped by to console my sister and discuss the next step(s). It was decided that nothing would be done over the weekend and postponing our trip would not prove anything.
The weekend proved cathartic and very therapeutic as both Patti and Tom have lost. parents as well as my wife.
Also, within this time frame, the Milwaukee Brewers clinched their division title and home field advantage in round one, the Wisconsin Badger football team beat Nebraska, an annual powerhouse, handily after four straight weeks of inferior opponents and my beloved Green Bay Packers have dominated their first four (this season) to begin 4-0, and extended their winning streak to ten, including last season and the Superbowl.
All-in-all, it is a great time to be alive in Wisconsin right now, though, I know that my heavenly home is to be far more glorious and joy-filled.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
I'M REALLY TIRED OF THE WHINER-IN-CHIEF
The last month or so in Washington, D.C. has been an awakening experience. We've seen partisanism at its worst, lack of real leadership anywhere, a press that no longer has a clue as to how to report the news and, mostly, a President who cannot and will not lead to cause a consensus, especially when it was pushed on us last voting session that he was the only person who could make this happen. Instead of bringing the sides together, he has placed an insurmountable void between them to the point where the sides had to finally exclude the President from negotiations all together. What a Statesman!
Since he began his presidential campaign in 2006 (or so), he has blamed his predecessor, George W. Bush, for everything from a bad economy to puppy hangnails. And, even though Mr. Bush has ceased being president in January 20, 2009, the current office holder has continued to blame the former. So, let's give the current President credit for inheriting a $400billion+ deficit and 7.5% unemployment, not to mention a constant 9% year-long unemployment rate. This President said he could and would "make it all better (I paraphrase)". Since he became President "The One" has overseen a government that added some 200,000 new employees, a $1.5trillion deficit and the worst public opinion ratings for him and the Congress in history. His own closest advisers are out of options, except, of course, to double-down on the same mistakes because the last ones were not "bold enough".
So, he takes to the air waves with a national address to whine how hard it is to do his job, that not everybody likes him and that he can't get his way, so, we, the people, but not you Tea Partiers, you're a bunch of terrorists, are supposed to tell our representatives to give into him. "Mommy, they won't play with me!"
I envision a conversation taking place in the Oval Office sounding something like this:
Since he began his presidential campaign in 2006 (or so), he has blamed his predecessor, George W. Bush, for everything from a bad economy to puppy hangnails. And, even though Mr. Bush has ceased being president in January 20, 2009, the current office holder has continued to blame the former. So, let's give the current President credit for inheriting a $400billion+ deficit and 7.5% unemployment, not to mention a constant 9% year-long unemployment rate. This President said he could and would "make it all better (I paraphrase)". Since he became President "The One" has overseen a government that added some 200,000 new employees, a $1.5trillion deficit and the worst public opinion ratings for him and the Congress in history. His own closest advisers are out of options, except, of course, to double-down on the same mistakes because the last ones were not "bold enough".
So, he takes to the air waves with a national address to whine how hard it is to do his job, that not everybody likes him and that he can't get his way, so, we, the people, but not you Tea Partiers, you're a bunch of terrorists, are supposed to tell our representatives to give into him. "Mommy, they won't play with me!"
I envision a conversation taking place in the Oval Office sounding something like this:
- P(resident: "So, now that I have my new debt ceiling what can we do to reach and exceed it?"
- C(abinet member): "Well, we could buy an brand new bus for you, one for some of us and ten or so for the fawning press and tour the Midwest to celebrate the budget victory you brokered and make the tax payers pay for it all"
- P: "Well. I like the travel and press part, but I'm not crazy about the bus part. And why on earth do I need to visit the Midwest?"
- C: "We thought of all that, but, the accolades in the Midwest crave your presence. And the bus worked for Palin."
- P: "I though I told you never to mention the 'P-word' in my presence again!"
- C: "I, apologize, Mr. President, but you needed to hear that."
- P: "OK, I'll do the bus thing, but for only three days. I don't want to miss my golf game".
- C: "Yes, sir."
Saturday, July 30, 2011
GLOBAL WARMING
Today I am again reminded that I despise hot weather. Sure, it's fine while on vacation in my favorite spot on earth, St. George Island, Florida, where I am either in air conditioning, a pool, the northern Gulf of Mexico, or next to a cool adult beverage or three, but having to deal with it daily is a drag.
My lovely wife and I rode a fifteen-mile in-town bike route in the late morning/early afternoon today as the temperature began rising from the low 80's to the high 80's (eventually, I fear, it will reach the mid 90's). As the saying goes, it isn't the heat, it's the humidity. Well. I say it's the heat too!
Since many politicians, all eco-nuts and many sheeples believe in "Global Warming", that is, man's ability to have modified the earth's actual temperature by his use of devices that produce flouro-carbons, or, as some have stated, merely by exhaling, why can't they convince us to influence the climates at will. I am actually able to accomplish this feat of environmental influence. I have a thermostat connected to my furnace and air conditioner. And I use it! I just wish the eco-nuts, etc, would cease and desist their useless taxing and spending on climate change policies so my environmental influences don't cost so much!
My lovely wife and I rode a fifteen-mile in-town bike route in the late morning/early afternoon today as the temperature began rising from the low 80's to the high 80's (eventually, I fear, it will reach the mid 90's). As the saying goes, it isn't the heat, it's the humidity. Well. I say it's the heat too!
Since many politicians, all eco-nuts and many sheeples believe in "Global Warming", that is, man's ability to have modified the earth's actual temperature by his use of devices that produce flouro-carbons, or, as some have stated, merely by exhaling, why can't they convince us to influence the climates at will. I am actually able to accomplish this feat of environmental influence. I have a thermostat connected to my furnace and air conditioner. And I use it! I just wish the eco-nuts, etc, would cease and desist their useless taxing and spending on climate change policies so my environmental influences don't cost so much!
Sunday, July 17, 2011
I'M BA-ACK!
Just as Randy Quaid's character in "Independence Day" yelled as he flew into the belly of the alien ship "I'm ba-ack", so, I am.
My hiatus was self-imposed as a fluke of computer sharing caused a really good anti-Obama screed to be placed on someone else's blog. However, I felt a little different not spewing on-line, so, I've decided to end the hiatus.
What has prompted this entry is a task I completed today. Some may think it so simple that it is curious why anyone would want to blog about such a thing. But, for those who know me, this is a big deal.
The aged ceiling fan in our kitchen has been eating bulbs as of late. The metal grooves inside the porcelain bulb fixtures, over time, have corroded and are no longer able to have the bulbs make contact at their terminus and the act of turning the bulbs was causing them to break at the last twist. Ergo (nice old word, ain't it?), my wife and I (yes, it was a mutual decision) decided to see what the local home improvement megastore had to offer us as a solution. We walked through the ceiling fan area to check out some of the styles and sizes of fan units with lights. Boy, are there choices, from $50 up to $300. After acquiring nearly permanent cricks in our necks, we began wondering if there wasn't a way to get off on the cheap, thereby replacing only the light fixtures as opposed to the entire fan.
To our surprise and thankfulness, there were boxes of light-only replacements. We went back home to do some closer investigation and examination of our fan assembly (as termed in the industry). I actually loosened the lights from the bottom of the fan and inspected the wiring. I determined that I, yes I could actually remove the lights and successfully replace them on the two wires that connected the lights to the fan assembly. To answer your question, I did trip the circuit breaker before I even touched the fan with a screwdriver. Thus, we came to the conclusion that we could and the decision to replace those lights.
We went back to the megastore and without help from any "expert" found our desired type of lights, which included the bulbs, and home we went. Just as a precaution, however, we did purchase some 40 watt incandecent bulbs (yes the type that Big Brother has deemed to be illegal in the future) to place in the old lights in case I could not make the switch, which, as is the custom in our household, is the rule rather than the exception. The next morning, after church, I, yes I, made a successful replacement of the lights on our 40-year-old fan assembly. As a celebratory act I decided to stop at this success and not to tackle any other home improvement DYI's until absolutely necessary.
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My hiatus was self-imposed as a fluke of computer sharing caused a really good anti-Obama screed to be placed on someone else's blog. However, I felt a little different not spewing on-line, so, I've decided to end the hiatus.
What has prompted this entry is a task I completed today. Some may think it so simple that it is curious why anyone would want to blog about such a thing. But, for those who know me, this is a big deal.
The aged ceiling fan in our kitchen has been eating bulbs as of late. The metal grooves inside the porcelain bulb fixtures, over time, have corroded and are no longer able to have the bulbs make contact at their terminus and the act of turning the bulbs was causing them to break at the last twist. Ergo (nice old word, ain't it?), my wife and I (yes, it was a mutual decision) decided to see what the local home improvement megastore had to offer us as a solution. We walked through the ceiling fan area to check out some of the styles and sizes of fan units with lights. Boy, are there choices, from $50 up to $300. After acquiring nearly permanent cricks in our necks, we began wondering if there wasn't a way to get off on the cheap, thereby replacing only the light fixtures as opposed to the entire fan.
To our surprise and thankfulness, there were boxes of light-only replacements. We went back home to do some closer investigation and examination of our fan assembly (as termed in the industry). I actually loosened the lights from the bottom of the fan and inspected the wiring. I determined that I, yes I could actually remove the lights and successfully replace them on the two wires that connected the lights to the fan assembly. To answer your question, I did trip the circuit breaker before I even touched the fan with a screwdriver. Thus, we came to the conclusion that we could and the decision to replace those lights.
We went back to the megastore and without help from any "expert" found our desired type of lights, which included the bulbs, and home we went. Just as a precaution, however, we did purchase some 40 watt incandecent bulbs (yes the type that Big Brother has deemed to be illegal in the future) to place in the old lights in case I could not make the switch, which, as is the custom in our household, is the rule rather than the exception. The next morning, after church, I, yes I, made a successful replacement of the lights on our 40-year-old fan assembly. As a celebratory act I decided to stop at this success and not to tackle any other home improvement DYI's until absolutely necessary.
Here's the proof!
Saturday, April 16, 2011
OUR PRESIDENT'S RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN
What a surprise! Our not-so-beloved President (35% approval rating) has officially announced his re-election wishes. He kicked it off with a trip to, where else, LA. That's where most of his support is and almost all the money. It is believed that he will raise, or NEED to raise, one billion dollars. If he spent that kind of time and effort actually governing instead of raising money for a job that pays 1/2 a million dollars we just might be able to get ourselves out of the debt he's put us into. Instead, he treats a proposal by his political opposition as a mere exercise in junior high essay writing and he is reviewing it as a college professor. In his "speech" (it was not a policy presentation as he, his administration and party have no solutions) he was snarky (look it up!), condescending and downright mean
His usual, predictable statements were offered; tax the "rich", give more to those getting government money, blah, blah, blah. According to the IRS, if every income producer earning $100,000 or more next year gave every penny they made to the federal government, that amount would not pay off the debt our government has subjected us to for next year! That doesn't even begin to address the future economic problems.
We have people in power in this country who love the power, but cannot lead. I hope for real change come 2012.
Similarly, wealthy people have gone on television and demanded that the government raise their taxes. These are the people who have hedge funds, offshore accounts and trust funds hiding their money. I guess they are unaware that the United States Treasury accepts overpayments and/or extra payments with no questions asked. If they used this option the rest of us can live our measly little lives without worry of more usury. However, given the statistic above, it wouldn't really matter, but maybe they would feel better. After all, isn't that more important than anything else?
His usual, predictable statements were offered; tax the "rich", give more to those getting government money, blah, blah, blah. According to the IRS, if every income producer earning $100,000 or more next year gave every penny they made to the federal government, that amount would not pay off the debt our government has subjected us to for next year! That doesn't even begin to address the future economic problems.
We have people in power in this country who love the power, but cannot lead. I hope for real change come 2012.
Similarly, wealthy people have gone on television and demanded that the government raise their taxes. These are the people who have hedge funds, offshore accounts and trust funds hiding their money. I guess they are unaware that the United States Treasury accepts overpayments and/or extra payments with no questions asked. If they used this option the rest of us can live our measly little lives without worry of more usury. However, given the statistic above, it wouldn't really matter, but maybe they would feel better. After all, isn't that more important than anything else?
Sunday, March 13, 2011
TAXING TAXES
It's that time of year again where my wonderful wife and I get to complain to each other about our frustration with filling out tax forms. The filling out isn't all that bad. It is an arduous task, but, it is the bottom lines that I really do not relish discovering. Even with being unemployed for 1/2 the year last year, we still owe Barack over a grand! How does THAT work?!? Last year we received almost twice as much from the state as we did this year, so the federal taxes owed were covered.
It turns out that unemployment compensation is taxable income that, unless one specifies it to be so, does not have federal and state taxes removed from it. Isn't it strange how income is perceived as a gift from a benevolent big brother state and not a gift. Taxes, one would assume, are supposed to be assessed on earned income. Therefore, how did I earn income for six months by sitting on my behind? The same may be said for retirement payments public or private or even trusts. A flat tax would be the most fair. A certain amount to be paid by all, regardless of the earned income - and my definition of income should be used. After all, isn't the present federal administration all about "fairness"? They even have a proposed bill languishing called "The 'Fairness' Doctrine". How about some real "fairness" - fairness for those of us paying the bills!!
It turns out that unemployment compensation is taxable income that, unless one specifies it to be so, does not have federal and state taxes removed from it. Isn't it strange how income is perceived as a gift from a benevolent big brother state and not a gift. Taxes, one would assume, are supposed to be assessed on earned income. Therefore, how did I earn income for six months by sitting on my behind? The same may be said for retirement payments public or private or even trusts. A flat tax would be the most fair. A certain amount to be paid by all, regardless of the earned income - and my definition of income should be used. After all, isn't the present federal administration all about "fairness"? They even have a proposed bill languishing called "The 'Fairness' Doctrine". How about some real "fairness" - fairness for those of us paying the bills!!
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