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.