The Temperature Game

The Temperature Game
Okay, I know I am old. I got this weird thing going on where I seem to be playing games with myself these days. I use to like the temperature in my apartment at about 70F, 68F at night sometimes to help me get some sleep. Well, recently I have constantly been feeling cold so I have been gradually bumping the temperature up. Up, up, up it went. Eventually it was set on 76F. Then this morning I woke up sweating and  am suddenly shoving the temperature back down. This goes in cycles of weeks, not days. So, have I really finally lost my mind? It has been getting worse over recent years.

Bad Humor
There are some jokes that I find irritating to some degree for various reasons. Like in my previous blog, I find referring to a guy that never seems to have a girlfriend as fagnostic very funny. But the thing about humor is that you don't go, hmmm, should I find this humorous? Let me consider the ramifications of this. Is it politically correct? Could this hurt someone's feelings? If you are able to think over all that stuff first, it ain't funny. Funny just happens.

It is the same thing with the song Short People that was in a previous blog. Yes, I can see why someone would be offended by it and I don't believe in judging people by something they cannot control, but I still find it funny. Heck, event that Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On song is similar. I find it funny too, in a different kind of way, but women would be rightly offended to be judged by the shape of their butts (although many are concerned about the shape of their butts).

And yes, I find going up to a woman that is making an effort to display what God gave here and telling her thanks for the mammories very funny. Geeze, am I crude or evil? Could be, but it is still funny. No, I don't have the guts to do it. There is nothing more embarrassing than getting your butt kicked by a woman. Man, that is sexist in itself. Someone stop me!!!

Crap, I'm Old
I am watching a replay of the Tennessee/Ohio football game. Several times they have shown the cheerleaders. Each time I look at them I am amazed that those girls are in college and not high school. They look like kids, dang gummit. This really throws a wrench in my plans to become a dirty old man.

Woman Shopping
I read a friends blog where he was looking for single ladies in his area on myspace. That is certainly something I am sure people do, but I find it scary. After all, everyone on myspace are nuts. As you all know, I am loyal to my wife and kids, but if I had ever considered finding someone else, I don't know where to look, certainly not bars. I had several past girlfriends get in touch with me after all the craziness started with my family, but blew them off pretty quick. I am not even sure why they turn up, but I suspect it has something to do with the psychic uterus theory I proposes in a blog long ago.

Strange Audio Collection
I have recently started expanding my audio collection, which include favorite songs as well as old time radio shows. There is more too it than just that. There are comedy clips from standup comedians as well as clips from television shows. What is really unique is some of the old news broadcasts from World War II. A lot of this can be found at archive.org, at least the old stuff. Possibly the weirdest things are audio clips from World War II that are in German.

Now, you may ask yourself what would you do with such a mesh mash of sound. Well, I listen to it in a very interesting way. I finally ran across a music player for linux that does a good job of handling a large library of sound. It also allows criteria to be set as to what should play. So, I listen to a random mix of my favorite songs mixed in with other things, mostly short old news casts. It sounds strange, but it is interesting to hear what people heard on the radio back during World War II. Imagine how shocking it would be to turn on your radio tomorrow and find out Guam had been attacked or hear about our troops marching through Europe. It is a very interesting experience and having music playing most of the time causes it to be that much more interesting. I don't get bored with it. You never know what will come up.

Say It Ain't So

Scooby Speaks
I have finally gotten Scooby to come out of his shell and speak when he wants something. He tickles me. He has a ferocious sounding growl, but always means it lovingly. I love this dog. I know he probably goes and tells other dogs that he doesn't understand what is going on. He growls and I hug him. He is probably pretty confused at this point.

Say It Ain't So
Last night I was thinking I hadn't seen a real good movie in a while, so I went cruising through the pay channels and just picked one. It was a story about a single guy that finally finds his true love, only to discover she is his long lost sister. Well now, I saw potential in that plot line right off the start, and the fact that the movie was a comedy worked well for me.

The movie hooked me with one line early. I have no problem with gay people and I generally think making fun of people is wrong, but some things are just funny. I don't know why they tickle me so, but this line just about made me spit coke out my nose, and it was so simple. Hearing someone mention that this guy doesn't have a girlfriend, this little kid says he is a fagnostic. I am sorry and apologize to anyone this may offend, but that there is funny.

There was also a guy in the movie that was dressed kind of like Jimi Hendrix, but had no legs. He had prosthetics. Our single guy ran into him with his truck while driving to Oregon from Indiana to tell her he found out he really isn't her brother.

There is also the girl's father who is a near quadriplegic who speaks with a voice synthesizer type deal and sounds like a robot. He also has some choice language reminiscent of (Stuff)MyDadSays.

I don't want to reveal too much, but if you want a funny, quirky kind of movie to watch, this one is it. I'm not even going to get into the guy getting his hand stuck in a cows butt. If you can handle the sophisticated humor, go for it.

Are You Clever?
Have you taken a picture of yourself flipping a bird? Have you taken a picture of yourself looking up? Have you taken a pictures of yourself sticking your tongue out? Have you taken a picture of yourself blowing smoke? Have you taken a picture of yourself with marijuana? Have you taken a picture of yourself in a bikini. If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then no, you aren't clever.

A Sweet Friend
A sweet friend messaged me concerned that one of their blogs had upset me. It was basically a blog about that had to do with the importance of family. In a way, it upsets me because like anyone, I don't like to fail. But in reality I have no guilt and know that I always did what I thought was in the best interest of my family, and will continue to do so. Did I make mistakes? Sure, but that just means I am human. In a sense, I feel free now. The burdens were lifted from me and it is no longer my job to fix things. The weight of a family can be a heavy burden if you let it.

But why I decided to mention this here is for a different reason. It is because of how I learned to deal with stress. I have learned to do a pretty good job of controlling what I think about. I look to stay focused on positive things and not get drug down by things I cannot change. Yes, as strange as it may seem, I am still a loyal husband and father, but there comes a point where, just like in War Games from my previous blog, the only way you can win is not to play the game. In this case the best thing I can do for the family is to do nothing, thus putting a stop to the drama. I no longer try to figure out how to fix what cannot be fixed. I accept how things are and have learned to enjoy my new life. But I don't spend a lot of time reading blogs that would get me thinking about all the what ifs. It just isn't a good idea.

Take Care,
 Steve

P.S. To the blogger that messaged me, only the sweet friend thing is about you. Some of the other stuff just kind of coincided with your blog, which I found humorous.

A Rolling Stone

Short People
Yea, once, back a long long time ago a guy wrote a song to piss off midgets. Yea, it is kind of inconsiderate, but people should just lighten up. Sometimes a song is just a song. When this came out I didn't know why the guy wrote it. These days I wonder if it might be a message about intolerance and how silly it is. Yea, apply it to racism, sexism, or religious intolerance if you like. Does the song sound stupid? Well, I think that is the point.

Race Car
Race car spelled backwards is race car. I just learned that on ESPN. I am sure there is a point there somewhere. I just haven't found it yet.

War Games
Sometimes there are prophetic thoughts where you don't expect them. Somehow my warped mind just recalled one, and it has to be with drama and an old movie. If you ever watched the old move War Games, you know that at the end our hero has the computer play tic-tac-toe. After playing tic-tac-toe for a while, the computer stops and tells our hero that it is an interesting game because the only way to win is not to play. It is the same thing with drama. Hey, Matthew Broderick is telling you something. Try and listen. Go play tic-tac-toe.

Do As I Say, Not As I Do
Those are some of the wisest words I have ever heard. Why? Because it is much easier to give advice than it is to take it.

A Rolling Stone
Yea, it is true that a rolling stone gathers no moss, but what if you are looking to collect moss? Sometimes it pays to stop and think for a minute.

Money
This has been on my mind way too often over the last 6 months or so. No, money can't buy you happiness, but it beats the heck out of whatever is in second place. Why? Because if you have it you have peace of mind. It really stinks being at the point where you are one paycheck away from disaster. That is why I have some money hidden in my apartment that I try to forget. That is why saving is so important to me. That is why I am really enjoying buying mutual funds. You can get them for as little as $100 starting off and suddenly you have a backup. Some are much more risky than others, so I got a mixture. There are some that typically are always making money or at least don't loose much during bad economic times. There are others that offer the chance to make a lot of money, with corresponding risk. I just like having the alternatives.

Warren or Jimmy Buffett
These days I am heavily involved in financial matters. Yes, I am trying to find ways to make money. But there always comes a time when you have to ask yourself if you want to be Warren Buffett of Jimmy Buffett. Personally, I tend to lean towards the Jimmy Buffett side of life. Sure, I like financial security, but I don't really have an interest in being rich. I mean, how many tacos do you really need? So, yea, I am studying investing, but I will still wear Birkenstocks. It works for me.

Stocks
Last February I did some pretend investing. I set up around a dozen pretend accounts and most earned pretend money. Each had about $1000 in it to start off. One lost about $300. Many gained a few hundred. One gained about $5,600. Why does that Russian name come to mind, Sonofabitch? If I had played the game for real, I would have been doing pretty darn good.

(Stuff)MyDadSays
We have another interesting quote from the R-rated philosopher.

"A scar ain't 13 god (danged) stitches. I'll introduce you to men with REAL scars, then we'll all laugh at your (friggin) 13 stitches together."

Take Care,
 Steve

Kick Me Tattoo

One Word Hit Song
How many hit songs can you name that have one word in the lyrics?

Earl Seinfeld
I have been going through an adjustment period. Part of my daily routine has been to watch an hour of Seinfeld on TBS once a day. TBS has replaced Seinfeld with My Name Is Earl. Sure, there is plenty of life philosophy in each, but TBS is responsible for any changes in my philosophy.

Kick Me Tattoo
Tattoos have become very popular. One of the trendy things is to get those funky Chinese character tattoos. I guess it has never occurred to people, but if you aren't sure what the characters mean, you could be walking around with a kick me tattoo. Yea, I suspect this happens. Tattoo artists have a sense of humor and who would know? Of course, if you ever see on the news that an American tourist was kicked to death in China, you now know the likely cause. There is nothing like getting your butt kicked by 1.3 billion Chinese.

I Love MSNBC
I leave it playing in the background almost every day. Yes, I am constantly looking for ways to make money. But the best part of it is that it is funny, funnier than Comedy Central. One day they are talking about how the recession if over and good times are ahead and everything is right with the world and goldfish will never die. Then the next day the market is taking a bit of a downturn. Suddenly they declare the end of the world and that we are all going to die and there will be no more butter pecan ice cream. Sure, it takes some getting use to, but when you figure out it just a game, it is definitely funnier than Comedy Central.

Ernest Angley
Now, I don't want to make fun of religion. I do believe in God and think the world, in general, is better because of religion. But while I was growing up there was a preacher on late night television that really caught my attention. He is the evangelist that added the "dah" to the word Lorddah and did the same for Goddah, Ernest Angley has one of the most captivating speaking styles of anyone I have heard. If you listen to him long enough, you can't help but to start immitating himmah.

Dealing With Loons
I'm no Walter Cronkite, but I must break some news to all of you. There are wack jobs on the net. Yes, wack jobs, loons, fruit rollups, mixed nuts, lunatics, half baked, cuckoo, flake, loon, sociopath, psychotic, demented, deranged,....or whatever you choose to call them, they are here amoung us. Heck, they might even be us. You may have the desire to help them. You may think you see something special in them. Ironically, loons are more clever than the average person and will turn you into a loon if you let them. It is kind of a night of the living dead type thing. Realize that if someone hasn't asked you for help, you aren't being helpful, you are being a butt-hole. You can hope to influence them, but change is up to them. Besides, who's to say that how they aren't where they want to be?

Take Care,
 Steve

Caffeine Induced Ramblings

Caffeine Induced Ramblings
Currently my blogs tend to be all over the place. Something comes up and I got to write about it. I am unsure what has prompted this, but it works for me. I hope the blogs aren't too confusing.

Muffin Top
I now know what muffin top means. Now, that should come in handy someday.

Fearing The Night
One of the most irritating things that I have learned to deal with is waking up in the middle of the night. You can't control what you dream about, which makes sleeping one pain in the butt. Fortunately I have blogging in the middle of the night to help me:)

(Stuff)MyDadSays
"You're gonna run into jerk offs. But remember, it's not the size of the (butthole) you worry about, it's how much (crap) comes out of it."

The Colony
There is a TV show on Discovery called The Colony. It is basically survivor in L.A. without voting people out. It is pretty cool in a geeky kind of way and doesn't have quite so much drama. It is just 10 people trying to survive after a disaster. The episodes are available online.

Working For Wal*mart
I find it very stange that some people feel Walmart should pay enough for someone to be able to live and provide for a family. I don't get it. I wouldn't expect to make a decent living working at Wal*mart. Salary is directly proportional to your skill set. If you want to make more money, increase your skill set. This isn't a big mystery.

Virtual Travel
I have had the itch to travel lately. It is something that I use to enjoy, but hasn't been possible in quite some time. So recently, I have been coming up with a substitute. It is something I have done in the past with Saint Helena, a small island in the middle of the South Atlantic. Recently I have been doing the same thing with Key West and the Florida Keys. One of the newer things you can do is go for a virtual drive down streets in cities. Apparently someone went around with a 360 camera and photographed streets in many US cities. You can check this out on google maps. Just select street view or drag the little orange guy above the slider on a map to where there is a yellow line on the map. Here is an example.

This is the entrance of my apartment complex. Notice the yellow line in the photo with the two white arrows on it. In google maps, you use the arrows to drive around on that yellow line. The little bitty image in the bottom right is a view from above. Notice the little orange dude representing where this image was taken from.

You can use this feature to go pretty much anywhere you like. I go back and forth between this and wikipedia to find out more about an area. I also check newspapers and even real estate listings. There is just a ton that you can find out about on the web without ever having to drive there.

So, you thought me weird? I suppose I had to confirm it.

Take Care,
 Steve

Doomsday

Doomsday
I am always surprised to see how people are constantly wanting to anticipate doomsday. The in thing these days is the 2012 thing, since apparently that is when the Mayan calendar ends. Nobody considers that maybe the Mayans just ran out of paper or something. What, did you expect someone to come up with a calendar that lasts forever? Sending me a copy of one of those. If the end of days are coming in 2012, my only question will be what channel is it coming on.

Home
Lately the talk of the family has been where should everyone live. My brother is in Birmingham, AL; my mom is in Hartselle, AL; and I am in South Carolina. At some  point something is going to have to give.

Policrap
It is amazing to me. You can go to places on the web where they think George W. Bush is the anti-Christ. The same can be said of Barrack Obama. Isn't it possible for someone to have well meaning ideas that don't agree with yours without them being evil? Life is like a fruitcake. I know, you don't like it, but pass it on to someone else next Christmas and eventually it will get to someone that actually loves it. I tend to look for the good.

Auburn Football
There has been a bit of a controversy going on with Auburn football. An assistant coach is accused of using the N-word on the sidelines. You crackers need to lighten up. For one thing, the coach being accused is black. And for another thing, the N-word is one of the funniest words around. Don't believe me? Watch this.

Michael Jackson

What Is The Best Song To Sing Along To?

I offer you this little ditty. There are so many songs I love, but this one is very catchy.

Estate
There is just something wrong with it taking forever for an estate to settle. I heard of one estate that took 5 years. If anyone ever asks you to be their executor, don't.

Specimen
I think if I was a football player, I would object to being referred to as a specimen. After all, when you go for a piss test, they request a specimen.

Carrying The Rock
I am not sure where this phrase came from, possibly the Flintstones, but the football announcers like to use this as some kind of hip way of speaking. I suppose it is to make them seem more with it or something. It ain't working.

Are you in debt?
Well, I use to be in debt too. With the help of my wife, I paid off over $20,000 in credit card debt. I make good money and the debt wasn't a problem, but things change when you get married. Suddenly debt is a big concern. You are the bread winner and responsible for ensuring the family is safe. I mentioned in an earlier blog that you should invest. It occurs to me that some of you may be in debt. If you read my previous post you may have thought that it didn't apply to you because you can't afford it. The truth is, you have a better opportunity to invest than I do. Long term investments tend to at best earn around 4 or 5 percent these days. CD rates are lower than that. If you have a debt that you pay a higher interest rate than that on, you know where you should invest. There isn't a better investment available to you than paying off your debt. You think you can't do it? You can't afford not to do it. Check out this story and imagine the difference it made in these people's lives. Would you rather spend a lifetime in debt or five years working your butt off?

(Stuff)MyDadSays
Here is another goody from this guy. No, I don't write the stuff. I just edit it for general audiences. The guy has a trashy mouth.

"Sometimes life leaves a hundred dollar bill on your dresser, and you don't realize until later that it's because it (screwed) you."

Retirement
Due to my health issues, if I loose this job, I will likely retire. All of my job contacts were lost because of some of the events of the last few years, and it would take forever to re-develop them. At the same time, without being able to drive, going into work every day wouldn't be a good option. Fortunately I have been frugal and am debt free. Because of my father and his amazing dedication to savings, I will have the money to live frugally when the estate settles. I may end up owning a house in Alabama, so rent would be out of the way. The retirement money Pop left me would pretty much handle everything else, so anything else I earn is gravy. I just feel way to young to retire.

War Eagle!!!
Auburn kicked butt tonight. They beat West Virginia 41-30. It was closer than the score indicated. At one point Auburn was down 14-0. It really feels good to be back to the point where I can just set back and relax and watch a football game.

Michael Jackson
To generallize is always a mistake, but I want to share some of my thoughts surrounding the life of Michael Jackson. Yes, we all know that he passed away, and that is sad in itself. He seemed so young. But it is always good when the death of someone can bring meaning to life, and I think Michael's life can be used as an example to some.

I am pretty sure that Michael Jackson was not happy with himself. I say that because of the life he lead and the radical changes to his appearance. I also believe that he had a lot of love to give, and was seeking love. Don't confuse love and sex. I don't know if any of the accusations against Michael were true or not. I just know that being accused doesn't make him any more guilty than you or I. I just see a lonely man that was looking for acceptance.

I see this in many people. It may be the lady who dresses provocatively or the man who is always looking to fight. It could be the person covered with tattooes, or the person covered with piercings. It could be that person with the strangely colored hair or your local racist. All of these are signs to me of someone who is not happy with themself. They try to find ways to make themselves stand out, feel important, or feel better than someone else. They will tell you that they are expressing who they are, when in reality the stand out because they aren't sure who they want to be.

So, what is my point? Why would I bring this up? Because if you view these people in this light, you look at them differently. As I said, it is wrong to generalize so this is not a litmus test, but I suspect that people like this need only to be accepted. In some cases, such as racism, the behavior isn't something that can be condoned, but it many other cases it can. That person with the green and purple striped hair is just a person, a person that is crying for attention. They are not harming anyone, so don't be too quick to make judgments about them. Take the time to get to know them, and we will all be better off because of it.

Myself
I am wondering if I know who I want to be. I wonder about retirement. I wonder why I often grow my hair long. I wonder if I am just as lost as Michael Jackson. I just know that what I have done the last several years makes me proud. I am proud that I was able to follow the family counselor's advice. I am proud I have been able to help my brother. I am proud I have been able to continue to work and thrive while dealing with so many hardships. I am proud to be me. This doesn't mean I know who that I am. I just believe it means that I am headed in the right direction.

Take Care,
Steve

Always, I Mean Never

Confucius Say "Never contract friendship with a man that is not better than thyself."
Well, this Confucius dude seems kind of self centered if you ask me. It really gives a whole new perspective on people that have lots of friends.

Always, I Mean Never
I am constantly running across people that are always talking about other people and what they did to them and why they are so bad. Never allow anyone to have that much control over your emotions. You want to win? Win by never thinking about them. It is the only way to truly win. As long as you are stuck in the blaming mode, you can never move on.

Scooby The Wonder Pup Goes Shopping
One of the neat things about Scooby is that I take him to the grocery store with me. No, he doesn't go into the store. He waits in the car. So, you are thinking that he must have sweated his butt off in the summer while I was in the store? Not so fast my friend. I leave the car running, keys in it, doors unlocked. Am I crazy? Won't someone steal my car? When you have a 103 pound Scooby the Wonder Pup sitting in it, the care is going nowhere.

Knights of Columbus
My guess has always been that Columbus didn't know he had any knights, but I ran into some the other day outside my local Kroger's. They were collecting money for Cerebral Muscular Palsy or something like that. Yea, I dropped the yuppie food stamp on them and they suddenly loved me. Most people just got one Tootsie Roll, but they gave me many. Giving does feel good, plus you get Tootsie Rolls. How can you beat that?

The Da Vinci Code
My guess is that if Leonardo Da Vinci was still alive, he would be amazed at how much stupid crap could be made of so little. He was a scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer. My guess is he would tell some people to get a life.

Patrick Swayze
I was disappointed to hear of the death of Patrick Swayze. There are people you remember growing up, and he is one of those people for me. Everyone I grew up with seems to be growing old or dying. Ted Danson is in a new series on HBO and he looks like a senior citizen. It is amazing how the years go by.

Bored To Death
Ted Danzon's new series is called Bored To Death. I saw the first episode just last night. It is a comedy about a writer that is having trouble writing his second novel, so he decides to try his hand at being an amateur detective. He has a friend that is a comic book artist who seems to dream of being a superhero. Danson's role is more of a high profile magazine editor that is friends with the writer. They like to smoke the sweat leaf together. This series has potential.

Scooby is Pissed

911
It isn't something I like to think about. It is something I think we should all think about occasionally. Many seem to feel the war on terror has been for nothing. Notice how long it has been since we had a terrorist attack. The sacrifice of our armed forces is not for nothing. It is changing the world. It is only by the brave actions of these military people that the deaths of so many innocents have meaning. Never forget.

News

• Larry Gilbert, the writer for M*A*S*H has passed away. It was one of my favorite TV shows growing up.
• Chris Brown, some singer I have never heard of, was on the news doing community service. Heck, I didn't even know who he was and he has had number one hits I have never heard of. Why do you know you are old? Well, I think I am there.

Auburn
I haven't mentioned Auburn on here primarily because I haven't been that into football the last few years, but this year I am trying to get back into the swing of things. Life just seemed too important to get rapped up in a game. I love Auburn and I hope to blog about them in the future.

Scooby is Pissed
Due to doctor's orders, I have to make sure he doesn't get excited and stays pretty docile, so we only take a very occasional short walk for him to do the bathroom. I keep him on the short leash all the time so he can't run around and get worked up. This is part of the heart worm treatment and it really stinks. Usually I will just let him run free late at night. He will follow along pretty much wherever I go and he loves it. I usually take him to some woods and just tell him to get in the woods and he runs off and plays and does his business and then comes back in about 5 minutes. We won't be doing that any time soon either. I have to keep him docile for a month. This is going to be tough.

Investing
If you say you don't make enough money to invest, you are wrong. A long time ago I heard a financial guy say that if you think you can't afford to invest, you can't afford not to. You should treat investing as any other bill. The sooner you start investing, the sooner you will realize how important it is. It is a wonderful feeling to know that you can make money while doing nothing and you may avoid ending up spending your retirement years as a Wal*Mart greeter.

Why do I know you have enough money to invest? Because if you make less money, you have already learned to get buy on less money, so you need less money return on your investments to survive. To not at least take 5 or 10 percent of your salary and dedicate it to your future is foolish. I wish I had been as wise when I was 20 as I am now. I would have been much better off.

A Giant Tooth
Driving back from the vet, I saw someone dressed up in a big tooth outfit waiving to cars. Now, I am not sure what the worst job in the world is, but I believe that dude is in the competition.

Alimony
I sent off my last alimony payment the other day. For some reason my wife doesn't want to call it alimony, but now it is done. Things are going to be a bit better now. My child support payments have been extended because my son liked high school so much, he decided to attend for another year, but that is doable. A couple of months ago mom had to pay some of my bills for me. I am glad that won't happen again.

Estate
My Pop's estate will hopefully settle in a couple of months, but there is still a lot of legal mumbo jumbo going on. I will likely end up spending a lot of mine ensuring my brother is okay, but that is fine. I can take care of me. I just hope the settling of the estate isn't delayed. I have heard it can take up to five years, which is pretty ridiculous.

Health Care
I find this topic hilarious because it is the one of the few things I know of that the only way for it to succeed is to fail. Every American already has health care. Nobody can be turned away from a public hospital because of a lack of ability to pay. So, what is happening here? We want everyone to have health insurance so that they can't lose everything they own to pay medical bills. Well, that is certainly a good intention. Now, consider the result. We revamp the health care system and everyone lives longer. What does that mean? More people, which means more sick people, which means the health care system has to fail. I consider the health care debate to be a joke being played on America.

It is a game that politicians play. They are basically promising to give you something. They are buying your vote. The problem is, they don't have it to give, so they steal it. You think they just take it from evil rich people and that doesn't affect you? How many people have jobs working for poor people? Yea, it costs you your job, but relax, you have health insurance. They just took all of your money from you in a different manner.

Wow, I can't believe I went on a political rant:)

Scooby's Hospital Adventure

Yes, I am stressed. Scooby is fine, he is just at the doggy hospital getting treated for heart worms.

He apparently had them when I got him and they were treating him with the heart guard. Apparently that can take years to work once your dog has the issue, so I had to do something about it.

The only other time we have been apart other than for a few hours is when I went to Alabama for my Pop's funeral. I missed him then, but fortunately he was at a puppy resort where his room cost more than some hotel rooms. He was well taken care of and I was very busy dealing with family issues.

I left him at the doggy hospital about 8:30 am Monday morning. I visited him for about a half an hour at 3:00 pm that day and also on Tuesday at the same time. Yea, they were short visits, but I took him doggy cookies. Yea, he is suppose to be on a doggy diet, but I made exceptions. Tomorrow at about 3:00 pm I get to go pick him up.

It took these couple of days for me to realize how much I have grown to depend upon him. With the loss of my wife, kids, father, uncle, cousin, and a face book friend over the last few years, handling stress has been a big issue. Following the family counselors advice has been difficult, but I have done pretty well at it. Added stress with my mother's, brother's, and my sickness have complicated matters. In general I have learned to deal with things well, but you can't really deal with what you dream, which is why I am up now.

And then along comes Scooby. It took a while for me to realize that when he is around I feel safer. Many of my symptoms almost go away. Things such as fainting, head aches, panic attacks, and dizziness don't happen that often when Scooby is around. Yes, he is a natural treatment. I keep realizing how much I have integrated him into my life when I do weird things like calling for him last night or thinking I needed to go for a walk before I went to bed. The number of times I have looked for him is incredible.

I guess this means I am pretty weird, but I have always found dogs much easier to deal with than people. Dogs are pretty simple. They are what you see. There is none of the bad characteristics that we associate with people. They are very loyal and loving. How do I know? By the fit he has when I show up at the doctors office. He knows me and he wants to be around me. It is just about the most wonderful feeling I have these days and I cherish it.

Now that I have revealed how big a nut job I truly am, back to bed.

Take Care,
 Steve

Dark Rye Bread

Funky Mood Music

Strange Things
I have recently developed a craving for dark rye bread. I am not sure where this craving comes from. Is there a Freudian out there that can help me?

Hermit Work
My brother is the original hermit. He doesn't work. Now that dad passed away, supporting my brother has become a concern. Dad left him a lot of money, but with no other income and no support, he would likely be broke in about 15 to 20 years. So, I have been wondering what he could do to earn a little bit of money. I have come up with a variety of ideas, but the simplest seems to be to reduce his cost of living. Installing energy efficient light bulbs and closing off part of the house seems like an obvious idea.

Then the other day I ran across something that might be even more beneficial because he could reduce his living costs and could even possibly eventually earn some money doing it. My brother is a very meticulous person. Assembling solar panels seems ideal for him. I ran across some videos to give you an idea of what I mean.

Yea, I know you tree huggers are loving this. And for someone with a lot of free time on their hands and who is very meticulous, it could be a winner.

And if you build enough of them, you can actually make money from the power company.

I am not sure if I can motivate him, but I may just give it a shot. It seems like something that someone with a lot of patience could be good at.

Take Care,
 Steve

Deep Thoughts

Deep Thoughts

Lately I have found it very difficult to blog. I have been suffering from a serious cranial rectal impaction, namely I had my head up my butt. I kind of forgot how I got started blogging, which was just as a way to think through life. I think I need to do that again. Life has been very complex lately, which goes against my grain. I suppose the frequency of my blogging is inversely proportional to the depth of my head. Hopefully that will improve.

Philosophical Moments
Never get in a fight slinging pooh. Nobody will come up smelling like roses.

There are stupid people in this world. Try not to be one of them.

It doesn't matter what Confucius said. Look at where it got him.

The Information Superhighway
It occurred to me recently that it is possible to get run over on the information superhighway. How you ask? Well, there is so much information out there, it is really hard to pick out what is worth looking at. Think about it. Are you able to pick out what that most valuable information is? You think you can! Well, think about it. You are reading this.

RSS

What is RSS? You can find out more from the link, but it is basically a way to have information you are interested in sent to you when it becomes available. Think of it as e-mail. In fact, my e-mail program has a plugin that collects my RSS feeds. It is one of the ways I avoid getting run over on the information superhighway. I use it for various things including getting the news, financial information, and monitoring blogs. Yes, my blogs are available over RSS. On myspace you can see in the top right a link labled RSS. If you clink on that link, you may just see a bunch of XML or your browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari,...) may format the information for you. The URL (address) of this page is what you put in your RSS reader to register for updates.

Where can you get an RSS reader? Well, google has an online reader that is pretty cool. It is also integrated well with blogger.com, but you can view myspace RSS blog feeds in it too. I am registering for a lot of information there.

(Stuff)MyDadSays

This is something I ran across on twitter and the subject of a previous blog. When I put something in parens it is because I substituted a word. In the case of this topic, it is to reduce profanity. (StuffMyDadSays) is very profane and very funny. Here is a quote edited for profane content.

"Why the (heck) would I want to live to 100? I'm 73 and (life's) starting to get boring. By the way, there's no money left when I go, just fyi."

Yes, I have become a twit and that is how I ran across it. It is another way I am filtering information. You can get tweets if you are a twit that can notify you of new stuff much the same as RSS.

News

I read a story where some Brits discovered that weight gain in adults is caused by a lack of self esteem in our youth. Wow, way to go Einstein. Someone finally figured out that we tend to eat to forget our troubles. I do wish I had thought of that. This is an article that I ran across in google reader. I enjoyed it. You can learn a lot just by cruising through the titles of articles.

Bedtime
Well, I wrote this because I was having trouble sleeping. I am feeling more sleepy now and I have achieved my goal. I have actually written a blog, no matter how disorganized it may seem.

Goodnight,
 Steve

Stuff his dad says

Well, I an official twit or whatever you call someone who uses twitter. It started out pretty mild. I was getting tweets from mainly about stock and football. Then somehow I ran across something a bit different. I ran across it on facebook. It has a lot of profanity in it, so if you are under the age of 18, please click here.

Well, if you are offended by profanity, you may want to move along also. This blog isn't for you. Check out the link for the kids above.

Now, for some of these tweets that make me want to shoot cookies out my nose. These are from a 28 year old guy that lives with his 73 year old dad. His dad is some kind of profane philosopher.

(watching the Little League World Series) "These kids are all fat. I remember when you were in little league.... You were fat."

"You know, sometimes it's nice having you around. But now ain't one of those times. Now gimmie the remote we're not watching this bullshit."

"How the fuck should I know if it's still good? Eat it. You get sick, it wasn't good. You people, you think I got microscopic fucking eyes."

"Who is this woman?....Kate Beckinsale? Well, you can tell Kate Beckinsale she sucks."

"You need to flush the toilet more than once...No, YOU, YOU specifically need to. You know what, use a different toilet. This is my toilet."

"Don't touch the bacon, it's not done yet. You let me handle the bacon, and i'll let you handle..what ever it is you do. I guess nothing."

"Your mother made a batch of meatballs last night. Some are for you, some are for me, but more are for me. Remember that. More. Me."

"Your brother brought his baby over this morning. He told me it could stand. It couldn't stand for shit. Just sat there. Big let down."

"Love this Mrs. Dash. The bitch can make spices... Jesus, Joni (my mom) it's a joke. I was making a joke! Mrs. Dash isn't even real dammit!"

"The dog is not bored, it's a fucking dog. It's not like he's waiting for me to give him a fucking rubix cube. He's a god damned dog."

And then there is my favorite and possibly the philosophical of the bunch.

"The dog don't like you planting stuff there. It's his backyard. If you're the only one who shits in something, you own it. Remember that."

No, I didn't write these. No, they aren't the only ones. Check this guy's tweets out here, but I warn you. It is addictive.

Take Care,
 Steve