What is it

About Pitbulls?

We're looking through Craigslist for dogs. But haven't found any the really work for us, so when Karen returns this one Sat., she'll take Meggie to the ADL to look at some.

As I said, we're looking through Craigslist and can't get through on day without seeing one or more ads for "free, lovable pitbulls" pitbull pups, pits looking for a good home, etc... Everyone knows how they can get at the snap of a second, why would anyone want a dog with that reputation? Especially here in S. Texas with illegals keeping the dogfighting business going strong and needing replacement meat?

Yeah, I know,,,"that's only because of the way they were treated" and Petie Peetie Peety the dog on 'Our Gang' was a pit.
Ok, fine. Then YOU take it home and deal with it. To you it's a loving pet. to anyone else it's a weapon waiting to go off all by it's self. With little or no warning. I know,,,,"more people are bitten by Black labs than any of the so called dangerous dogs- That's because they're gentile enough to let kids play with them, and kids being kids and dogs being dogs,,,sometimes something happens. I notice that there aren't a lot of nice cuddly pitbulls playing with toddlers.

Anyway, why have pitbulls that you can't even GIVE away? Haven't they heard of spaying anf neutering?


OHHHHH,,,,,,,,,and speaking of pitbulls,,,
Here is todays entry from the pitbull of the religious world:

Divine Advice
1/10/2007

A businessman was in a great deal of trouble. His business was failing, he had put everything he had into the business, he owed everybody it was so bad he was even contemplating suicide. As a last resort he went to an Imam and poured out his story of tears and woe. When he had finished, the Imam said, "Here's what I want you to do, put a beach chair and a copy of the Qur’an in your car and drive down to the beach. Take the beach chair and the Qur’an to the water's edge, sit down in the beach chair, and put the Qur’an in your lap. Open the Qur’an; the wind will move the pages, but finally the Qur’an will come to rest on a page. Look down at the page and read the first thing you see. That will be your answer, that will tell you what to do." A year later the businessman went back to the Imam and brought his wife and children with him. The man was in a new custom- tailored suit, his wife in a mink coat, the children shining. The businessman pulled an envelope stuffed with money out of his pocket and gave it to the Masjid as a donation in thanks for his advice. The Imam recognized the man, and was curious. "You did as I suggested?" he asked. "Absolutely," replied the businessman. "You went to the beach?" "Absolutely." "You sat in a beach chair with the Qur’an in your lap?" "Absolutely." "You let the pages move until they stopped?" "Absolutely." "And what were the first words you saw?" "Chapter 11."

More kneeslappers from the religion of piss

Once, the people of the city invited Mulla Nasruddin to deliver a speech. When he got on the minbar (pulpit), he found the audience was not very enthusiastic, so he asked "Do you know what I am going to say?" The audience replied "NO", so he announced "I have no desire to speak to people who don't even know what I will be talking about" and he left. The people felt embarrassed and called him back again the next day. This time when he asked the same question, the people replied "YES" So Mullah Nasruddin said, "Well, since you already know what I am going to say, I won't waste any more of your time" and he left. Now the people were really perplexed. They decided to try one more time and once again invited the Mullah to speak the following week. Once again he asked the same question - "Do you know what I am going to say?" Now the people were prepared and so half of them answered "YES" while the other half replied "NO". So Mullah Nasruddin said "The half who know what I am going to say, tell it to the other half" and he left!

I see that the 'religion' of peace and tolerance are at it again

Except this time there haven't been riots- yet.

Maybe because the ones having fun with the most sacred and humble religion of all are themselves moslimbs. They only got their magazine shut down, and are going on trial for it.

So, in light of this, lets see how many e-death threats I can get the FBI to investigate? Not that they would,,,,,because it would be me getting a death threat from people who wouldn't THINK of committing voilence in the name of their death cult 'religion'.

So here is the first of the Islamo-Joke of the day.
As told by the musselmen themselves.........




Nasruddin was determined to be decisive and efficient. One day he told his wife he would plow his largest field on the far side of the river and be back for a big dinner. She urged him to say, "If Allah is willing."

He told her whether Allah was willing or not, that was his plan. The frightened wife looked up to Allah and asked forgiveness.

Nasruddin loaded his wooden plow, hitched up the oxen to the wagon, climbed on his donkey, and set off.

But within the short span of a day the river flooded from a cloudburst and washed his donkey downstream, and one of the oxen broke a leg in the mud, leaving Nasruddin to hitch himself in its place to plow the field.

Having finished only half the field, at the sunset he set out for home exhausted and soaking wet. The river was still high so he had to wait until long past dark to cross over.

After midnight a very wet but much wiser Nasruddin knocked at his door. Who is there Asked his wife.

I think it is me, Nasruddin, he replied, if Allah is willing!

Dog situation update

Ok, pending Megs approval, it looks like we'll be getting used to a Blue heeler mix.

The replacement dog is for her, really since she's so lonely that she tried to dig up Bodie the other day.


(UPDATE TO THE UPDATE) Jan 07-07

She must have been beat pretty bad. The only time she'll let me get near her on her own is when the girls are around. We're keeping a lead on her until we're sure she won't find a way out of the fence since she's smaller than the other two.

I don't know if I like a dog who runs away every time I stand up- we'll give her a week to get used to me or start looking for one who lets me get within 6' of her.

Here she is...I scared her with the flash- now she'll NEVER let me near her.

The colorblind party of moral uprighness

The ones that were going to take care of the "Party of corruption" in DC, remember.

Ohh, that was last week.
This week we have this in full...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- On the same day that the 110th Democratic-led Congress convenes with a plan to immediately pass lobbyist and ethics reforms, the Congressional Black Caucus Thursday gave a standing ovation to Rep. William Jefferson, the Louisiana Democrat who faces an FBI probe into bribery allegations.

"The haters... and negative nabobs...the people who spoke against him couldn't prevail against the people who spoke for him," Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, master of ceremonies for the CBC's celebratory event, said Thursday morning.

Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, led the charge to remove Jefferson from the House Ways and Means Committee last spring and has said she will not consider reinstating him to the powerful post until he is cleared of all allegations.

The FBI is currently conducting an investigation that alleges Jefferson accepted $100,000 from a telecommunications businessman -- $90,000 of which was later recovered in the congressman's freezer.


AND...
As far as getting rid of political parties, George Bush is going to pretty well disband the Republican party when he signs the Social Security Fraud Enhancement Act
When he allows identity thieves and lawbreaking trespassers (Illegal aliens) to steal their SSI contributions after only working here for 3 years.
I wonder if it'll be a 50/50 split with the REAL American taxpayer,,,because we wouldn't want to harm someone who's been breaking our laws since they got here, would we?

In addition, that worker could be able to claim credits for work performed while in the U.S. illegally. The SSA maintains an "earnings suspense file," which tracks wages that cannot be posted to individual workers' records because there is no match for a name and Social Security number. Once an immigrant gains access to a work authorized Social Security number – whether a legal citizen or not – wages earned while in the U.S. unlawfully could be reinstated to the worker's new Social Security account.

The Congressional Research Service reports the earnings suspense file currently stands at approximately $520 billion. According to the congressional testimony of SSA Inspector General Patrick P. O'Carroll in February 2006, "We believe the chief cause of wage items being posted to the earnings suspense file instead of an individual's earning record is unauthorized work by non citizens."

The agreement between the U.S. and Mexico was signed in June 2004, and is awaiting President Bush's signature. Once President Bush approves the agreement, which would be done without Congressional vote, either House of Congress would have 60 days to disapprove the agreement by voting to reject it.

"The Social Security Administration itself warns that Social Security is within decades of bankruptcy – yet, they seem to have no problem making agreements that hasten its demise," said Ralph McCutchen, Chairman of the TREA Senior Citizens League. "Our 1.2 million elderly members didn't sacrifice through difficult times so we could fund millions of workers who crossed the border and decided to work here illegally."

The U.S. currently has 21 similar agreements in effect with other nations, which are intended to eliminate dual taxation for persons who work outside their country of origin. All of the agreements are with developed nations with economies similar to that of the U.S.

BUT,,,those agreements are for their frigging LEGAL immigrants

I guess I oughta post something, huh?

It's been a kind of f'd up holiday period here at casa trainwreck.

We didn't have Christmas- we had a 15 hour road trip to moms in Conroe and back where the white thing tore a hole in moms gate and took off. He only decided to come back about fifve minutes before we left for home.

On Dec 25th we opened presents. As i mentioned earlier, I got three "Thank you's"- two of those came from Karen. The one who got a Dell tower (the most expensive present) only had "Cool" to say about it...or something along those lines- nothing in the category of "wow, thanks".

The white dog had some kind of seizure about three weeks ago,and had been peeing on everything he could reach since then.

Dec. 30th, some kids decided to open the front gate and both dogs ran out. Meg- the black one came back. Bodie- the PoS white one ignored us and got hit by a car new years eve. So we had to make a run into town and drop $60 to have him put down. I would have shot him- but that's another story about girls-and-guns.

I just hope that that was the end of a crappy kind of year and the new year will be better.
At least the 18-yr-old will be moving out and starting her work career that her "D" average grades set her up for...'But, I'm passing"..."No, you're almost flunking."
..."but at least I'll graduate."

At least when she's gone it won't be that everytime I open my mouth a 3' thick bank vault door slams shut in her mind. She'll learn on her own.....And mom will ---as usual---drop everything to unf*ck what she's done.

We're in the market for a replacement dog- a playmate for Meg, who's really lonely. The selection is narrowed down to a FEMALE, spayed and medium to large. Blue heeler, Shepard, Rottie...



Anyway, I hope your New year is better than last year.
Well it's gotta be- Nancy and friends are going to solve all of Americas' problems in this next 100 hours.

I wonder what they'll do for the next two years after they raise prices on everything and advance their socialist agenda?

It took FIVE days Mr. Bush

For a small country to rout the Islamo-facsists from Somalia.

Do you know why?
Because they didn't fight a frigging PC war.

Government forces, backed by Ethiopian troops, were pursuing the remnants of an Islamic militia that until two weeks ago controlled most of southern Somalia and threatened to drive out the internationally-backed government.

But Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi said his rivals were scattered and that a group of them offered to surrender on Tuesday.

"We asked out troops to collect them and bring them back home," he said, refusing to provide any details about how many fighters were involved or where they were.

The rest of "Islamists are scattered in the bush," he said. "Maybe small fights can take place, but we are trying to destroy them."





Sorry this is so short,,,we're off to look for a replacement dog at the pound.

Marilyn Mansonis Jesus???

That was my first reaction when I saw the video in this article about another miracle painting.
Except that it's not in Mexico this time, or even discovered by Mexicans on a taco.

PILSEN, CZECH REPUBLIC (Reuters) - A mysterious painting of Jesus is attracting people from all over the Czech Republic.

The picture shows the face of the son of God with his eyes open and closed. Many visitors to Oldrich Klima's "Gallery of Handicrat" in Pilsen are asking if it's a trick of the light or something more spiritual.

Jesus with his eyes closed - that's what this 150-year-oil oil painting shows... or does it?

Take a step back and the son of God is staring at you with clearly open eyes.

I wish there was a better video because I really can't tell.

The call of the wild

That's what got the white one.

Yesterday, some little assholes juvenile delinquents kids opened the front gate and let the dogs out.
The black one, Meg came home after about an hour.
The white one (who's picture used to grace this site) is still gone.
And probably won't be back- one way or another.
He pulled the escape artist thing up in Conroe and was within 5 minutes-literally- of being left up there.

My voice is hoarse from calling for he and Meg within a week.
If anyone finds him and calls, (if he's not shot for chasing goats) I won't know him.
He doesn't want to live here, he won't.

Now we have to put a bike lock on the gate, or think of some thing to keep the dogs in if the gate is open.
But, then I guess it's the season for runaways...we found a toy dog on the porch. A toy breed dog.
The phone number on the tag is from the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

He's a teeny li'l ol' thang. Karen says she's seen chicken wings with more meat on them than his legs. After looking, I think he's a Black version of a long haired Chihuahua. Except that he doesn't have the nasty attitude.

Once Karen and the girls know he's a Chihuahua, we'll defiantly be loosing him.
Karen want's to know if the dog pound will take a trade-in for a real dog.




(UPDATE 7:15PM)
We just got back from the San Antonio emergency vet.
Bodie (the formerly missing dog) was hit by a car on the highway. He couldn't move his back legs when Karen saw him in the median going to Hondo. He was already going into shock when she got him home.
At least he got to say good-by to everyone before we took him to his final sleep.
I'll be burying him tomorrow in the back paddock.

Well, they do say opposits attract

You Are: 30% Dog, 70% Cat

You and cats have a lot in common. You're both smart and in charge - with a good amount of attitude. However, you do have a very playful side that occasionally comes out!

Are You More Cat or Dog?

H/T shoprat

EXCLUSIVE----THIS BEATS DRUDGE

(I think)


I'm the first to bring you the pictures of John Edwards FIRST EVER Pro Bono work.



He also took the opportunity to declare his bid for the 2008 presidential race.
Because, you know he "cares" about the unfortunate- he cares millions for the unfortunate.

How big is Ethiopia's army?

It can't be a whole lot bigger than maybe one of our Divisions, right?
Their Air Force could probably be held on two of our Carriers, do ya think?

Do you know what they're doing to the militant funamentalist Micheal Moors Minutemen African Tailban who were runnng the country untill about three days ago?

They're wiping the floor with them.
They took off the gloves- hell, they didn't even bother putting them on.

They're fighting a war.
They're not trying to "Win the hearts and minds " of the people, they're fumigating the region.

I've been hearing the question "Well, how do you know when your winning?"
How about when moslem women (who have less standing than a dog) are throwing rocks at the mullahs and saying "Look what you did to us!"

MR. Bush- you're trying to find a way to deal with these 'freedom fighters' of the MSM islamic world- I suggest you take a look at how to win when you don't care who calls you bad names.

Identity card or cash cow?

If we do get a national identity card, I hope it's not like the Brits are going to use it for.
I have to admit that I'm, ambivilent to the nat'l identity card. I carried one while on active duty- and don't have that much of a problem if it's used for identification purposes only.
We have SSI as a defacto identity number anyway,,,but it's taxpayer funded. It's not ment to be a revenue generator for the government.

People who fail to update their national identity card will be fined a staggering £1,000, it has been revealed.

And it will cost £30 to replace a lost or stolen card or buy a new one if a name needs to be changed, for example when a woman gets married.

A "draconian" regime of fines, which will also include £1,000 for failing to return a dead relative's ID card, is revealed in the latest Government plans for the controversial scheme.

~snip~

Home Office minister Joan Ryan confirmed charges would apply "if a person wished to add a married surname to his or her register entry". (30 pounds,,,about $60)

Based on an estimated 311,000 marriages a year, these charges alone would rake in up to £9 million a year.

At least £30 would be charged for lost or stolen cards, earning the Treasury more than £28million a year.

Mr Reid also admitted that applicants will be asked for "all current alternative addresses".

A failure to update these details could result in a £1,000 fine.

It is feared millions of students could be hit by the fines, for example if they fail to inform the Government of additional term-time addresses, for example their hall of residence.

And naturally, the real cost will be much more than the guestimated amount. Just look at Bushes' Perscription Drug boondoggle.

According to independent researchers, it will cost £19billion over ten years - nearly four times the £5.4billion budget.

The Government has said people will have to pay £30 for a simple ID card, or more than £90 for one with a passport.

But experts say the actual cost of a combined card could be as high as £300.



(UPDATE)
Sorry, here's the link

I hope your Christmas was pleasant

Ours was typical of the rest of the year.
Of all the presents opened I got three Thank You's- two of them came from Karen. And, as usual, the 18 yr-old decided to wait until we were ready to sit down for Christmas dinner to call her dad in the UK (about 9:30PM their time) because she's decided that she's only part of the family when it meets her self-centered needs.
She DID manage to make up for supper with desert, though.


Ok, So waddid ya git?

The Christmas meme

Thanks Capitain.


1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Wrapping paper- it really puts your mind to work for odd shaped gifts.

2. Real tree or artificial?
Fake and fast.

3. When do you put up the tree?
Karen and (one of) the girls put it up Thanksgiving weekend.

4. When do you take the tree down?
New Years weekend.

5. Do you like eggnog?
I'm not much into liquid dairy products.

6. Favorite gift you received as a child?
'An official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle!' -actually it was a Daisy.

7. Do you have a nativity scene?
One of those things we should, but don't.

8. Hardest person to buy for?
Mom.

9. Easiest person to buy for?
Besides me buying my own presents? Karen.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Mail, I married Karen to make sure they got mailed out :-D

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
A weight set.

12. Favorite Christmas movie?
They used to show L & H 'Babes in toyland' on Christmas,,,but I don't think Laurel And Hardy are allowed to be shown on TV anymore...

13. When do you start shopping?
Anytime it occures to me that "this would make a good Christmas present".

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
Probably, it runs in the family.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
'Chex party mix' and 'Stollen' (a german fruitbread).

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
It came with colored.

17. Favorite Christmas song?
'Snoopys Christmas'

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Moms'- in Conroe.

19. Can you name all of Santa’s Reindeers?
Yep, AND all seven dwarves little people.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
Angel.

I'm not going to tag anyone, but maybe Denitia needs to do some penance for finding this video and the emotional dammage that results.

I don't know how to respond to this study

It was a study of "more than 200 lung cancer patients".
Even I know that that number is really statistically insignificant.

BUT what I'm wondering about is the idea that quitting smoking after a cancer diagnosis is really a 'better' quality of life idea.

If they quit, they don't live any longer, but they don't deteriorate as fast.
BUT if they quit, then they're going through withdrawals while going through the chemo as well.

Specifically, their "performance status" -- a measure of patients' ability to care for themselves and function in daily life -- was generally higher, according to findings published in the medical journal Chest.

Patients who gave up cigarettes did not live appreciably longer than those who continued smoking, the study found, but the difference in quality of life highlights the importance of quitting even after lung cancer develops, according to the study authors.

"To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate a correlation between smoking cessation after diagnosis and performance status," write Dr. Sevin Baser and his colleagues.

Forgive me for being cynical, but doesn't the "ability to care for themselves and function in daily life" have something to do with the bottom line in terms of healthcare costs? You know, make them stop smoking while undergoing chemo and radiation, so they have to go through withdrawal at the sme time just to save a couple bucks?

Speaking of Christmas vacation

....I see blogroll has decided to go on indefinet hiatus.

And Merry Christmas!

I told you about my new work truck

...And how willing to be impressed with it I was.
And how disappointed I was

I also mentioned the cr@ppy placement of the mirrors.
I knew they'd get me in trouble some day.

I just didn't think it would be this soon.
See, the way the mirrors are set so far back, I loose the car in the right lane from my side marker (middle of the trailer) to just behind the last wheel.

I got stuck behind someone 'moving', and naturally since the left lane is banned from trucks- all I could do is move to the right- the slow lane (where he should have been). He was doing all of 50 MPH in a 65 zone.

I looked in the big West Coast mirrors and didn't see a thing, I put on my turn signal and started easing over and noticed in my convex mirror... an extra set of headlights that I couldn't see anywhere else. I couldn't see it from my back window, and unless I almost got out of the seat, I couldn't see it from my perch.

I stopped in time to avoid pushing him into the wall, but I bet I gave him a thrill.

I don't work on Madison Ave.

But I do think I know what might help or hurt in selling some things here in "Flyover country".

The mummified rats in the Quiznos commercial for one. Karen still refuses to eat there.
I guess it was 'cool' and 'edgy' out there in New York City on the east coast, and all.

Another thing is just product display.
If you want to sell something, try to make it at least not ,,, ummmmm,,,,,,,natural.
Unless that's a positive thing.
I'm sorry but I wouldn't want to come within 10 feet of that desk.
Kinda looks like the girls rooms- only cleaner.

What could possibly go wrong with this?

I guess some on the left are starting to realize that Bu$Hitler=Haliburton isn't the sole source of evil in the world.

Beth Ditto, lead singer of the Gossip, who will perform with the newly reformed Yaz, thinks the march is overdue. "Forget right wing Christians. They don't hang gays for being gay. Islamofascists do. That's why were asking moderate, non-violent Muslims across the Western Province to join hands and embrace gay people everywhere.

And being typical Left wing paleohippies, they're going to hold a "March on Mecca"!

PRESS RELEASE
EMBARGO DATE: December 15, 2006, 4 PM.

IN THE NAME OF FREEDOM AND TOLERANCE, AND IN HARMONY WITH OUR GAY MUSLIM BROTHERS AND SISTERS, WE PROUDLY ANNOUNCE THE FIRST MARCH TO MECCA, FEBRUARY 14, 2007

Human Rights Watch, Moveon.org, ACT-UP, the Huffington Post and David Geffen are proud to present the March to Mecca, a celebration of peace that calls all gay brothers, sisters and people undergoing sex-reassignment to march to the holiest of holy cities, Mecca, the capital city of Saudi Arabia's Makkah province on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2007.

Like I said, what could possibly go wrong here?
It's not like the 'religion of piss' would be somehow,,,offended by these pervs people marching on their holiest site.

And don't worry, they'll take all reasonable precautions to ensure nobody gets hurt.

The March to Mecca will snake through the sandy, sunny valley of Abraham, and it is urged that you pack sunblock and plenty of bottled water. "Don't forget to blog!" adds co-sponsor Arianna Huffington. After the march, Rep Barney Frank of the U.S. House of Representatives will host a special VIP rave on the Queen Boat, a floating disco on the Nile.

Update on "Jobs Americans won't do"

Remember those ICE raids last week where they rounded-up from meat packing plants?
Remember how El Presidente Bush talked about how the illegals were only doing jobs Americans weren't paid enough wouldn't do?

Meet the Americans who are lining up to do the jobs that illegals used to do.
GREELEY - The line of applicants hoping to fill jobs vacated by undocumented workers taken away by immigration agents at the Swift & Co. meat-processing plant earlier this week was out the door Thursday.

Among them was Derrick Stegall, who carefully filled out paperwork he hoped would get him an interview and eventually land him a job as a slaughterer.
.................................................................................
Greg Bonifacio heard about the job openings on television and brought his passport, his Colorado driver's license, his Social Security card and even a color photograph of himself as a young Naval officer to prove his military service.

"I don't want to hassle with any identification problems because of my last name," said Bonifacio, a 59- year-old Thornton resident of Filipino heritage.
.................................................................................
Bonifacio was hoping to get a job in production or fabrication. So was Nathan Korgan, a former construction worker whose company closed and moved to California.

That's just a Colorado location. I wonder how the rest of the country-wide plants are handling their worker shortage?
As an added thought, I'd bet the wages went up along with some bennies.

OHhhh, and your meat prices? look for an increase there of probably less than a nickel a pound.

Ok,,, I'm watching LoTR

Return of the King on TV.

Ok, I know it's been out for a while. I'm Cheap- and busy.

So now my Questions start.

If I were in the movie place, I probably wouldn't have to cycle my volume control between 10 and MAX to hear the dialogue. Smeegul/Gollum has some kind of pitch that I just can't hear at a normal level.

It's a brilliant movie (just like the book) that can tug at your heat strings, and almost make you feel you were there.

BUT..what's with the Elvin babe?

I thought they were supposed to be so drop-dead gorgeous that mere men dropped dead at seeing them.

Sorry, but this guy was wondering who got the 'beautiful-in-an-ugly-way' babes for the Elvish babes?

Yea, I know they were Brits, but still.... hot is hot.

OOohhh, back to the movie,,,, great fight scenes and all the rest.
I just couldn't get over the hot-but-not Elvish Princesses.

Big brother meet Pavlov

Or we could call it the law of unintended consequences.

A town council in Wales is going to remove a speed camera from an on ramp because of the congestion that sometimes causes a 5 mile back-up.
Because people sees the cam and automatically hit the brakes...even if they're already going the speed limit.
Kinda like here when these morons come almost to a complete STOP if they see a cop on the side of the road giving someone a present.

I have to give them some credit in recognizing and doing at least something about it.
Unlike most Liberals where the results of their actions have no relationship at all with action its self....because the INTENTION is what matters.
How they WANTED to make it "better" in spite of how it actually ended up.

Conservatives (are you listening to this RNC?) actually recognize some relationship between what they do and what happens afterwards.

I think lemon fits me better

I was coffee.

Mmm, I am Lemon Flavoured. I am bitter and twisted. Expect from me acerbic humour and sharp commentary. While I may seem nasty at first, I'm actually quite good company if I like you, so long as you don't mind a bit of cutting to the chase. What Flavour Are You?

George W. Bush and his economic slump

Another story of people being forced to live pay check to paycheck.
I can relate...almost.

NEW YORK (Money Magazine) -- If she thought it would really fix her family's finances, Amy Schuett would make it her New Year's resolution to squeeze every bit of extra spending from the family budget.

But she's already slashed so many little luxuries - the gourmet coffee, the restaurant lunches, the weekly dates with husband Brian - that she's fresh out of ideas.
Cable TV? Unplugged. Pool membership? Down the drain.

They've even considered giving up their unlisted phone number. At a cost of $3 a month, this move wouldn't save much - even over, say, 150 years - but it shows how desperate the couple feel about easing their financial strain. "We're struggling week to week to get by," says Brian, 42. "Any money that comes in gets chewed up right away."
~snip~
And they do have four daughters to raise, ages four to nine. But still.

The Schuetts don't have any child-care bills (Brian is now a stay-at-home dad). They don't have credit-card debt. They don't splurge on fancy vacations. And they live in a nice but definitely not luxurious home on a three-acre plot in Elkhorn, Neb., just west of Omaha, where the cost of living is, well, livable.

Yet, says Amy, "We live from one paycheck to the next, we're struggling to save and we never seem to have enough money to do anything fun."

It's a statement that an awful lot of Americans can make these days. About two-thirds of families need their next paycheck to meet their living expenses, according to a recent survey by the American Payroll Association.

Sounds pretty bad, doesn't it?
We're kinda like that because of some financial mistakes I made many years ago (and forgot about), but we're working out of it.

OHhhhh, did I mention that the copule in question pull in over $150,000 per year?

Dash, I found some in Austin

The other day, Dash had a post asking where the civility was in Austin general.

I was delivering a load of sugar to Austin Coke and got done in the middle of rush hour.
If anyone is familiar with the Austin I-35 rush hour traffic, you know how bad it is.
Throw in a Friday and you have a mess. I was listening to the CB as I was unloading, and heard about the wrecks happening in both directions.
As I was leaving, and trying to decide if it would be better to bypass I-35 and take HWY 183 south, I cam up to a parking lot that used to be the on-ramp to I-35 which made my mind up.

I took HWY 183 south and about 45 min later was ready to try merging back onto I-35S.
The access road was nothing but brake lights as far as you could see, and no-one was going to let a semi-tanker in if they could help it.

UNTIL a guy (probably conservative) pulled up to get my attention to wave me in.
I thanked him and got in line to wait my turn to merge on.

I don't know if I saved any time going around, but at least I was moving.
Anyway, I imagine this guy was a conservative by the way he was thoughtful enough to go out of his way to help someone he didn't know, and the fact that he was driving a Cadillac Escalade convinced me.

And, no dash, I didn't see any bumper stickers on that shiney new black Caddy.
I know it wasn't dash because this guy was as well fed as I was.
I just wanted Dash to know that all is not lost in the hippy capitol of Texas.

Why did I know it was a Democrat?

All I had to do was see this headline.

"Senator defends travel to Syria"

Because we're all about caving dialogging with terrorist states.

So, Elves are liberals?

~OR maybe they're just metrosexual.

RH Junior had this quote at the beginning of his Dec. 11 post:

One of the driving themes in all the stories I write about the Eldritch is how their society is crumbling for lack of manual laborers or people who deal strictly with the laws of nature: engineers, farmers, architects, people who work in construction, on the land, in factories. This was born of my observation that elves all seem to be poets, singers, kings or bon vivants, with nary a grease monkey in sight. I wondered what would happen if that was literally true, and the answer was (of course) disaster.
From this posting of haikujaguar on 'manual labor'.

RH puts his finger right on what I believe is the big difference between Liberals and conservatives. I guess that's why I never could have much empathy for modern literary elves and the "little people". The old school Elves of Celtic myth, on the other hand, knew what it was like to work with their hands. At least until they departed to New York City Tirra Noc Nog, and forgot what dirt and calluses were.

I'm stealing this post from RHJunior because He says it best:

That is a frickin' brilliant observation, and it makes me feel an utter dunce that I never put my finger on it myself... It's probably the biggest part of what makes typical fantasy elves so stinkin' annoying--- the unconscious awareness that these pointy-eared nancy boys never get their hands dirty.You see them sitting there in ornate palatial homes eating delicacies from silver and crystal dishes... you never see them FARMING to GROW those delicacies. Or sweating in the kitchen, cooking that food or washing those dishes. They show an elven king reforging an epic sword in "Return of the King"--- fine; so where's the elven miner that dug up the ore? The elven stonemason that made the furnace? Or, for that matter, the calluses on King PineSol's pretty hands?

Upon reflection, it's probably why so many professors, performers, artists, and other people who work with their mind rather than their hands tend to be liberals, subjectivists, postmodernists. When you work with your hands, you don't just know objectivism, you feel it in the material world. You can't argue philosophy with a bar of iron or a block of wood--- you either work it, shape it, hammer it and cut it just so, or you FAIL to get the results you want. Sometimes dramatically. A field of beans doesn't give a damn what your theories about socialist agriculture say, they'll grow as they damn well ought to, and you'd best water the plants and pull the weeds or they'll make things difficult come harvest time. A man who has to drive nails into wood and build a house knows, often from painful thumb-mashed experience, that there IS such a thing as a right way and a wrong way, and there isn't much give in either direction.
The material world doesn't suffer fools lightly.

When you're an artist or a theoretician or a pundit, though-- -when you work with your mind instead of your hands, when you do things where success is largely measured by popularity and other men's approval--- when your day to day existence does not depend on dealing skilfully with wood or stone or metal or earth in any consistent way--- the real world can seem vague and mushy, hard to grasp, full of uncertainties. And any old theory can stand on its own, no matter how shoddily constructed...

If I add any more, I'd probably spoil it.

You should go check out both of their blogs.


(UPDATE)
As long as we're talking about people out of touch with the real world, don't be surprised to see a variation of this quote from Sony next time taxes are going to might be cut:

“We will stay competitive but we won’t do anything that damages the industry long term,” said Vandenbree, who added that Sony has a “responsibility” not to accelerate price declines in a way that could hurt the industry.

“We decided that we had to be competitive, but we didn’t want to send a signal that there is not value in the products,” he said. “We didn’t think a permanent price cut was in order.” Source: News.com

Sony- overpriced, unnnecissary toys that include a FREE root kit, and pyro electric batteries. Nothing but quality here, boys.
Hurry~ buy our cr@p before it self destructs.

Laura, please stop calling me

Really.
I'm married.
You're married to him.

Please stop sending me mail, because too much of a good thing is still too much.
I have a garbage can under the desk that's over half full of your adoration of me and what I can do for you and yours.

I'm sorry that I can't return the feelings. It's not that I wanted to, but you and yours have alienated me by your shortsighted and tawdry behavior these last several years.

Some of us aren't lucky, or motivated to become like you are- we work for a living.
Some of us work at night, and your constant and repetitive calling just annoys us.

Henry, you had my vote. If I could go back, I'd not vote at all.
I'm sick and tired of EVERYONE with access to an automatic voice spam machine calling me to vote for you.

Next time I fill out one of those political questionnares, I'll use the DNC's phone number.



I was trying to take a nap because of the sleep schedule and interruptions I get with the house getting ready for work and school in the mornings.
I must have been called 10 times in the last two hours.

I guess next election cycle, I'll just unplug the phone for four months.

Interesting

Funny, but definatly NSFW- in a nekkid blonde way.