Financial Crisis, Then and Now...

Back in 1929 Financial Crash it was said that some Wall Street Stockbrokers and Bankers JUMPED from their office windows and committed suicide when confronted with the news of their firms' and clients' financial ruin.



Many people were said to almost feel a little sorry for them.



In 2008 the attitude has changed somewhat:

Good Morning World

Today's post is being made on my Blackberry, while I lie in my PJ's on the couch. Seeing as I am typing this with my thumbs on a two-inch keyboard, I'd suggest that, if you spot any grammatical errors, you keep them to yourself. My thumbs are becoming quite strong with all this typing, and I'd hate to have to wrap them around someone's tiny little neck merely due to them not taking a hint.

Don't for a moment take the above comments as somehow meaning that I am in a bad mood. Actually, it's quite the opposite - I feel great today. I slept better last night, and feel better this morning than I have in months. And, I think I know why.

I have always had problems with allergies, cats being the worst. Seeing as I don't harbor even the tiniest hint of affection for cats, and refuse to have one, things have worked out fine.

But, since buying my daughter a couple of baby guinea pigs, I have had a minor allergic reaction, while my wife has had severe problems. Her eyes have been red like a tomato for two months, and no medicine has helped.
She has severe allergies to guinea pigs - something previously unknown to her.

Yesterday, we went and bought a new vacuum with a feature our olf bagless didn't have - HEPA filtration. At the same time, we bought the largest Honeywell air purifier that we could find. We turned on the purifier, and proceeded to vacuum the whole house twice.

By ten-o-clock last night, I felt great. And, this morning, I have nearly none of the congestion problems that usually haunt me. And my wife's eyes are clearing up as well.

So, it looks like my daughter's guinea pigs won't be New Year's dinner after all.

Are You Ready?

Christmas is almost here. Are you ready? I'm ready for some time off, although I have people working during the day, so I am sure my phone will be ringing. But, I suppose it could be worse - I could be checking on an unemployment claim instead of answering phone calls. On that note, the phone calls don't seem so bad, do they?

The worst part of Christmas is being so busy. We have a whole slew of places to be, and things to do. So much, in fact, that we have to stretch our Christmas out across two days. Now, don't get me wrong - I am not complaining. It's actually kind of nice, getting to see everyone but getting an hour reprieve in between visits. And, in doing it this way, we actually manage to get one Christmas Dinner in at our house with my wife, my daughter, and myself. It didn't always happen that way. We used to go never get to have a dinner at our own house. But, my wife was insistant upon wanting to have our own dinner, and we finally did a few years ago. And, you know what? It's kind of nice.

For this year's dinner, we are going to go completely opposite of the "traditional" dinners we usually do. The side dishes haven't been decided yet, but the main course is going to be some nice, thick, juicy Ribeyes. After doing turkey, ham, more turkey, and more ham, the steaks will be a nice change of pace.

Well, that's it for tonight, as I've got nothing else that I really want to write about. Until next time...

Good Morning

Have you ever been so tired that you just don't feel like saying anything? Well, today is one of those days.

So, for today, I'll just leave you with a picture of my daughter's new baby Guinea Pig...

And, here's a new holiday picture for your enjoyment...

Happy Birthday to Me!

So, there I was this morning at the local gas station. On a whim, I decided to treat myself to one instant lotto ticket for my Birthday.

Well, I won $25 on it. Sure, it was a far cry from the million I wanted. But, it was a lot more than the "nothing" I expected, too.

Sometimes good things really do happen! :)

The Big Destructive Foot

Jenna was putting on a show today...

It's time for the party...

Today is my daughter's Birthday party. Usually, being close to the Christmas holiday, there is a good number of kids that cannot come due to other obligations. But this year, we have seventeen kids who are attending. SEVENTEEN!!! Any advice, other than earplugs and Jack Daniels?

The most important item for the day is to make sure we have a nice, big sign on the parrot cage informing all of the guests that he bites. That bird is a terror, and has bloodied me numerous times. With my wife, it's like a dog - it comes to her, snuggles up to her, and lets her pet it while it "purrs." With everyone else, he's a menace. I swear, if the US Military should clone that bird for the front lines.

Last year, there was a little brat that seemed to have her "I know everything" teenage attitude about four years too early, and kept trying to open the cage. We told her over and over, until finally, in her grating, bratty voice, she told my wife, "Look, I know how to handle birds because I have one at home." Nice attitude for a seven year old, eh?

So, my wife replies to her, "Oh, really? Tell me, what kind of bird do you have?"
"Oh, I have a Parakeet," was her reply.
To which my wife says, "Well, I have one of those too, and have bit by both. Let me tell you, there is NO comparison."

See, my wife is different than me. I don't deal well with "conversations" with a brat. I am more of a "take the direct approach" kind of guy. For me, my first thought would be that, since I am not allowed to spank someone else's child for being an argumentative smart ass, I could instead just let her go ahead and open the cage. I am sure that the message would sink in beautifully the next time she tried to do math on her fingers, and got stuck at nine.

But, luckily I have my wife to remind me that, if we did things my way, we would have probably already been sued to the point of losing all of our possessions. But, at the same time, my way has served me well for quite some time.

I guess the sad reality is that, if the parents of the world's children got off their rumps and started doing their jobs, maybe I wouldn't have to be the way I am.

The New Whitehouse Dog...

So, is it true that a cluttered desk is the sign of a genius?

A Charity Worth Giving To

I am not exactly the most giving person when it comes to charities. Why, you might ask? Well, I have seen first hand many charitable gifts go to people that just want to be able to spend their earnings on their toys, rather than their needs or their bills.



That's not to say that I don't give to any charities at all. One that comes to mind that I feel is well deserving of my hard earned cash is Make-A-Wish. But, this year, there is another one that I think deserves more than it is currently seeing.



http://www.lbeh.org/



Here's a quick snippet from their website that sums it up nicely:



"...I want to take a minute and remind everyone of the purpose behind LBEH. We are not for the war in Iraq, nor are we against it. We are not Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Green or Independent. We are not pro-Obama or pro-McCain. Our motives serve not to change world events, or your perception of them. Our mission is as simple, as it is noble. All we want to do is unite a few military families for the Christmas holiday. That's it. No hidden agendas, no political speeches. We just buy plane tickets for troops. Period."



Helping reuinite a soldier with their family for the holidays sounds like a great idea to me. And, I bet it makes some kids real happy, too, seeing their Mom or Dad in person, rather than on a web cam, come Christmas morning.



Unfortunately, due to economic times being tight, they are currently way down in donations this year. It seems pretty sad to me that a presidential candidate can raise millions upon millions of dollars, yet a worthy cause such as this one has a hard time breaking fifteen grand in the same economy.

Twenty Years in the Blink of an Eye

Pete's Revenge

A few years back, my friend Tony and I were working on a remodel job at a small commercial building. The superintendent, Pete, was an old German guy with a strong accent. You couldn't have found a nicer guy to deal with. But he sure was fun to mess with.

We all shared one room in the back as an office and a break room. Now, Pete was one of these guys that had to have everything in its place. So, in the name of good, clean fun, Tony and I took great joy in throwing all of our garbage on the floor.

This caused Pete to blow a gasket daily. He kept calling us pigs, and kept warning us to stop it or he'd move us out of that room. So, in order to find out if he was true to his word, we upped the ante. Tony started bringing in all of his junk mail to throw on his desk. We would bring in old newspapers from home to fill up his garbage can. Then, we started to bring in peanuts and threw the shells on the floor around his desk. The fact that he could no longer wheel his chair around turned out to be the final straw.

When we came in the following morning, all of our things were gone from the room - the table, chairs, pictures - everything. We searched and searched and could not find our things until, finally, I heard Tony start to laugh. I followed his voice into the dock area and discovered what he was laughing about. During the night, Pete had come in and moved everything into the newly emptied dumpster. (Keep in mind that this dumpster was not used for food or stinky garbage and was inside and out of the weather) He had everything set up exactly as it was in the room, down to the pictures and calendar on the wall.

We took lunch and break in that dumpster for the next three days just to spite him.
Finally, the scrap drywall and wood that Pete kept tossing into it started to encroach too far into our space and we were forced to move out.
Composed on my BlackBerry

It looks like Winter is finally here to stay

It looks as though the nice weather is gone for the next several months.

I can’t say that I am happy about it, but I don’t get as bent out of shape as my wife does about it either. She hates winter. She REALLY hates winter. So, for the next few months, I will get to hear her bitch about every lone snowflake that falls from the sky.

You know, on second thought, maybe I do hate the winter.

How Dare They!

Why would they put a hot, lesbian love scene on a daytime soap opera?

This is totally Unacceptable. What is wrong with those people at ABC?

Don’t they know that most of us men that really appreciate those scenes don’t get to watch those shows due to our work schedules?

Dumb-asses.

First Post

Here I am now, making my first post, trying to figure out what the hell I have to say that anyone would want to read. I’m not having much luck with that, either. There was a time that I used to write short stories - really good short stories. I even won several creative writing awards in my first year of college. But now that I’ve gotten older, and my mind is filled with schedules, appointments, due dates, and finances, I think the creative thoughts ran out of space.

I suppose that the people I work with would be amazed to know this about me. You see, I’m not exactly what you would call a “Silver-tongued fox.” I won’t go into details - you can read into that any way you like. But, the people at work would probably never suspect that creative writing was not only one of my best collegiate subjects, but one of my favorites as well. Metal Shop or Home Brewing 101, maybe. But Creative Writing? HA!! Not a chance in hell would they believe that!

Well, that’s it. My first post is almost complete. Maybe I’ll continue to give little bits of insight about myself on this site. Then again, maybe I won’t. I suppose you’ll just have to keep checking in to see where I go from here. Or, if you’re really feeling nosey, you could shoot me an email and tell me what you want to know. I will not make any promises that I will answer them, but I will not make any promises that I won’t answer them, either.