SlapShotSal's happenings...

punishment would be a deterrent.....

2009-07-30T17:22:00.003-04:00

We have been having a discussion over on the GeezerGamer boards about DRM & anti-piracy devices. We also have gotten into a discussion about the general behavior of "the masses" on Xbox Live and Playstation Network (which you could extrapolate to the internet as a whole), but I'll save that for another post.

While in the discussions I have felt DRM and devices like it, are just part of the world we live in today, others have an opposite view that they are "paying" an extra price for being a good person who would not be inclined to steal or pirate material. I agree 100% with them, but I look at it from the business / company side of the equation, that business is just trying to "protect their own".

One of the other guys in the discussion mentioned enforcement, and he is completely correct with his thoughts and statement. At the end of the day, it is lack of enforcement of rules and laws which is making "good people pay for bad ones".

The are laws and rules for almost everything we do, but it seems that for some, those rules are silly, so not really meant for them. A good example is when the record industry does prosecute someone for piracy. There is a section of our society that looks at it and thinks those rules are unfair, and that the punishment is unjust. They might be right, but those are the rules in place now. Don't like them, try to change them.

But sometimes I can see the "bad guys" point and say, why can't I ignore the rules. Others do and are not punished. Just look at the Secretary of the Treasury who is in charge of the IRS. He did not pay his taxes in an honest or timely fashion, and he ends up getting rewarded at the end of the day with a Cabinet post. I'm not saying he should have gone to jail, but being disqualified from that particular job would have said, "your actions have caused you not to be able to get this position". Instead it was just swept away.

I have 300+ clients who don't think the tax code is fair, but they, and I, don't go around breaking the law. If we did, a punishment could be served.

So at the end of the day, I could blanket many areas with this. Bottom line is, we have rules and laws. Break them and there will be consequences. The consequences may seem harsh to some, but they are usually there in black & white. Crime should equal punishment. That is the way as a society we can take back what is rightfully ours, and by that I mean "paying" because of bad behavior.

We as the "good guys" just need to have a voice and make sure we let others know that we follow the rules and don't like being punished because some do not.

Until the next time.....

market fresh.....

2009-07-14T18:52:00.006-04:00

Not much going on right now besides the landscapers finishing up our yard. They should wrap up everything tomorrow sometime in the midday. So far it all looks great, but I can't wait to see it all "put together".

Cassie got her haircut today to look like Hayley Williams of Paramore (pictured). Cassie really likes the band and Hayley, and they are a nice band for her to admire. The haircut looks great and Cassie is really happy with it.

Morgan has been stopping by the NC State Farmer's Market the past few Saturdays to pick up different fruits and vegtables for us to try. I like to eat berries and either an apple or pear every morning, so we started picking up my breakfast fruit from the market.

It has been nice to try out a few different items that we normally don't have for or with a meal. Morgan asn't crazy about collard greens, but I enjoyed them. I enjoyed even more the fresh lima beans that Morgan prepared for me. I also bought a jar of chow chow for myself to have with chicken of maybe a turkey burger, but have not had a chance to try it yet.

Kellie and her husband have given us a large bag of squash and an equally large bag of fresh string beans for us to eat. It was very nice of them, and greatly appreciated, as I have been enjoying all this fresh food.

NHL schedule is released tomorrow. Will be marking my calander for what night we will be at the arena. Less then 3 months before the hockey season starts up again.

That's it for now. Hope to have some yard pictures for the next post.

Until the next time.....

noisy around here.....

2009-07-08T11:36:00.002-04:00

They finally started building the house next door to us (to our left if looking from street), so the noise has begun. It is not terrible at this point, and probably won't be too bad, but that is easy for me to say as I am not trying to broadcast 4 hours a day like my Morgan does every morning.

She has some "sound foam" in the office that she might have to strategically place around the desk / mic to soften the noise, but for the most part she is not overly concerned. I am just glad it is going on during the summer when we have the windows closed, and not after September when we open the house up. This is especially true because this building is on the same side as her studio / office.

Maybe this means we might get some new neighbors eventually. I see plenty of people around when I walk the neighborhood each morning, but then I turn on our block, and nothing. Of course I say this a day before the landscapers come to plant trees to give us more privacy in the backyard, and to cover up and give shade to the front of the house. :-)

Otherwise it is quiet around here. Well, in the house. :-)

Until the next time.....

office works.....

2009-07-03T12:24:00.002-04:00

Sometime around 2am on Wednesday morning, the last of the files uploaded from my electronic filing cabinet to the servers over at my new "office". Did some random checking, and everything seemed to be there. Woo Hoo!

Finally started working with the network yesterday, and once loaded, I had to make some tweaks to some personal preference settings, but once that was done, everything worked flawlessly. It was nice to work that way, and once done, just shut it down, and not worry about backing up, putting the backups in a safe place, etc.

On Wednesday, I finally got the tattoo of Morgan completed. Took over 3 1/2 hours, and it looks great. There are a few minor cleanups that need to be taken care of once I heal at the end of the month, but that is pretty normal. I posted some pictures on Facebook during the process, and will post some here of the completed, healed tattoo in a future posting.

Wednesday morning Cassie left for another week of camp. This time up in Virginia, and through our church and their student ministries. She returns late Monday afternoon, and then will spend the rest of her summer here at home. Even though Morgan and I like having this "alone time", it will be nice to have her around for the five weeks or so before school starts.

That's it for now, as I have some catch-up work to do and figure I can get it done while others take today off. Have a happy and safe 4th of July.

Until the next time.....

slow move to new office.....

2009-06-29T16:01:00.003-04:00

So last post I mentioned that I would be using a "virtual office" through my tax software company's servers. Well, on Friday I started the migration. I finished all my work, backed up all the files for all the different accounting products to a separate directory and separate folders on my hard drive, and was ready to go.

Spoke with tech support Friday afternoon to get a few questions answered, and only saw a clear road ahead of me. After speaking with support, I moved all the Excel and Word files over to their "new home". Because I will now be using Office 2007, while I currently use Office 2003, I stayed in Excel and Word for a little while and played around. All was fine. I then wrapped up for the day, and figured I will move all the accounting files on Saturday.

So, around noontime on Saturday, I started moving the accounting files. Depreciation went smooth. Tax Programs for 2007 & 2008 (I could go back to 1999 if I want to, but probably don't need that far back) went flawlessly. Business accounting clients also without a hitch. Things were looking good.

Then came largest product, which is my "File Cabinet" program. This is the program where I have every piece of information (Which is tax returns and workpapers for personal income tax clients and for business clients it consists of tax returns, workpapers, payroll tax returns, and ledgers) for every client I have worked on since 1999.

This is 836 different client drawers and almost 16GB of information. I knew it would take some time, but I did not expect that almost 38 hours after I started, only 501 of the 836 drawers would be moved. Yikes! Good thing I hardwired the laptop and didn't try to do this wireless. It should be completed sometime tomorrow afternoon (I shut it down when Morgan is on the air). When it is done, it will be nice to move forward and not worry about client data and making backups.

Cassie came back from Camp Kanata last Saturday morning. She had a blast, like she always does, and looks forward to returning next year. The camp sent home almost 80 out of the 250 kids at the camp because of 100+ degree fevers. While they were concerned about Swine Flu, I would guess this was just a normal bug that made its way around the campgrounds. Cass feels fine, but did have a little bit of congestion Sunday morning and today. We'll keep an eye on her, as she goes off to camp up in Virginia through the church on Wednesday, as we will keep her home if a fever does arise.

That's it for now. I have a progress bar to watch. :-)

Until the next time.....

virtual office.....

2009-06-24T18:45:00.003-04:00

I could not have been any lazier today. I really need to stop this, and get a little organized, as July is a "payroll report" month, and I will be working on 22 clients, plus one brand new one. After going for my walk, I washed the motorcycle, then decided to ride it for about a hour to "dry it". Really?

Then after that, I did take care of a couple of office emails, then it was over to the Harley dealership for a scheduled maintenance, which included an oil change, etc. Those last a couple of hours, so I just stayed at their tables in the dealership, grabbed some old coffee, read the today's paper and updated Facebook from my phone. I did behave and only glanced at the new bikes.

If I ever complain about my work life between May 1 and December 31, you have the right to call me out and slap me. :-)

I do need to get caught up, so I can start working in my new office. I'm not going anywhere, but I am changing the way I handle my clients and their data. My software company started an experimental program last year, where instead of purchasing the software I need, they "rent" my their entire software suite, and also include the latest MS Office as part of the package.

So for me, because I am by myself (you pay per user), I will save a couple thousand dollars over my normal yearly fees, have access to programs that were not "dollar wise" for me to purchase, and get the latest MS Office product. And even better, this is all done through their servers, so all my data will now be on their secured servers. No more backups (except for my pictures & iTunes), no more worrying about computer crashes, no headaches at all. As long as I have internet, and my password, all my data is always available to me.

Now, I'm not big on change, so it took me almost 6 weeks to tell them "yes", but I did it last week, so there is no turning back. I just need to get together with them on uploading all my data from the laptop to them, then I am ready to go. I am hoping to do this later tomorrow or Friday, so I can upload the information over the weekend.

I have never worked on a network before, so it has been a little bit of an adjustment while I have been playing around in the "empty office". I know most of you are used to that type of office environment, but for someone who has worked by themselves, this is a whole new area for me.

That's about it for now. Supposed to be gaming tonight with the other members of the GeezerGamers Community Podcast. We are now listed and available for download on iTunes. Search for GeezerGamer Community.

Until the next time.....

kick start this blogging again.....

2009-06-23T16:40:00.002-04:00

OK, going to back into some posting here on my blog. I figure if I can keep posting on Facebook, I can post here also about the different things going on in my life.

I have caught up on most of the other blogs that I link to here. I apologize for not following and commenting during my "non writing" time. I should have been better about following all of you, even if I didn't want to write myself. Sorry.

The news for today is that Morgan has sent in an application for the Food Network show, "Next Food Network Star". She decided to try this last week, and has been working on the application ever since. For those that know Morgan, she is a morning show host and loves to cook (including a small catering business that has done work with our churches), so this will be a nice combination of talents / skills / likes for her.

For me, this has been the laziest of after tax season times. Not that my work hasn't been getting done, because it has, but I have no real "extras" to tackle, so it has allowed me to me lazy, and I'm just not used to it. Instead of getting up at 5:30, I have been rolling out of bed around 7am or 7:30am. I'm not used to that, but I have kind of liked it. Otherwise, I have been reading a bit, riding the motorcycle whenever I can, and just spending lazy time.

Cassie is off at camp (through YMCA) this week. She will be gone until Saturday, then home for three days, then she is off to a camp through church up in West Virginia. So, she will be home enough to wash her camping clothes, pack them, and then it is away again. She loves it, and we are glad she likes these times away. After that, she will be home for about 5 weeks until school starts again.

Well, there is a catch up for you. I promise to be better. :-)

Until the next time.....

visiting with the parents.....

2009-05-15T13:09:00.003-04:00

Still have not gotten the "writing bug" back at full tilt yet, as the gap from my last post would indicate. I mentioned to Morgan tat I am doing what I need to do for work, around the house, and family, but nothing extra. Still sluggish from tax season. Ugh. Not like it will get any easier as I get older. :-)

I traveled on Wednesday down to Florida to see my mother and stepfather. And for those of you who know me, yes, I flew on a plane. Took something to relax me, but I don't seem to have same same anxiety about flying as I used to. They are healthy and look pretty good after the beating they both have taken these past two years. That makes me feel better.

Looking at their calender, it seems like each week has a day or two with doctor appointments to check on this or that, and to have different tests. Hopefully that will be ending soon.

At home, all is going well. As I said above, I still have not done too much "extra", but I did get to check a few things off the after tax season "to do" list.

One thing taking much of my time are the NHL Playoffs, as I watch every game on television. There is nothing better then playoff hockey.

Actually, there is one thing, and that is when your favorite team is part of those playoffs! The Hurricanes won their second straight Game 7 of this playoff season (and 4th straight series win in a Game 7) by beating the Boston Bruins 3-2 in overtime last night, while on Boston's home ice. I have seen many game 7s, and a few have gone into OT, but never have I watched my team in a Game 7 that went into OT. I was a wreck.

Now it is on to face Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Finals. Over in the West, it is a match-up of Original Six franchises as the Detroit Red Wings go against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Our friend Tony commented on my last post and mentioned that he and his wife, Alisa, are speaking at a marriage retreat in July through our San Diego church, CRB. It will be about the topic we studied in our first small group with them, Intimacy Ignited. He asked if we might be able to make it. We won't this year, but if they start asking Morgan to travel out there for work, we will try to make sure I tag along once and get to see all our friends from CRB. We miss ya.

Until the next time.....

OK, it has been forever.....

2009-05-05T16:31:00.003-04:00

Yes it has. Hope all is well with all of you, your families, and loved ones.

My last post was the day after my birthday on March 22nd, so that is over 6 weeks ago. Of course I had the built in excuse of tax season, but that ended 3 weeks ago, so what happened? Plain ol' laziness. I was so constantly busy from March 1st forward, that I just wanted to do nothing with my brain after the 15th, and that is basically what I have done, or haven't done, based on your perspective.

Family time, church time, out on the motorcycle (when not raining), watching hockey, and video games have been pretty much it for my extra time since April 15th. Nothing "taxing" (pardon the pun). Usually by now, I have merged all the new client information from tax season into the existing information (mailing labels, labels for their folders, etc.), so that it is already done for next January, with any clients I receive from now on being merged one at a time, but I have not even wanted to do that type of stuff.

Looks like the final tally will be 319 returns for this year, with only 3 lost (2 women got married, and new husbands don't like using an accountant, and the other was a CA client I had for a while, but don't know what happened), so that ended up being a net increase of 51 clients. I feel truly blessed and even humbled (yes, I can actually be humbled), because that is all recommendations and "word of mouth" from existing clients and friends, as I do no advertising at all.

I was not prepared for that much of an increase, so I think that is why I got so "brain tired" towards the end. I'm just starting to get back into it, and hope to be caught up with all those little "loose ends" by the end of this month. That includes going back and reading over the blog posts I have bypassed from my day to day reading. I may not comment on your writings, but I will be reading those on my list. Luckily, Casey's are mostly pictures, so his won't take me as long as some of the others.

As for these pages, I hope to get back into a regular routine again. I like writing, so hopefully once I start again, I won't let time go between posts.

Otherwise in a nutshell, things are very good. Very, very good. I could not imagine being this happy with the woman I love as we approach 19 years together come June 2nd. On that same day, our "little girl" will be leaving elementary school, and getting ready for 6th grade this August. On top of that, she will be returning to Wake Christian Academy for her education. She, and we, are very excited and happy about her return to the school.

And just to add to all of this, the Carolina Hurricanes are making a playoff run, and as I write this are tied at 1 game apiece with the top seeded Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, with the next two at home in the very loud RBC Center.

So, that's it for now. Hope to get read and caught up on many of the blogs I have listed to the side, as my brain starts getting out of this "fuzz", and I start getting into a normal "of season" routine.

- Burt Reynolds' "sidekick", Dom DeLuise passed away.
- Josh Hamilton injured, and off to a slow start. Hope he gets healthy soon.

Until the next time.....

been a while.....

2009-03-22T15:34:00.002-04:00

Yes, I am still around, and this post is to prove it. :-)

Nothing overly exciting been going on since my last post 3 weeks ago. Morgan and Cassie spent a week down in Florida at my mom's house. They had a great time, and really enjoyed themselves. They visited Universal Studios, and got a chance to see the Space Shuttle launch by just standing in my mother's driveway. Morgan has pictures up on her blog and Facebook pages.

Otherwise, Morgan and Cassie have been just doing "their thing", while I have been working, and that is much appreciated by me, when my mind is in "tax season" mode. This tax season has been a "bear", and I will really need to crank it up these last 3 1/2 weeks, with many nights going to 11pm or later. I have been conscious about not working past 9pm any night, so I will not burn myself out, but I did not anticipate so many new clients this year, so I am still a bit behind in my "to do" pile. It looks like I will go over the 300 count in terms of personal tax returns, which will be about a 15% increase. I feel truly blessed to be doing so well, and this "bump" will help me plan my workdays better next tax season. I caused this myself in February, where I probably should have worked a few more late nights. Oh well, it will all get done in time, and I am better prepared for the future years.

I do stop each Saturday at 3pm to get ready for Saturday evening church services, and then do not work on Sundays. I answer my e-mails, but I do not work on a tax return after 3pm on Saturday until I start again on Monday morning.

Did take some time out to celebrate my 43rd birthday this weekend. Had a nice dinner out on Friday evening, and went to see the Hurricanes play the Capitals on Saturday night. The Canes' are playing real well right now, and they came away with a 4-1 win.

Last week, we got the phone call from Wake Christian Academy that Cassie has a spot in their sixth grade class. We had been thinking, discussing, and praying about the situation for a while now. While our first choice was for Cassie to return to WCA, we had come to peace (somewhat ;-) ) with her going back to public school, if the WCA door was shut on us. Now we just need to finish the interview process, to finish off her application and acceptance. Cassie is excited to go back to WCA, although a little bummed about leaving her current school. This is mostly because she really likes the year-round schedule, and to tell you the truth, Morgan & I really like that schedule also. Easier for her to be off 3 or 4 weeks at a time, at different times of the year, instead of 10 weeks during summer.

That is pretty much what has been going on, so I'm done for now. Only have a little more time before I am back at the desk tomorrow morning. Hope all is going well with all of you, and I look forward to doing more writing next month after the 15th has passed by.

Until the next time.....

just busy.....

2009-03-01T13:51:00.002-05:00

So, the weather people are saying we might get some snow in the area. I am hoping the track moves west a little so we only get a trace or so. Any real amount with the temperatures that are supposed to be here until Wednesday will mean the area will "shut down" for a couple of days. Cassie already has one make-up day, and they really don't need many more.

Yes, it has been a while since I have posted anything. All going well, just the normal "tax season busy". I am trying to get the personal things I need to do done during the week, and keep some "family time", so posting here does end up falling through the cracks. I lost some of that "family time" when I was too tired to stay up and watch Lost with Morgan, and was not happy about it, but that will unfortunately more these last 6 or so weeks.

I plan to spend some extra time in the office this week and then again next week while Morgan and Cassie are in Florida. It is the start of the month, meaning I have my normal business client work to handle, so I really need to be on top of my time these next two weeks. Hopefully by the time they come back the pile of "to do" will be very minimal.

Only real news was Cassie needing an ultra scan on Friday. She had been feeling some discomfort in her chest/breast area. The doctors thought it was just growing pains, but with both grandmothers having battled breast cancer, the doctor wanted to rule everything out. The test showed normal hormonal activity causing her discomfort. Basically, "growing pains". Of course we are glad and relieved that was the case.

We ended up going back to Hope Community Church last night. To me, it has been the best of those we have visited. Cassie enjoys her Sunday School class, and Morgan and I both enjoy Pastor Lee. The message seems to hit home more with us in practical ways, like we felt at CRB. I think we will keep attending here, and maybe if someone else gives us a recommendation, we could still visit others.

There are more birds and some squirrels hanging around the backyard. Have not seen any rabbits, opossum or raccoons in the backyard, but I am sure they are around. No deer either, but I have seen as many as eight of them together in the morning when I am walking in the back part of the subdivision. Already have two feeders, but I might need to pick up one more larger feeder to put in the yard.

Morgan is doing well, and starting to get more comfortable doing the broadcast from here. She likes being around her partners, so her adjustment is a little more difficult and takes more time. I know her body is feeling better by sleeping "normal" hours.

Morgan's work blog now is able to show when it is updated, like most other blogs. The station did a nice web makeover, and part of the upgrades lets you follow her blog easier.

The Hurricanes lost a terrible game last night, 5-3 to the Atlanta Thrashers. They blew two, 2 goal leads, and held that lead with 11 minutes to go in the game, and then collapsed. These are points that are going to haunt them at season's end. Very frustrating as a fan to watch them blow these opportunities.

Lots going on in Washington, DC, and none of it good. I actually hope that as things get worse (and they will, even if some of this "works"), that the people of this country wake up and realize that we can not spend our way out of this situation, and the debt that we have as a country. First the stimulus package, and now the budget are bloated with some much garbage (and some Republicans are also guilty, so yes they should also go) that I hope people will look closely at what is going on, and be ready to make a real "change" come 2010. Highly doubtful, but I can dream. Ugh!

That's it for now. Enjoy your week.

Until the next time.....

lesson learned.....

2009-02-19T11:25:00.002-05:00

Don't have time to be posting, but I am so angry that need to vent it out, so thank you in advance for your patience in reading this post.

I prepared a tax return on Monday afternoon for a client who has been with been quite a few years. Works for the local public school system with 2 college age children. Doesn't even crack $20K of income.

In looking over the closing statement from the house she sold in February 2008, I see she paid the closing costs for the buyer, which is unusual, especially since this market has not been too heavily effected as other parts of the country. In discussion, come to find out that she had a real bad real estate agent, and it cost her money.

During the conversation, it is mentioned that she even had to move from the house, and let the buyers stay there until they were ready to close. She says that at least she collected some rent. Rent? That was never told to me. She then bemoans the fact that the apartment she had to rent until she found a place was more money then what she was collecting.

So with all that in my mind, we discuss the rent and how she should have told me about it because it should have been reported on her 2007 return. She is not happy about that, and wishes she did not say anything. So I tell her let's just worry about 2008. She tells me she rented the house for two months, as the closing was February 29th.

I put down the gross rent, and don't worry about anything else. Normally you would deduct homeowner insurance (mortgage interest & r/e taxes were already on the return on another schedule), homeowner association dues, etc., but for the two months I tell her that we won't worry about it, and just leave as is, and ignore amending 2007.

Yes, this was not correct on my part. She should have picked up the income for 2007, and I should have amended the returns. If I did that, she would have been paying me a fee for amending the returns, and she would have owed taxes on the amended returns, and if the income was high enough, her $4000 refund, would have turned into her owing money (because of the Earned Income Credit). Even if lesser income, she was looking at about a $400 tax payment plus my fees.

After hearing her story, I thought this was a good idea.

Bad idea.

Seems the increase in her income for 2008 because of the rental income, has played with her FAFSA application, and does not make her eligible for as much financial aid. So now she is ranting about me rushing through her returns, giving her no guidance, and looking to screw over her numbers.

I explained to her that I would correct 2008 to reflect certain expenses and change the rental income figure, but in doing so, I feel obligated to also correct 2007, because I know of that unreported income. Can you say "not happy"?

So, I have a client that does not report income to me. When she does, and I tell her it is income (she says she did not know this would be income), she tells me she wishes she did not say anything. I skip the amended return, lose a fee, place the rental on as "gross only", don't charge extra fee for rental schedule, and also save the client about $400 tax dollars, which could go as high as $4000. And, she is not happy.

This has been my back and forth in emails for the past two days.

Lesson learned:
Do it by the book, even if it is for $1. Charge the client for everything. Stop worrying about the client and there "back story". Sometimes it takes me 23 tax seasons before I learn certain lessons.

Until the next time.....

and the nominees are.....

2009-02-11T21:11:00.003-05:00

Work has me really backed up, so this will be short as I have been at this desk for almost 13 hours. So far 28 returns completed, 12 in the "pile of shame" (means they are missing information), another 12 have appointments set, and 27 are in the pile on my desk waiting to be worked on. And it is only February 11th. I can't remember ever having so many returns already in the office this early into tax season. This is a good thing, and I feel blessed that I am busy, but I also feel a bit overwhelmed because this is busier then normal.

Combine the large number this early with still wrapping up corporate work from 2008, and the January work that needs to be done for corporate clients (payroll and sales taxes), and I keep leaving here each night thinking nothing is getting done.

I will say that I am much calmer then I have been in prior years, and that is a good thing. I normally would be in "sweat mode" and not sleeping at night thinking of that large pile, but I know it will all get done.

OK, enough about me. On to my lovely wife. Once again, she and her morning show partners have been nominated for a ACM Award (scroll down to find Morgan). This is the 4th consecutive year that they have been nominated (ACM or CMA), and the 8th time in her career that Morgan has been nominated (CMAs and ACMs). I am extremely proud of her.

If you can, please visit Chris' page. He writes about some tests his baby daughter will be going through on Thursday (2/12). Thoughts and prayers to him and his family from all of us would be appreciated.

The Hurricanes have been playing better, but can't separate from the rest of the group fighting for those last playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. A nice 4 or 5 game winning streak would be the medicine to take some pressure off the guys.

And then there is the Stimulus Bill. You know I finally came around (thanks, Chris) and didn't want the Bailout. We see now how well that worked out. Doom and gloom if we didn't do it (guess these last 4 months have been roses and honey). Well, I hate this garbage even more. God save us, because these clowns in Washington are doing their best to ruin us.

OK, done. Off to the DVR to watch Lost with my ACM Nominated wife (But she can't get too close because she is fighting a cold. Don't want germs. :-0 ).

Until the next time.....

unkind cuts.....

2009-02-04T20:24:00.003-05:00

A few things to post about, but this is going to be short and crisp as I am battling a slight head cold that has made me fuzzy (or fuzzier then usual).

The economy / job loss situation has finally hit close to home as my buddy, Casey, was let go from his job. He has been pretty upfront about it, and wrote about it yesterday. Just Sunday he and his family were at our house for some eats and football. We knew it could happen on Monday, but we had a good time and did not discuss it. Hopefully, it was a distraction for him / them.

His company, Caterpillar, has really been hit hard by the slowdown. Also, they like many others with these massive layoffs, are not letting go people, as much as they are just slashing divisions or departments. Have a hard time believing that all the employees not let go were better at their jobs then Casey was at his.

And it is not only companies with problems adding to this mess. Starbucks is laying off 6700 people because profits are down 39%. They did not lose money. They made money, but not as much as prior years, so they are laying off people to help their bottom line. Remember that next time you get that double latte.

Tax season has officially started for me, and let me know that in a 48 hour period. When I left my desk on Saturday afternoon, I was "empty". By Monday evening, I had 17 returns on my desk. Good problem to have, but it was a little surprising.

The start of February is such a mess for because there is normal monthly work, income tax clients, and then those business clients who just could not get me everything in January to complete the prior year. Those are the clients that put the "monkey wrench" in things, as I need to get their backlogged work done, so they are caught up, and we can get their 2009 work up to date.

Otherwise, things are going well. Supposed to hit the high 60s around here this weekend (after snow showers last night, and a low of 18 degrees tonight). Hopefully, I will be able to get a short ride on the motorcycle. I also hope this head cold will be gone by then. Don't want to sneeze in a closed helmet. :-)

And with that, I'm done.

Until the next time.....

you look like.....

2009-01-28T19:51:00.002-05:00

Have nothing on my desk from clients that needs to be processed at this time. For late January that is a good thing, as this will certainly not be the case in two weeks as there will be about a dozen or two income tax folders piled on my desk.

Now, it probably would not be empty if all my business clients got me the information they owe me to finish processing their 2008 year end numbers. I have less then 10 that owe me information, and it is just a piece or two for most of them, but I would like to get those business returns "off my plate" before all the personal clients start filling my office.

Last Sunday morning, we visited another new church in our search for a church here in NC. We attended Triangle Community Church, which was not far from our old home, and where one of Cassie's friends has attended in the past.

When we get there, Morgan takes Cassie to Promiseland for the kids, and I am standing in the hallway. A woman passes me in the hall, takes a few steps and starts looking at me, while at the same time I start looking at her because I get that "I know you from....." thought in my head.

As she comes back towards me, we start asking each other, "are you "Sal / Laura?". Turns out, we were who we thought the other was, and how we know each other is because we used to do our exercising along the same roads.

When I ran along a long country road near the house, a woman on a bicycle used to always pass by. After about a year or so of this, she was coming beside me, and decided to slow down and we chatted for a while. This went on for a few years. She knew about Morgan and Cassie, while I knew about her husband and kids. All the while getting in these conversations for maybe a mile or so, on the one or two days a week we would see each other. So we became friendly, and it was nice for us to see a friendly face while on those roads.

She is also "part" of the reason I blew out my knee. One day in January 2006, we caught up to each other towards the end of my run. Well, as I turned to head down my block, we were still having a conversation. Because my head was turned as I was saying goodbye to her, I never saw what was in front of me and "caught" my leg, and damaged my knee. She felt bad about it, but it was probably going to happen sooner or later with these knees of mine.

Anyways, she is in charge of the children's' part of the church and Promiseland. She took care of Cassie, and helped Morgan and I feel very comfortable at the church. We are looking forward to more "catching up", and some more time at the church. It was a nice and friendly church, and felt comfortable to us.

Off to do a Podcast with the guys from GeezerGamers for Geezer Radio. Yes, we are truly geeks.

Until the next time.....

weekend playing.....

2009-01-25T20:46:00.002-05:00

Worked to "play catch up" most of Saturday, but I did not worry about what got finished. When Morgan called me for dinner, I had all but one "project" that started on my desk completed, so I am in good shape for Monday morning.

Saturday night I got to play "Left 4 Dead" with the guys (including Casey), and had a blast. The game is basically a bad zombie movie (with cheesy dialog) made into a game. Good fun.

Morgan has really been enjoying her time with Facebook. She has really enjoyed "talking" with old friends from high school, and playing with the other features (including mocking her husband).

I have only scratched the surface with it, and just post "what I am doing" notes right now. Will get more into it after tax season.

Went to DMV on Friday afternoon to register the cars and motorcycle, only to find out that because of a mix-up between California and NC when we registered the cars in San Diego, NC wanted to charge us an extra $100 because we did not get our plates returned to them in time. DMV just needs a copy of the insurance certificate showing we had insurance in SD by a certain date in 2007, and we did, but it was just a waste of time.

On top of that, it seems California did not request a title change (to CA from NC) for my truck (still have a few payments left), but there is no positive way to tell that except for getting a title copy from Ford. Seems CA did ignore changing the title to their state, but NC will not do anything for me until they see the title as "NC". Ugh!

I believe in "50 individual states", but when it comes to information like this, DMVs should be "tied together". It would save people lots of time. and I think save DMVs money in the long run. These return trips by people like us cost them time and money.

OK, off to watch the NHL All-Star Game. Hey, it's hockey. :-)

- Did the people of Illinois really elect this guy?
- So the next Treasury Secretary has tax return problems?
- "A-Fraud". Now that's funny. Joe Torre writes Yankee tell-all.

Until the next time.....

too many distractions.....

2009-01-22T19:39:00.002-05:00

It always seem the "distractions" happen between January 1st and April 15th in my life. They can be big ones like my diverticulitis in 2003, moving to San Diego in 2004, or my knee surgery and uncle dying in 2006, or they are just the little "time killers" like repairmen in the house, registering cars at the DMV, doctor/dentist appointments, etc.

I try to make sure none of those "little" ones take place prior to April 15th, but it is impossible to do. Before, I would get completely annoyed and agitated over those "time killers", but now I handle them quite a bit better, which is a good thing.

This year had been all the small ones because of the move and new house. I see a light at the end of the tunnel, and should have complete days in front of me by early next week, right after we get all the cars registered.

Did a little more on Facebook, but I have no idea what I am doing there right now, so please bear with me as I get that going. I like using it, but it is a little confusing for "newbs".

Morgan set up accounts there also, and is enjoying seeing all her high school friends that are part of it.

She also was able to get her work blog to be recognized by Blogger, so that her updates will "update" on the right side of this page. Hopefully you are reading her after you read this one (geesh, or before this one).

Off to relax for the evening.

Until the next time.....

more social.....

2009-01-21T19:42:00.002-05:00

All that snow I mentioned yesterday is almost all gone from roads and rooftops. Should stay another day on the grass, but by tomorrow night, it will probably all be gone. For me, that's enough snow for this winter. Cassie has been off for two days, and they are even delaying school for two hours tomorrow morning. Not sure if the two hour delay is all that necessary as the roads seem to be dry as people were driving and the sun was out all day today.

Received a Facebook "friend request" from Linda Howell, who along with her husband, Randy, are the leaders of the Eternal Riders, CRB's motorcycle small group. I've ignored the few others I received, but decided to accept Linda's, as I know many Geezers participate on Facebook.

I made sure I got into the groups for my high school and college graduating classes, as well as the GeezerGamers group, but that will be about it for now. It was fun to see some of the people I went to high school, and what they are up to now. Our 25th reunion is this year, so maybe this will give me a "push" in case they have some sort of gathering.

Morgan and Cassie both went for eye examinations today, and both needed to upgrade their glasses. Morgan still only needs them for reading, but poor Cassie seems to be getting my eyesight. It's not as bad as mine was when I was young, but she does need to use her glasses for all classroom activities.

Morgan's station, KSON, has upgraded their website. That means updated pages for Morgan's blog posts. Still have not been able to link them to the sidebar on this page for when she updates, but I am hoping they make that available soon.

The Hurricanes have won two in a row, on the road, and on back to back nights. Great play from Cam Ward as he allowed only one goal in two nights to the Toronto Maple Leafs (2-0 shutout), and then the Penguins in Pittsburgh (2-1 win). Hopefully they can keep this train rolling after the All-Star Game break.

Time to leave and get ready for the new season of Lost.

- People love iTunes, so Apple is making some money.
- The game industry also doing OK.
- Some "big game" going on next Sunday.

Until the next time.....

snow in North Carolina.....

2009-01-20T19:36:00.007-05:00

So, we are back one month, and we have a significant (well, for the area) snow here in central NC. Probably about 4 or so inches here at the house. With the 20 degree weather tonight, they have already canceled school for tomorrow, so Cassie will end up with a long 5 day weekend.

Hopefully it will melt off the roads tomorrow so we can get back to normal driving, while staying on the grass and trees for a few more days.

Until the next time.....

you don't live there.....

2009-01-15T19:36:00.002-05:00

Let me tell you that there are good things and bad things about being the first house on a street. Some of the good things are having the street to yourself, and the quiet that comes with it. Off of that, some of the bad is the noise when houses start going up near you (so far, that is not a problem). The other "bad", that I did not realize until this move is that nobody knows where you are, and unless you wave a flag telling services (post office, garbage service, UPS, FedEx, etc.) that you are occupying the house, you get completely skipped over.

After talking with the Apex Postmaster prior to the move, that we were the first ones moving to the street, and getting an "OK" from him that we were all set, I still had to go to the post office to get mail delivery started because the Postmaster failed to get the postman for the route my information.

After our town delivered our garbage and recycling cans, the drivers of those respective trucks skipped over us because they were not told anyone was living in the house. Ugh!

The worst of them all was UPS. Last week (Monday) I ordered some office supplies from two different vendors. The email with the tracking for one of the items had a scheduled delivery date of last Wednesday. I decided to "track" the package and see a notation about checking on address. OK, fair enough. Two hours later I recheck, and see that the package was delivered. I look all around the house, and I have no delivery. I call the vendor, and they contact UPS. Seems they delivered to wrong address. Really?

So I get the item the next day, and see our current address on a sticker, covering up other stickers. Seems that UPS was given our new address, but when they could not find address on a map, they decided to look up my business and use the old address (from 18 months ago!!!), and only when they were called and told tat we had indeed moved to our new address, did they finally use it to make the delivery.

All the while, a simple phone call to my office would have taken care of the situation.

Two days later, the same problem arose with our delivery of blinds by the freight company Roadway. They also decided the address we provided could not be correct, and decided to just hold our items.

Let me just state that I am can't wait for the day Mapquest and Google finally adds us to their mapping to clear up these hassles.

Work is going pretty well considering all the "new home" distractions Morgan and I have going on. Always seems like we have someone at the house for something, or we need to go out to take care of something for the house. Next week I need to get the cars inspected before NC will issue license plates, and after that, spend time at DMV.

January is a "bogged down" month for me. Between W-2 & 1099 preparations, firming up companies year-end numbers, getting corporate tax returns started, and just the questions that normally arrive because it is "tax season" (.... I know you are busy, but...), next to the two weeks in April, this is probably my busiest time. Always seems I go a step forward and backwards by the end of each day. A couple of good solid days in the office should help me get on top of the mess.

For my San Diego friends, yes, we have seen the heat wave you are going through this week. Here in NC, it will be a high of 25 degrees on Friday, and a low of 9 degrees Friday night.

Morgan, Cassie and I hung up some bird feeder houses and some bluebird houses (purchased through our bank, SECU)this afternoon. We've seen birds and squirrels around, but have not seen any rabbits, raccoons, opossum, or deer yet. I am sure they are around.

Last Saturday night, we attended Hope Community Church. It was nice, and had some of the same aspects about it as CRB, but we are/were spoiled by CRB, so it will need time and an open mind before we will say a "yes or no". It does have a Starbucks in the building, so you can tell that it is a large church.

Not even going to discuss my Hurricanes. Three game road losing skid says more then enough for me. Just not good hockey.

OK, time to relax a little.

Until the next time.....

getting back to normal.....

2009-01-09T19:12:00.002-05:00

The boxes with all our important "stuff" have been emptied and put away, and Morgan and I have both been working regularly since Monday, as well as Cassie being back in school. So, we are pretty much "back to normal" (whatever that means).

I've got moving truck, our window blind order, and electrical stories from the past two weeks that I will fill in over the next few postings. As for now, with tax season here, I am usually tired after sitting in front of the computer all day, so updating this space, like last year at this time, will be a "hit and miss" effort.

Did find out that my mother-in-law is now also battling cancer. She also has breast cancer, like my mother. At 85, she is a tough lady, so are prayers and thoughts are with her to get through this tough time. Of course Morgan only found out about it a day before she was operated on, as her mom decided to tell nobody, except Morgan's brother, and that was only a few days before we found out.

On top of that, my step-father's throat cancer has possibly made a comeback. He has been having problems that might be related to the scar tissue or to a recurrence, and they went to the doctor today for more test. It has gotten so bad that he can only sleep by sitting up in a chair, and even that is not allowing him to sleep well, so he has been falling asleep at different times during the day. It is so bad, they don't allow him to drive until this is corrected. Needless to say, we have our thoughts and prayers with him also.

Otherwise, on a more upbeat note, I really feel comfortable being back here in North Carolina, and on the east coast. Now, I just need to get into a better flowing work routine (too many new house interruptions this week).

The Hurricanes had won four games in a row before losing 4-2 last night to the Panthers in Florida. They had been playing well, and I hope this was just a "blip" of a bad road performance. I also hope Tim Gleason is OK, as he was injured in an awkward looking play along the side boards.

This weekend also bring about the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. Morgan and I have the DVR set, and look forward to a Saturday night and late Sunday afternoon/evening of football on the couch together.

Hope all is well with all of you that follow and read these posts.

Until the next time.....

boxes, boxes, everywhere.....

2009-01-05T18:27:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year to all of you! We are settled into the house, and actually are starting to get back into our routines. The moving truck arrived last Tuesday afternoon, and by Sunday afternoon, we had about 90% of the house unpacked and ready to live in. Now it is just a matter of "feeling" the house and deciding where to put up pictures, and place our collectibles and nik-nacs.

Morgan had her first show from the new studio today, and she said all sounded great. The room is really "dead" for echo and sound, so it is perfect for broadcasting. Now if we can keep the noise when the other houses around us get constructed from bleeding into the mic, she will be all good.

I started getting some work done, but after some running around this morning getting Cassie registered for school, then tried to get some of our bills/paperwork taken care of that has been placed in a pile these past two weeks. Also a friend stopped by to see the house and drop off his accounting work. All that added up to me not getting as much done as I wanted to for today.

Tomorrow will be the same, as I have the alarm company arriving in the morning to finish the alarm system, and that same friend stopping by to hang some speakers for us. The rest of the week is pretty "free" from workday distractions (so far), so I should be able to catch up to where I want to be by Friday.

Cassie is all ready for her first full day of school. It will be different then what she saw in San Diego, as the classroom is considered full with 26 kids, while in SD her last classroom has 33 children in it. Also, this school is "year round", so she will have school for nine straight weeks, then be off for three weeks. Those three weeks happen at the beginning of March. Maybe I will get some cheap office help. :-)

Otherwise, besides the unpacking, and arranging the house, we have not done much. I did get the chance on Sunday afternoon to see my Dolphins get beaten up the Ravens. That was after watching Saturday night's exciting game where the Chargers beat the Colts in overtime. Morgan was very happy, while I have a big problem with an 8-8 team even making the playoffs, much less hosting the game instead of the 12 win team. But, that is for another rant.

With us getting back to some "normal", we hope to attend church this weekend. A client forwarded to me information about Hope Community Church, and it happens to also be part of the Willow Creek Association, which is also the association for CRB. There are many associated with Willow Creek in the area, so we should eventually find one that we are comfortable and feel welcome in. Pastor Harry told us before we leave we must attend 3 services before making a "yay of nay" about any church we "try out".

Off to get a few more things organized in the house.

Until the next time.....

back in North Carolina.....

2008-12-28T09:08:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas to all. Hope you had a great holiday with family and/or friends.

Since my last post almost 2 weeks ago after the cars were put on the truck, quite a bit has occurred. All of our stuff was packed and put on the truck last Monday (12/22) and Tuesday (12/23). We were able to close on the NC house early on Tuesday 12/23, with our real estate agent, Debbie, handling the paperwork for us (except for the mortgage, she wants us to pay that. ;-) ). Morgan, Cassie, myself and the 2 cats flew back Christmas Eve morning in an uneventful fashion. (The "relaxing" pills I had actually made me sleepy this time, so I had a good flight. Even when I was awake, I did not feel the anxiety I normally do, so maybe I won't be as bad as I was before when I do need to get on a plane.)

When we arrived in Raleigh on Christmas Eve night, we got out of the airport quickly enough so that after dropping the cats and our luggage off at the hotel, we were able to have dinner at one of our favorite local Italian places, Cinelli's.

Then Christmas morning, after some gifts for Cassie and breakfast, we went over to the new house. The house is great. Morgan really did an excellent job with it. It is much smaller then we are used to in prior homes, but it feels "right". I think we wandered around it for about 3 hours or so, just looking at all the different detail the builder put into it.

Christmas Day afternoon, we were able to spend some time with Casey and his family. I did not bring a tape measure, so he let me borrow one, and also gave us the chance to visit. Casey and his wife also gave us an air mattress (pretty comfortable, thanks) to borrow so we could sleep in the house. It was good to see him and all his family, including his daughter, Gillian, who was born while we were in San Diego.

Also got to speak with Kellie on Christmas night. We hope to see her family sometime during the week.

Then Friday and Saturday it has been shopping for needed items and internet and DirecTV installations. Also on Saturday, our personal cars arrived. So we are getting there, slowly, but surely.

The moving truck driver said they may show up Monday with the truck, but I am expecting it Tuesday. Monday seems too fast, because he told me he was spending Christmas Day in San Diego before heading straight to us. I won't complain if it is Monday, but we will see.

Ok, done for now. If I don't post prior to Thursday, have a Happy and Safe New Year.

Until the next time.....

Thank You CRB.....

2008-12-28T08:15:00.000-05:00

Here is my thank you note that I gave to the pastors over at The Church at Rancho Bernardo. I will keep it up as the second post in line until the end of the year. It might be a little long for one sitting. :-)

Thank you!!!

Dear CRB,

I wanted to give you and all the people at CRB a giant thank you for what you have done this past year for me, Morgan, and our daughter Cassie. Unfortunately, I say this thank you as we also say good bye. We will be moving from San Diego, and returning back to North Carolina, sometime around the Christmas / New Year holidays.

I want to apologize now for the length of this letter, as I know once I start talking about how my (our) life has changed since we walked through this doors last December, and the journey it took to get here, it is hard for me to stop and keep it short.

I grew up Catholic, and was a weekly church attendee, but did not really grasp anything from it. I tried while I attended St. John’s University, but still nothing.

Fast forward to 2003. During the year, I was treated for three stress related ailments, including a trip to the hospital for chest pain. Luckily, not a heart attack, just anxiety and stress. I was a workaholic, not paying enough attention to my loving wife, and always seemed to be upset with my child.

Part to improve her job, and part to save me from myself, Morgan took a job, in March 2004, here in San Diego that forced me to sell my practice, move and be a “kept man”. Sounds like paradise, and it should have been. But less then three months after getting here I was crashing, and in a downwards spiral. Nothing was right. I was unhappy and I was completely miserable. I returned to North Carolina without Morgan, as she was not able to leave her job at the time.

As soon as Cassie and I returned to North Carolina, I got the feeling that I needed to get myself out of this hole, and decided to return to church. We attended a small Southern Baptist church in the neighborhood, and it did help me start to get things back together. Ten months later, in July 2005, Morgan was able to get her employer to agree to let her move back to NC, and still keep her job.

Sounds great, and that should be the end of the story. Well, it wasn’t. Our family life improved, and I was becoming a better person, husband and father, but I was still far away from Jesus. Though I attended church, I was lost there. I did not feel I was worthy of a relationship with Jesus. I did not know how to ask about it, and I was not getting any guidance. Each week the Pastor spoke, I kept on feeling that there was no way I could get there. I was not like the people in the church sitting around me.

Then in only the way God can make it happen, things started to change. When Cassie started second grade in September 2005 at the Christian school she had previously attended before our move, we were introduced to a great teacher, and a now a great friend, Kellie. Kellie and her husband, Steve, are Christians of deep faith, and although we were “not like them” in terms of our faith at the time, Kellie kind of took me under her wing in helping me about starting a relationship with Jesus, and also became very friendly with Morgan, as Morgan helped in the classroom, they spoke about scrapbooking and other things. We got along so well, and felt so close to them, they are now Cassie’s Godparents.

Kellie would give me different lines of scripture for when I had stress or other self induced problems come up. Those were the start of a head shaking journey.

Everything was going very well for us in NC, but at the start of 2007 there was something telling me that we needed to return to San Diego. I mentioned it to Morgan, and remembering the terrible time I had here, and the bumbling, loony idiot that I was the first time, I think she figured I was ready to crack up again.

All this time, I was still attending the little Baptist church, and Kellie was still giving me scripture, but I did not have a relationship with Jesus. I was barely scratching the surface.

Well, after tax season, I brought back up the move to San Diego, and again Morgan dismissed it, but this time we actually discussed it a bit, but came to the conclusion that we did not need to try it again. Well, God has something in mind, he does not give up, and after a late July week of travel (Morgan was commuting back and forth to San Diego 8 times a year) which was not pleasant, I brought up the move to San Diego thing again. This time Morgan said yes, but we would not leave until our house in NC sold. The house was sold within three weeks, and then three weeks later, we were in San Diego.

When we told Kellie about us moving, although she was upset to see us leave, she kept telling me that she could “feel” that we needed to go, and something great was going to happen. She said there was a purpose for it.

We moved, and all was good, or at least I thought so. Then in November, only 2 months after being here, I was back on the downward spiral that occurred back in 2005, and was depressed again. I tried by reading The Bible, and at the same time I was trying different area churches, but something was missing. Even after Morgan and I thought we found what we thought was the “right” church, and started attending together, I was not satisfied. It all came to a head in late November, when I told Morgan I could not stay out here and wanted to get out of here. How she did not beat me there on the spot, and bury me in the backyard is a miracle. Instead we talked, and while talking I mentioned that a mom from Cassie’s swim team told me about another church, close to the house, that we could try. That church was CRB.

I will say from the first day we stepped into this church that first week of December, all three us have had our lives change. It started the first evening we heard the music and Harry speak. Morgan and I left and could not stop talking about how “different” this church seemed. In the coming weeks, we heard from Ken and Jeanette, and each time we talked to each other about the message, and how it seemed to apply to us. Then we showed up for Christmas Eve and were blown away by the talent and “feeling” the church was giving us. The next week was Ken’s “silent message”, and again Morgan and I spoke about what was being done here in the church.

I was reading my Bible more, and Jesus was calling me, but I just was not ready to take the step. That changed after a Saturday night service. That was the service where Jeanette spoke about God’s healing, and after the service asked those of us in pain to come up front for healing. I had terrible neck and shoulder pain for the past year that became more extreme during tax season. At the same time, my step-father was diagnosed with throat cancer, so I told Morgan that I did not deserve healing when others were in worst shape. She basically pushed me out of the seat towards Jeanette (now you know why I cherish Morgan so much). Well, I told Jeanette my story about the pain, and she put her hands on me, and we prayed. Sunday morning I felt better, and on Monday morning I no longer had any pain. That is when I finally said, “Ok, you got me”. At that point I knew what was being told to me and done for me, and I gave myself to Jesus, and let him into my heart.

From there we formally joined the church, and would never look back.

Morgan and I talk about the message of the service almost every week, and can use or see it in our lives each time. That goes for Harry, Jeanette, or any of the wonderful guest speakers that we had during the year. All have left an impression on me.

During this year, we have met many great people, and participated in many different church events. Back in March, we were blessed to meet up with Alisa and Tony DiLorenzo in a parenting class with was lead by Pastor Faye. Now we are part of their small group, and have really enjoyed them and the others in the group. Both Morgan and I have taken Dennis’ New Believer’s Guide to the Bible, and have absolutely enjoyed it. Morgan had joined up with the Motorheads, while I have become part of the Eternal Riders. And let me just say that this is a great group, and is lead by two great people in Randy and Linda Howell.

But, the biggest day during this past year was on Sunday, August 17th. Two weeks prior to our 17th wedding anniversary, Morgan and I were Baptized together, along with many others from CRB, in the Pacific Ocean. That was an amazing day, and being able to be next to Morgan, and have it done together, just made it even more special.

CRB has also taught me that being a Christian does not mean you will be perfect all the time, or that you might not come with some prior baggage. I have been shown and taught here that Jesus will love me, and others will help me in my journey, even with some “bumps in the road” getting here, and further along later on the ride. Not all will be smooth, but as long as you get back on the path when you do hit some bumps, all will be good.

Now it is time to say goodbye and thank you. Kellie was correct. There was a reason for our return to San Diego, and it was a wonderful reason. We are going to miss all of you tremendously, but we also know that the church and all of you will be with us forever. What you have done for me, and my family will never be forgotten.

Thank you.

Sal

bye, bye cars.....

2008-12-16T21:06:00.000-05:00

I guess we can say that the moving officially started today. All of our cars were put on trucks/carriers and are on their way cross country to meet up with us in NC.

It started at 8am this morning when the gentleman came to take the Viper. I hate driving that thing, but with Morgan working, I had to take it up around the block to the carrier. It was a pretty large enclosed carrier, and the driver, Rich, was a nice guy. He has so many stops to make, he won't be delivering it back to us until about the 29th of the month.

Then in the early afternoon the other truck came to take the Pathfinder and Sportrac. Once we emptied them out our our important stuff, and put back in stuff we wanted in them (I put all my motorcycle extras in mine, while Morgan snuck in her cooking liquors that movers will not take), that was it. The driver, Al, started loading them up, and our part was done.

He will actually get across early, and wanted to know if he could drop them off on the 23rd. I told him "yes", but nobody would be there to pay him, so he will wait until Friday the 26th instead. Good idea. :-)

Unless some sort of "surprise" happens (which would only be of the bad variety), they are going to close on the house next week on Tuesday, December 23rd. Now I will see if I can move up some of the installations. Hopefully one or two can be moved. I also see a very large BJ's Warehouse trip that first weekend.

Otherwise, things are winding down pretty normally. Need to get a little "January work" done for a few clients now so that it is sitting in my computer, and ready to "spit out", once I start working again on January 5th.

The following Christmas poem was emailed to me by Barney (who's mom, Barbara sent it to him), who along with his wife, Jamie, has been part of Morgan's and my small group at church. Barney also took the New Believers Guide to the Bible class with me. (Both he and I looked for an author or reference, but did not find anyone to give the proper credit to for writing this.)

It started with Mary, so humble and mild, With the heart of a woman and the faith of a child.
She rose above anything she might have feared To answer "Amen" when the angel appeared.
And on that first Christmas, in spite of that cold, A sweet newborn baby was all hers to hold.
Strangers and shepherds, ignoring their sheep, Watched while she rocked little Jesus to sleep.
What joys we can known, what a miracle starts, When we, too, can say yes to God in our hearts!

Until the next time.....

starting to say goodbye.....

2008-12-13T14:18:00.000-05:00

The days keep rolling along, and about 3 weeks from now we will be settled and almost unpacked in our new home back in NC. The house is now finished, and our friend / real estate agent, Debbie, will be inspecting it on Monday, along with a house inspector. If there are no major issues, it is possible they may move up the closing to Christmas Eve, with Debbie handling things at the attorney's office, while Morgan and I just sign and FedEx any paperwork prior to then. If possible, that would be great, because we could hit Fred's Beds (for Cassie's new bed), BJs, Best Buy, and other places and start filling house while we have free time until the movers arrive.

Tonight is also our last regular service at CRB. Next week start the Christmas Eve musical services. We will be able to see Sunday morning Christmas Eve performance next week, but that will be it. With the movers in house all day Monday and Tuesday, we will probably not have the time to leave.

I'm quite a bit "bummed" about this being our last "live" service here for a while. It will be nice to get the DVDs and hear Harry speak, but it obliviously will not be the same. I already told him to expect email questions from me. :-)

Pastor Harry has asked Morgan, Cassie and I to meet them after services tonight, as they want to get together for a prayer for us. I thought that was very nice of them, but as I have said many times, these are very nice people. Last week when I went up to just say "hello" to Harry after the service, he had not even come down off the stage to greet me before he was telling me how sad he/they are to see us leave. It really made me feel good to hear that from him. We also talked about not being able to get a last motorcycle ride in together, as schedules have made it difficult to do.

I'll make sure I post more this week about what is going on as we get ready to leave. Cars start being hauled away early in the week, then it will be us packing personal stuff to travel with, packing zip locks to make the unpack easier (will explain later in the week), and then the packers and movers.

I am also going to post my thank you note that I had given to the pastors over at CRB. I am going to keep it below any current post until the end of the year. It was 3 pages long, so you may want to read it in pieces. :-)

Until the next time.....

it's not the lie, but the coverup.....

2008-12-10T21:32:00.000-05:00

Yes, I have been lazy in updating this blog. With tax season coming here in another four weeks or so, this will be a sparse space for updates until late April.

Two weeks from tonight we will back in NC. Two Weeks?!?! Pretty much ready, just tying up all those little loose ends that are annoying (well, at least annoying to me). I can think of it this way also, three weeks from today and will be all set up in the new house. Except for some unpacking. OK lots of unpacking.

Glad to see that someone is able to make a buck in this tough economy. Who knew putting a Senate seat up on Ebay wasn't legal? This story has so many layers, it is comical. At the top of the "funny" scale is the arrogance of the Illinois Governor. Blagojevich even called out the Feds the day before his arrest, saying he was "clean".

Then Jesse Jackson, Jr.'s name has shown up. Let's see if dad can get him out of this mess, or if dad ends of having a hand in this story. Jackson spoke about the Senate seat with Blagajevich on Monday, just hours before the Governor was taken by the Feds.

Those two, and the corrupt nature of Chicago and Illinois being told to another generation are the "funny" part. There is already one not funny part to me.

What the press will focus on is President-elect Obama's role in this situation. I am not saying Obama knew about the "pay for play", and I believe he had no knowledge of the "sale". But he quickly said on Tuesday that neither he or his staff had spoken to Blagajevich about the Senate seat. First, I find that virtually impossible to believe. You give up your seat because you are becoming POTUS, there is one man that decides who fills that seat, and you are saying that you or your staff never said "boo", about it?

Seems there are quotes from Obama Campaign Manager, David Axelrod, speaking to reporters a week or so ago stating otherwise. But yesterday, Axelrod says he spoke "out of turn", and he was incorrect in saying Obama staff had spoken with anyone from the Illinois Governor's staff. Every word comes out of "Obama people" mouths like reading from a script, and all of a sudden Axelrod made a comment in error, on a subject which all knew the answer to before the question was asked? It does not pass the "smell test".

What I want is honesty, and we are not getting it. Why tell the press nobody has spoken to Blagevich? (Senator Biden and Senator Clinton have spoken with their governors about who they would "like" to fill their seats. Does not mean it will happen, but you know they gave a recommendation.) Nobody accused you of looking for your "share". As stated above, it would be natural to make a recommendation.

Obama has no track record to fall back on, and all that "political capital" he won on November 4th will dry up faster then water in the Sahara if this administration is caught covering up something that needs no cover up. Those people that voted for him for "change" will turn against him in a heartbeat if "change" means having a scandal come up even before the Inauguration.

Please, just tell us the truth. We, as a country, can't afford to go into this with the "hope" that you are not lying to us.

USA Today article about homeowners missing mortgage payments on purpose so that they "could" become eligible for government assistance if it becomes available to them. Do pride and honor in oneself ever have a chance of making a comeback in our society?

My Hurricanes are stinking up the place. Not going to rant about them, just hope things get better once we get back to NC.

- Love the Prince of Persia series. Cassie loved PoP: Sands of Time. Need to pick up this newest version.
- Just picked up Left 4 Dead. I like shooting zombies.
- Any of these guys could & should win the Heisman.

Until the next time.....

spend or save (part 2).....

2008-12-05T10:16:00.000-05:00

Just to follow up on yesterday's post, here is a much more well written article (then my babbling) on spending and the holiday season with relation to the economic times we are facing.

Until the next time.....

spend or save.....

2008-12-04T20:20:00.000-05:00

In the simplest terms, this economic "crisis" was caused because people spent more then what they could afford. Be that housing, "stuff" to go into the house, extra cars, and vacations. Credit was "cheap", car loans and credit card applications being approved by just signing your name to a piece of paper. Most never stopped to think that this bill would eventually have to be paid. Well, we all know the bill was finally presented, and what has happened since.

Somewhere I read a statistic that the average American spent 106% of their total income each year for the past 6 years. Now, that is average, so if you include someone like Morgan and myself (and I'm sure many of you reading) who actually save money each year, that number gets skewed much higher.

Since the "crash" of the market in September when people finally started to realize that this was a widespread problem, many Americans have actually cut back their spending and are actually saving a few dollars. Whether it be to actually save, or to pay off debt, people are not spending as much as they did before.

Hooray for savers, you say. Well, you would think so, but if you turn on the news, you keep seeing stories that because people are not spending, but that it is actually bad for the economy. Huh? If we spend, we get the mess we are currently in, and if we save, we make it worse?

For me, this is mostly "media hype" because we are in the Christmas season. People need to save, and should save. For as much as many went overboard in spending, they might go the opposite in their savings. In my mind, that is a good thing. It will all level out over time, and the country will eventually be OK, but I think these "bad times" are a good thing, if it gets people to change their habits, take some time before purchasing, and make adjustments in their lives.

Yes, less spending will keep the economy in a lull for a longer time, but I feel that this is the best way to get out of this mess. A smart, slow recovery to "normal" is more important and better in the long run than a speedy and reckless one. I fear that if we do recover from this too fast, people will forget, and get back into bad habits. Don't believe that, think about how much the talk for alternative fuels and autos has calmed down with gas under $2 a gallon.

I feel it is irresponsible the way the government and the media are handling educating people on this economic situation. So, don't listen to the hype. Saving and spending less is a good thing. The economy will eventually recover (maybe slower than Washington and Wall Street want, but who cares) whether you spend frivolously on that iPod, or not. But, if it is frivolous, will your own economy recover?

Until the next time.....

old is new again.....

2008-12-03T20:22:00.000-05:00

Well, I mentioned it in my last post, and I have written about it quite a few times since the end of last season, but The Carolina Hurricanes finally fired Coach Peter Laviolette. What I didn't mention, and did not think would occur, is that the team has decided to replace Laviolette with the man that he replaced, Paul Maurice. The hiring of Maurice is strange, but with only four players still here from the last day he was here, it is almost like he is coaching a new team anyway.

This has Jim Rutherford's (Canes' GM) fingers all over it. Yes, the team has not been consistent, but when your squad constantly looks like a MASH unit, it is not going to be. There were lucky to only miss the last two playoffs by 2 points each. It could have and should been much worse. Rutherford was not happy with Laviolette after they won the Stanley Cup, and Laviolette's contract had expired. Rutherford had to sign him to that nice long (and expensive) five year deal, or risk losing him to another team (probably his hometown Bruins) right after the greatest time in the franchise's history.

Well, let's hope Coach Maurice can light that spark that has been missing, and that the team can stay healthy for the remainder of the season. As for Coach Laviolette, he has 2 1/2 years of salary coming his way, but I expect him to behind some teams bench before the puck drops next season.

Starting tomorrow afternoon, Cassie will be taking voice lessons taught by a member of our church. She will only be able to take three weeks worth of lessons, but that will be just enough time to let us know if she is serious or not, for when we return to NC.

Tomorrow night, Morgan and I continue with our small group at church. It is the same couples as the last group, except we have one new couple, who replaced the couple that is just about ready to have their first child. This is a quick four week group, and we are studying "The Life of Mary".

Three weeks from tonight we will be back east. Where has this time flown to?

Sorry, I have been lazy with the writing and postings. I think after all the writing I did before and after the election, and with so much going on with us and the move, I am a little worn out. But I do "owe" you my thank you note to CRB.

Plus I want to talk about the fact that it is OK to save your money this holiday season, even if the media is telling you to spend or things will get worse. Ugh!

Until the next time.....

stuff before move.....

2008-11-29T15:28:00.000-05:00

Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving with either friends or family (or both). We had a nice quiet time with a few friends. It was nice. Did not go anywhere on "Black Friday", though I saw from Casey's posts he purchased a new TV.

If you did not see, there was a tragedy at the WalMart in Valley Stream, New York (last town on Long Island before it becomes "the city"). Let's see what legal charges and lawsuits come out of this event. Maybe then some retailer will think twice before doing these "teaser" ads next year.

I have been doing a ton of little things concerning the office, the upcoming tax season, the move, and the new house. There are so many little things in different areas that need to be done, it seems like I can't get any of the "piles" to get any lower. I finally decided to take care of the office / tax season first, and leave the house / move for after the holiday.

At this time of year, I have to get "year-end notes" to the business clients so that, so that they can start getting those last few figures together to tie in their year-end numbers. With our short schedule (25 days from today we leave SD) I just needed to get this done earlier then usual, but at least it is "off my desk".

The other project I finished was getting a letter to all my clients with the new office information. Luckily, I have a good "employee" (who didn't complain too much) who labeled and stuffed about 250 envelopes. Plus, she gets paid in parental love. Once the new business cards come in, we'll throw them in, close the envelopes and mail them out.

On the house front, I have been moving around on getting a mortgage. We are already approved and set-up with the NC State Employees Credit Union, as Morgan had banked with them forever, and we have always used them for our mortgages since we moved to NC in 1993. Well, a client through a "fly into the ointment", and has been able to get me a lower rate (by 3/8%), and lower fees (about $400). It is hard for us to move from SECU, but for a 20 year mortgage, this is a $17,000 savings. Can't pass that up. If SECU lowers the rate in the next week or so, we'll stay with them, otherwise we will have to cancel the application with them.

Then yesterday, my client's site changed their 15 year mortgage to under 5%, so that is now something else for me to think about. Ugh!

Was able to get new phone numbers set up, and internet service installed the afternoon after we close on the house. If I wasn't forced to have a "land line" because of the office, I would look at alternatives, because basic phone service pricing is out of control. Could have sworn in I remember AT&T being broken up years ago for having a monopoly, and now after all these years, they are back again to controlling it all.

The next morning, DirecTV will be installed. I hope I have the sightlines for the dish to get a signal. I would have thought about using Time Warner, but their high definition service and their HD-DVR has just been a nightmare as of late. Between the boxes not recording because they need a "reboot", or they just rebooting on their own at any given time, we have had more problems with Time Warner Cable in the past 16 months, then I ever had with DirecTV in the ten years time I subscribed to them.

We also hope on that evening after we close to get our refrigerator and Cassie's bed delivered to the house. And maybe if we get lucky, also have the blinds installed that afternoon/evening.

OK, my head hurts again just thinking about it, so I'll stop for now. :-)

The Hurricanes beat the Flyers yesterday in overtime, 3-2, which snapped the Canes 3 game losing streak, as well as the Flyers' 6 game winning streak. I know the Canes have injuries, but they better get more consistent if they want to make the playoffs, and not be looking from the outside for the third straight year. Also they need to win soon to keep Coach Laviolette around. He is not on the greatest relationship terms with management (undeservedly so), so any prolonged slump might be the end for him.

- These people really love "A Christmas Story".
- The iPhone killer? Blackberry & Verizon hope so.
- Really, a Shrek Christmas special?

Until the next time.....

giving thanks.....

2008-11-26T16:26:00.000-05:00

Yes, this is going to be one of the "this is what I'm thankful for posts". Very original, don't you think? ;-)

My "thanks" on this day before Thanksgiving 2008.

- My loving wife, Morgan, who I love more and more each day.
- My daughter, Cassie, who gives me great joy. Even if sometimes I think she really wants to see my head explode. ;-)
- God, Jesus, and my salvation.
- Mine and my family's health.
- My church, CRB.
- Casey & Heather, Kellie & Steve, Pastor Harry, Pastor Jeanette and Gerry, Tony & Alisa, Tim, Clay & Ronna, Randy & Linda.
- The time I got to spend with my dad (still miss you big time 13 years later), even if it was way too short..
- Living in the greatest country in the world.

For the more frivolous thanks:
- The wonderful new house that is being built for our family. It will be the place we start an even better phase of our life together.
- My motorcycle and any ride, whether it be 2 miles or 150 miles. There is nothing better.
- My XBOX 360 and all my buddies (they aren't frivolous, but the gaming is) over at Geezer Gamers. One of the few places I like being "social".
- Hockey. Greatest game on earth, even if most of the planet doesn't know it.
- ESPN. Hey, I said frivolous. :-)

- Pretty much everyone and everything else in my life. Whether it is a person, or a thing, I think we can all look around and "bump" into thankful pieces of our life at every turn.

Have a great Thanksgiving.

Until the next time.....

discriminate.....

2008-11-21T20:08:00.000-05:00

Storytime:

All names, descriptions, adjectives associated with the story have been removed for your protection. :-)

A person is looking for a particular service. This person finds a company who provides a service almost like the one they want, but not exactly. Person gets upset that company will not meet his needs and provide this service. Person sues company for them to change their business plan (which in of itself is not illegal in any way) to meet his needs. The Attorney General where this person lives agrees with them, and also sues company to change their business ways. Not to lose in court, company agrees to change their ways to accommodate person.

Moral of story is that a person can make a company change its business practice, if that person does not want to look for alternative businesses that will accommodate his needs/wants.

End of story:

Outraged? Think I am making this up?

I wish I was, but I am not. As a matter of fact, this same exact scenario happened this week. On Tuesday eHarmony, after a three year court battle, agreed to start an "alternative" website to their own that will match up people looking for a same-sex companion.

Let me start by saying that this has absolutely nothing to do with gay or straight. If you think this rant does, please go back and re-read "the story". There is a reason I made it "vanilla" and did not include the actual events. The reason is because they do not matter.

Substitute "person" with "vegetarian", and "company" with "McDonald's", and it is the same story.

How can this be? How in this country have we come to where a business can be forced to change its business practices to accommodate a service that they did not want to provide?

It is not like eHarmony is a monopoly and the only online dating service available in the world. (In fact, besides the many other heterosexual dating sites, there are a numerous amount of gay/lesbian sites.) If that were the case, and eHarmony was a monopoly, I would agree with the ruling, but there were other options available to this man, and he chose not to pursue them, but to instead shoehorned his way into having a company change by bringing them to court.

The State of New Jersey, who also sued eHarmony, claims this was discrimination. No, discrimination would have been if he applied for a job, and was turned down because he was gay. Discrimination was and still would be defined as myself and a black person going to a restaurant, and me being served a hamburger, while they were told they could not eat there. That is discrimination. This was the fact that the company he went to did not sell the service/product he was looking for.

Again, strip away the "descriptions". Could a "little person" sue a Big & Tall shop for not having clothes in his size? Could an obese person sue a "Petite Boutique" for not carrying XXL clothing? These are people who could be legitimately discriminated against, and quite possibly are because of their physical appearance.

Could I sue a Jewish book store for not carrying a Bible, or vice versa if a Jewish person came into a Christian store looking for a Torah? Would that be religious discrimination?

This ruling, if allowed to stand (which it seems it will because eHarmony settled), and if not challenged, opens the door to many other possible combinations. Over-reacting? Sounds crazy?

I don't prepare foreign tax returns. Could a Arab or Muslim, legal alien, demand that I prepare those type of returns, or call me for discriminating against them?

Discrimination is out in the world, and it is a terrible thing. It has a long and disgusting history as part of this country. True discrimination has no place in this world. This is not discrimination.

My fear is that stories like this one will "water down" true discrimination that happens, and eventually we will turn our back on those truly in help against it.

Again. A person went to a store, did not find what he was looking for, so he sued store to carry the item. Think about it the next time you go to Best Buy looking to purchase that John Deere Lawnmower.

Until the next time.....

deliberate.....

2008-11-19T21:49:00.000-05:00

Morgan's trial is finally over. Well, not "her" trial, but the trial she is a juror on. Because she is an alternate, she is "on call" for now if she is needed because a juror has to leave, or when they are finally ready to deliver a verdict. She has really enjoyed her time during this case. I on the other hand, probably would not have made it out of the questionnaire stage.

Have almost all of the different utilities, etc. taken care of to be shut off here in San Diego, and turned on in NC. Biggest hassle is our Earthlink/Mindspring service. Because we don't want to change email addresses (we have had them since 1995), we need to give Earthlink notice that we are moving. That way when we cancel Time Warner here in San Diego it does not also cancel Earthlink (they are tied in together as our ISP is considered Earthlink on Time Warner). That way our Earthlink account stays "open" during the time we are without internet service until TW hooks us up back in NC.

Confusing, but easier this time because I did a live chat with Earthlink to get my "move" set up. Much better than trying to speak with a customer service representative that I can't understand.

Flying into NC on Christmas Eve means not being able to run to any stores for the first day and half, so we are having Kellie catch some UPS packages from us with some basics, and run to PetSmart (when I remember to send her a check) so the cats will have what they need. We really appreciate the helping hand.

Haven't found anything yet, but I am sure we will be employing Casey for something also. ;-)

We had our monthly church motorcycle ride on Sunday. I have to say it was the best one yet. I thought the views a couple of months ago when we came towards the Pacific was great, but this was even better. We went up the mountains towards Julian (where Morgan, Cassie and I go sometimes), and instead of going into town, we went up to the top (over 5000 feet) and descended down the other side towards the valley and desert town of Boreggo Springs.

The views from the top of the mountain coming down in the desert were spectacular. Seeing the desert then over to other mountains and the colors was just amazing. God's work in creating this beauty just never ceases to amaze.

After eating lunch at Carlee's in Boreggo Springs we headed back home. This took us again from the warm desert, up the mountains to cool temperatures at 5000 feet, through the heart of Julian, then back down our normal path to the suburbs of San Diego, where we all live.

It was the best 150 miles I have spent on the bike. Only thing that could have added to the day would have been finishing off the ride at the Pacific, but that's just getting greedy.

These rides with these very nice and special people will be, along with the church itself, the pieces I will miss most about leaving here.

One of the guys, Hugh, brought along his 14 year old daughter. She had only been on the back of a bike a couple of times for trips around the block, and decided she wanted to go for a long ride with daddy. She had a blast, and I can't wait until I get to do the same with Cassie.

Glad to see the bailout really helping the economy and stock market. Yikes! I will say this though, and that is patience. Where the market is today was last seen in 2003. Only 5 years ago. Not 50 years. So, please be patient, and it will turn around. It is going to be bumpy, but it will end eventually.

As I have said before, in a "24 hours news channel / internet" world, all events get so much play (especially bad news), they seem worse then they really are if you had time to sit back and digest them.

- Could oil drop down below $50 a barrel?
- Hurricanes have won two in a row. This time, 2-1 over the Canadiens.
- PC Magazine will be online only. Not too long before a majority will be following suite.

Until the next time.....

eat and shop.....

2008-11-17T21:57:00.000-05:00

Is there anything more annoying then trying to do some quick shopping in Costco (or BJs, or Sam's, etc.) and have the aisles clogged with shoppers who have also decided to eat a free 3000 calorie, 200 grams of fat lunch by snacking all the "samples"? All I wanted was my breakfast bards and a couple of cases of water, and it seemed I had to move my cart like I was going through a mine field. If it wasn't the 70 year old shuffling along while eating, it was dodging what was falling out of their mouths, because it seems the "law" that you also have to slow down and try to talk in the middle of the aisle, while you are stuffing your face all before arriving at the next course of the meal at the aisle end-cap. Ugh!

I bow down to Chris for being on top of this before I got completely on board concerning the bailouts. We now have Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Paulson kind of "winging it" and changing the rules as they go concerning where and how much of the bailout money will be distributed. Funny thing is, that all the "doom and gloom" was supposed to happen right away if we did nothing. Well, it's eight weeks since then, and we have really done nothing of substance with the bailout, and the earth did not implode like we were told it would.

On top of that, now we have cities (Detroit & Philadelphia to name tow) asking for a "bailout", and the granddaddy of them all, the three US automakers (Chrysler, Ford and GM) asking for $25 billion to help them out.

First, the cities. NO! Cut services, trim staff, and do what you have to do. Cut trash collection, go to a four day work week. Whatever is necessary.

As for the automakers. Even a bigger NO! Want to know the "Big 3's" biggest expense is these days? Legacy contracts with the United Automakers Workers (UAW). Chapter 11 bankruptcy would allow the automakers to "rework" themselves, renegotiate the contracts, and come out the other end leaner and more streamlined. It worked for the airlines, it can work for the autos.

I know the Democrats and Detroit are screaming about 3 million jobs being lost. Does anyone really believe that if all three closed their doors, that the factories would just sit there empty? Of course not. It would only be a matter of days before someone with money bought up the factories and supplies, hired the engineering brains of each company and then hired workers with reasonable contracts. Next thing you know, there would be efficient, innovative cars being made, and at competitive prices.

The only losers? The unions and union leaders because they can't see the forest through the trees, and are willing to dig their heels in and not help out the situation.

How come nobody is bothering to mention that Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Honda and Nissan are all able to build cars here in the US, and are not in the same kind of trouble? Because it would mean admitting that they are working with non-union employees, and don't have 15% of their costs going to ridiculously negotiated contracts from long ago.

- How nice of Goldman Sachs to not give out bonuses this year.
- 007 takes in 70 (million dollars).
- Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson for NASCAR title #3.

Until the next time.....

impressions.....

2008-11-15T15:06:00.000-05:00

Up to the point Morgan and I walked into CRB, I never thought I would be accepted as a Christian. Not by the people who were in those churches I, or we, visited over the last 35 years, and definitely, not by Jesus. Why? I had way too much baggage, and those people I saw and spoke with had none of that weighing them down. Or so I thought.

Growing up in the Northeast as Roman Catholic meant that even though you went to church each Sunday (or Saturday night), unless you were a clergyman, or named a Cardinal, Saint or the Pope, or one of the little old ladies clutching her Rosary Beads, you were going to hell. It seemed we just went to church to make the journey down easier.

I remember fear, threats, and lots of confessional booths. Not much else. As for the people, they had "issues" (Especially the men it seemed. Catholic women didn't talk about their problems, as their problems seemed to revolve around their husbands.) It probably did not help that my brother and I were dropped off at a church on our own, and then picked up afterwards. I don't blame my parents, but I don't think they realized what a setback (at least to me), that was in understanding religion.

Then after college and leaving the church for 18 years, I decide to get back into trying to find God by going to a Southern Baptist Church. Here all the people in the church were presented as perfect, or at least that was the impression they gave. Everybody seemed to be born the perfect Christian, and lead the perfect Christian life. I was back to thinking, "what am I trying to accomplish here with what I have behind me?".

I was intimidated, and afraid to come forward, because I believed how I had lived before would anchor me, and never let me get to where I wanted to go, and that was to a relationship with Jesus. I was afraid of someone hearing about my past, or present, and saying "No" to me. I needed to know that people like me could come to God, be forgiven, and then allowed to live a normal life that has Jesus at our side. I wasn't seeing or hearing that message.

Then we met people at CRB. Some of them were that "perfect" Christian, who grew up always in the church, and pretty much was on that "straight and narrow" path. But they said hello to us, and talked to us, not down at us, like I had felt before. (And before I go any further, no Kellie, you, or your family, or some others at WCA, never made me feel that way) Then we met others, and in discussions they told about drug, alcohol and other addictions, infidelities, betrayals and other "baggage" from their lives. They were willing to open up to me, to let me know that it was OK to have baggage, and that you can let it go and start a new chapter. I saw all these people together as Christians, and finally realized that "yes" I could be one of them. That was the lock that needed to be opened to finally allow myself to open up to God.

As silly as this may sound, it also helped me to learn that those I met and became friends with also enjoyed many of the same activities that I did. That includes some fellow game players, sport nuts, and of course motorcycle riders. Before CRB, I would have never dreamed of riding with fellow church members, including my Pastor.

My thoughts and impressions about "who" a Christian was, has changed 180 degrees these past 15 months, and even though it took a long time to get myself on the same page, it was well worth the wait.

Again, thanks for reading and letting me "talk" about what has gone on, and what I am thinking about.

Until the next time.....

I don't hate.....

2008-11-13T23:35:00.000-05:00

First, a housecleaning item. Nate, if you looked in the comments after yours, I mentioned that I ride a 2007 Harley Sportster, and hope to eventually get a Heritage Softail Classic. I wasn't hiding what I ride from you. :-)

It is nine days since Election Day, and the most noise in the country is still about Proposition 8 passing here in California. Barack Obama winning the Presidential Election? That's so "yesterday". The "No" side of the vote is out in full throat, and it looks like there will be no backing down from them. We even had Melissa Etheridge claim that she would no longer be paying her California State Income Taxes because of the vote's outcome. Let's see how well that goes over in a state with a deep budget deficit.

Of course from reading, you come to find out that Prop 8 only passed because the Extreme Right-Wing Christian Zealots were against it, and we got all our bigoted, homophobic, "all gays should die" friends to join us in voting.

Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. While there may be some on the outer edges who may agree and wish the above, the overwhelming majority of us rebuke that type of thought and language. Christians have gay and lesbian people in our lives. I do, and I care about my friends and family that are homosexuals, and I wish absolutely no ill on them, but I also believe that they should not be joined in marriage. Marriage to me is as defined in the Bible, one man and one woman.

Actually, I have no problem with a legal document between two consenting adults that would give them some basic "rights" that have always been there for heterosexual couples. That includes, but only, being able to visit their partner in a hospital, because I believe that nobody should be denied seeing a loved one (whether you agree or disagree with their relationship) if him or her were in ICU or in their dying days. Again, just not a marriage.

I had this discussion with Pastor Harry last Tuesday during our meeting. I asked him if being a Christian meant I was supposed to shun my friends and family that are gay, and if my thoughts, like stated above, were wrong and against Christian beliefs. He told me "absolutely not", as we are not to turn anyone away, and my thoughts about some kind of civil agreement, were not out of line. We discussed that Jesus sat with tax collectors, prostitutes, and other sinners (and maybe even the occasional tax preparer :-) ).

I felt better after Pastor Harry and I spoke, because I felt I was right in loving my friends and family members, because they are my friends and family members, but at the same time as a Christian not approving of their lifestyle. But, I wanted the reassurance that my feelings were correct and inline with what I was reading in the Bible, and that I can separate the two.

OK, so I opened the door here for some discussion, and hopefully did not make anyone too uncomfortable. Do my friends and readers agree with above? Do my Christian friends and readers agree with what I have written?

The reason I started this was because I wanted to expand this over the next day or so to talk about how my perception has changed of who and what a Christian can be, and how I feel Christians are portrayed. Then that would give you a little better understanding when I bring over the thank you letter I presented to Pastor Harry at CRB.

Thank you for indulging me these next few posts.

Until the next time.....

our two cats.....

2008-11-12T22:15:00.000-05:00

Casper - 10 years old

Leo - 17 years old

Really lazy today, but I took these pictures the other day after seeing cat pictures on the blog of Nate's sister, Angela, so I had to post them.

Nate was asking about what kind of motorcycle I have, as he also rides, but he had his ride stolen a few years ago. The strange part is, Casey also rides, but also had his ride stolen before we became friends. Who knows two guys, in two separate cities who don't ride now because their bikes were stolen?

Morgan is back to jury duty after two days off for Veteran's Day. She is enjoying her her time there (well as much as you can enjoy jury duty), but as an alternate, she could go through the whole trial, and not have a hand in the final decision.

We now have a solid closing date and time of Monday, December 29th at 11am. Now, I can start booking the satellite, internet, and telephone hook-ups. What fun!

OK, I'm done.

- The Hurricanes got crushed tonight, losing 5-1 to Washington.
- Hi-Def Flips.
- Hope I enjoy Quantum of Solace better then reviewers.

Until the next time.....

starting on the wrong foot.....

2008-11-11T20:42:00.000-05:00

Today is Veteran's Day. To me, every day should be Veteran's and Memorial Day. These are the great, brave men and women who made this country what it was, is, and will be.

My lovely wife Morgan mentioned to me (and left a comment) that my congratulations to Barack Obama seemed more like a backhand compliment. It was not meant to be that way, but in looking at it, I did question more than congratulate. So, let me try again, and give President-Elect Obama my congratulations, and prayers as he leads this country for the next four years. I "hope" that he is able to "change" the ways of this great country.

Well, our dates are starting to fall into place. The movers will be packing up the house and the truck on December 22nd and 23rd. Morgan, Cassie, myself and the Leo & Casper (the cats) will be leaving San Diego on Christmas Eve morning and will arrive in Raleigh around 5pm. As for closing on the house, they are looking at the afternoon of Monday, December 29th, or the next morning, Tuesday, December 30th. Our stuff should arrive in NC sometime the 29th, 30th, or 31st, depending on the weather as they cross the country.

Now, I just need to firm up the cars and their transport. The motorcycle is going with our personal stuff in the moving truck.

The last of the items we wanted to sell, has left the house, as the bedroom set was sold and moved out of here early this afternoon. That is a big relief to not have to worry about moving and selling those items back in NC. It also make the house a much easier "move" for the moving company.

Found out from the ministry leader of the Eternal Riders that our ride this Sunday will be a nice and very long one. We will be going over the mountains and down into the desert for our day of riding. If the weather is right, we should go from needing long sleeves and a jacket to only short sleeves by the time we drop the 5000 feet in elevation. Should be fun, and I am looking forward to it as it will probably be my last ride with this group for a while.

Off to some "catch up" television with Morgan, and maybe some Gears of War afterwards, if I don't fall asleep. ;-)

- Some of my so called "friends" already trying the New XBOX Live. :-)
- Three days until new James Bond, Quantum of Solace.
- My wife and all of San Diego upset with Trevor being let go by Padres.

Until the next time.....

sold on Craigslist.....

2008-11-07T19:15:00.000-05:00

OK, I got rid of the gray (I like gray), and changed up the colors. Please let me know what you think.

This Tuesday afternoon, we will have each of the items we were not putting in the new house sold and picked up thanks to Craigslist. The only items we are leaving up for sale are the washer/dryer, but if they don't sell it is not a big deal, as we only have them up there to lighten the moving weight.

The moving expenses will not be as bad as we thought because of quite a few factors, including the slow economy, new trucking laws started in 2008, which seems to have knocked down rates, and fuel prices falling. Plus we are returning with only what we want/need, so the load will be much lighter than previous times.

We began telling the people at church about us moving and the reaction has been overwhelming. This is making leaving a bit harder for us. After talking with quite a few people, many have reasons they visit NC, and will be adding us to their stops when in the state, so that also makes us feel pretty good. Morgan and I joked that we were hoping they said, "Good riddance, don't let the door hit you when you go", as it would make it easier for us to leave, but that has not happened. We have been blessed to meet such good people here at CRB.

Tuesday, I has a long meeting with Pastor Harry, about us moving, and what the church has meant to me, and to us as a family. I also gave him a 3 page "thank you" note which chronicled my journey, and the events that have occured these past 5+ years. He was so happy when I told him how much CRB has changed us and meant to us this past year, that I thought he was going to cry when I finished my story. Now, he is talking about me going up and giving my testimony in front of the church before we move away.

If 18 months ago you would have told me this story, I would have looked at you like you had 3 heads. What a ride it has been. I have a copy of the letter, and might post it here before we leave San Diego.

I picked up a new business client down in Atlanta. I had a business client move there from NC, and he recommended me to his brother and his brother's business partner, who were not happy with their previous accountant. My client has one of the lowest fees for a monthly client among my base, and with me changing my fee set-up for all new clients, this was going to be interesting. Why? I knew he expected his brother to pay the same low fee that he had been paying. Sure enough, I got a phone call from my original client asking why his brother was being charged more. I told him about my new fee schedule and that I had discounted his brother a little, because he was family (which I did). That got an OK from him, so I then pushed my luck and mentioned that I was going to be raising his fees when I return to NC to get all my "old" clients up to my current pricing levels, but that it would be done a little at a time. He said OK, at that was the end of the conversation.

So, I got a new client and was able to raise a fee all at the same time. The old me would have been a "wimp" and lowered the brother's fee down to the existing brother, just to keep the client happy, which would have made me upset when working on those clients.

I don't even want to get into the debacle that occurred last night in Washington with the Hurricanes. How you blow a lead with less than 3 minutes to play and come away with no points against a division rival? It just unthinkable. This one or two points will be forgotten come April, but if they miss the playoffs again by a point or two (like the past two seasons), they can look back at this game.

A quiet weekend of nothing and game playing ahead. Enjoy yours.

- "You got to move it, move it" Madagascar 2.
- I think, Gears of War 2 might mean a late night this weekend.
- One week until James Bond and Quantum of Solace.

Until the next time.....

changes.....

2008-11-07T01:33:00.000-05:00

Yes, after a year, I changed up the template and colors of this blog. Not sure if I like it, after an hour of playing with it. Please let me know what you think. Is it easy to read? Go back to the old one? Try another one? Any input is appreciated. Thank you.

Until the next time.....

Congratulations Barack Obama.....

2008-11-05T18:46:00.000-05:00

As I stated in my last piece about why I voted for John McCain, my world did not end, just because of an election result that I did not want to see. Yes, I am disappointed, but my "world" will go on the same, no matter who was elected.

As mentioned before, Morgan and I are not tied to any "party" when it comes to our careers, so we plug along, and keep the "ship" going straight. Some might say that is selfish, but as I have said, I believe in taking care of yourself, if you are capable of doing so, so why would I go against that belief when it comes to my family. That is not to say, I don't want the country to do well, as I do, but we are not tied to the economy, like some others might be.

That said, I again congratulate the new President-Elect on a well oiled campaign machine. We will never see a campaign run the "old fashioned" way anymore, but whether that is a good thing is something we will see. Obama spending $250 million (double McCain) has many eyebrows raised about future "purchasing of elections. Think you saw lots of ads this year, just wait if neither candidate takes public financing in 4 years, and both spend over $200 million.

Obama's speech last night was interesting. He spoke about this taking a while (maybe more than a term), hard work and sweat to get this country moving again. I am all for that, and I hope the words that I heard are his true words, and he means them, as these "centrist" ideas from the campaign and last night differ from his prior words (written or spoken) or voting records.

I also hope that his supporters heard these words, and really listened to them. I hope they realize that if he follows this course that this will not be a "snap of the fingers", and things will be great. Though some are obliviously thinking that his election is some magic elixir for their problems. I hope many others are more realistic, and will not be disappointed.

This country was built on hard work and sweat. You did the work, you made it "to the table". If you fell, there was help to get you upright again and headed in the right direction, but it was still up to you to take advantage of that help and make it "to the table". And for the few that just could not do it on your own, there was help to that table.

Some might say that we don't help enough that have fallen to get up and get guided in the right direction, and that may be true, which is "shame on us". But at the same time, there are way too many that try to claim they can't do it all, and take advantage of the system, and want to be picked up and placed with those have worked and sweated. Shame on them.

Also, what has changed dramatically over the years is that once at the table, everyone wants to be at the head of it. They want to "keep up with the Joneses." That attitude is a major factor in this credit mess people are in. How many are in "trouble" financially, but can look around at fancy cars, TVs, iPods, iPhones, and video game systems in their household?

His words last night spoke of personal reflection and responsibility. I hope he is true to them, and people listen.

If, once in office, Obama does decide to "go left", he will have trouble. It might not be with this Congress, but with the rest of America two years, then four years from now. This is still a "center / right" country. If you don't believe that, look at the majority of new house members and Senators, as they are either Moderate Republicans or Conservative Democrats. Go beyond that, and look at the ballot initiatives that voted to keep marriage defined as "one man / one woman". This election was a "shift" and message to the Republicans to get its act together, it was not a "swing" and mandate for the Liberals. To think that way would be foolish.

Though, I am already hearing rumblings about the Fairness Doctrine, and also the law to do away with secret ballots for unions, so maybe they are going to test the waters to see if the nation is still "starry eyed", and not paying attention.

So again, congratulations to Barack Obama. This administration has a tough road ahead of it. I hope and pray they do the right thing, and that his words last night ring true.

If not, you can be sure, I will let you know. :-)

Morgan has been on jury duty this week, and got called to be on the jury. About 150 people were in the pool, and she made it through. They say the case should wrap up by the 21st of this month, so that will mean she will miss about 3 weeks of work. Luckily, the station is OK with it, especially if she can use this "adventure" on the air when she returns.

Time to go through my "political junkie" withdrawals. :-)

- Law and Order is back. Hooray.
- The Beatles on Rock Band. Morgan says I'm old. :-(
- Hurricanes beat Maple Leafs in OT after blowing 3 goal lead.

Until the next time.....

Why John McCain gets my vote.....

2008-10-31T22:18:00.000-04:00

I have put myself out there by supporting John McCain, and now it is time for me to tie it all together, and explain why. While John McCain was not my initial choice a year ago, I think of it as picking a system, and not just the individual, so the whole package is what leads me to the McCain camp. Yes, this is an extremely long post, so I apologize now. If you do take the time to read all of it, thank you.

John McCain – This is a man who is a true American hero. While some might say it was 40 years ago, he had every right to be bitter and not want to put “Country First” after being a POW for 5 ½ years, but instead has always wanted to help his country by being a public official. He has been willing to work with Democrats as well Republicans over his career, and with a very heavy Democrat House and Senate, would know where to “pick his battles” in dealing with this Congress.

Sarah Palin – Yes, I will gush over this woman, and this will be my longest “reason”. Many think she is not intelligent enough, or ready for this position. They are wrong on both counts. This is a woman who took on her own party’s incumbent Governor, beat him, then went on to beat her opponent and become Governor. Two campaigns, one against “one of her own”, and she won. The people of Alaska know what they have in her. And for those saying, “it backwards Alaska”, and “she sounds like she came from the movie Fargo”, I will remind you that 16 years ago a Governor from Arkansas with a southern drawl, that might have come from the movie Deliverance, won the Presidency, and Democrats didn’t seem to mind his accent, lack of foreign policy, or lack of morals.

As for her lack of intelligence, does anyone think Barack Obama, or any politician just “knew” all the foreign affairs details, and other issues right from the start? For this I blame the McCain camp, as they should have come to the conclusion to choose her back in July, and that would have given them enough time to get her “up to speed”. A campaign season with 24 hour news channels and internet is not the time to keep her from reporters, and have her study up on issues that she normally does not deal with. Just listen to her now in interviews, or on the stump, and you see a different and confident woman, who has a much better grasp on the issues.

As for the woman herself, I remarked in a prior post that she reminds me of my wife, Morgan. She is strong, sure of herself, and not afraid to get in there, and “kick up some dust”. Sarah Palin is a strong Christian, and looks like a great wife and mother. Her, and the whole family seem to have great family values. (Quick story that a friend witnessed. The Palins showed up at his Stone Cold Creamery in Orlando, and when told they didn’t have to pay, the youngest girl took the $20 bill she had in her hands and immediately walked over the Make-A-Wish jar and placed in inside. No prompting, no words, just did it. BTW, they did have to pay, as the campaign would not allow freebies.)

I will state right now, that if on Tuesday McCain does not win, I will be first in line for her next national endeavor, if she decides to go that way. She gets a year or so to give her input on national affairs, while educating herself on foreign policy, and she will be a force to be reckoned with. Her Christian values are strong, but she does not look to force them down the throat of those on the other side, as noted any times during interviews when she always mentions that she understands that there is an “other side”. That is something non-Christians sometimes do not understand (heck, I didn’t for a long while), as they always think Christians are “our way or the highway”. Not so, and it is something we as Christians, and the Republican Party need to work on, and that is showing we are inclusive, not exclusive.

Iraq – This is not an argument on whether we should be in Iraq. That is a separate argument, and one I would not fight you on too heavily, except to say that there was intelligence, and even without WMD, us finding all those grave with hundreds if Iraqi civilians in them, would be enough for me.

As for now, we are there and we must finish the job we started. That may take 6 months, it may be 24 months, but in any case, we do not give a definite timeline and date. That is just inviting disaster. Progress is being made along all lines (being ignored right now with the Presidential race and economy dominating headlines), and we can’t leave until we are 100% complete, not 80 or 90 percent.

Also, for all the babble about the cost, there are some things missing from the rhetoric. First the $80 billion surplus was calculated when oil was $150 a barrel, so the number is now mute. Also, what is overlooked is that even if we pull out of Iraq tomorrow, many of those soldiers and equipment is going to Afghanistan. While we may not spent the full amount we are now spending in Iraq, there will not be a 100% savings.

National Security – I believe in the same Teddy Roosevelt theory of “walk softly and carry a big stick”. Others do not like us. They flew 4 planes into three buildings, and luckily because some brave Americans took action and did not talk to them, were stopped from even more damage. No attacks on American soil since 9/11.

John McCain will finish the job correctly in Iraq, get us through Afghanistan, and keep us safe from any other extremes that want to harm us. That will done by keeping us a power, and also soothing over feathers the current administration has ruffled.

Taxes and Jobs – This is where my 22 years in business takes over. I believe that we all “go up or go down” together when it comes to taxes, and not this “some go up, while others go down” garbage. The rates are already graduated, to make it that those making more, pay more, and many don’t realize that there are penalties in place that reduce deductions for those that make over certain amounts.

While a married couple with taxable income (income minus deductions and dependents) of $50K pays $6700 (any children under 17 and you can knock that down $1000 for each one under the age), while the same couple with $150K pays $30,800, and raise that to $300K, and the taxes paid are $77,800. So the “rich” that makes six times the income, now pays 12 times the amount in tax (Without counting any children under 17. Give each two children and the $50K earner’s tax is $4700, while is 16 ½ times less than the person making $300K), and they want to raise that to make it “fair”.

McCain will keep the taxes as they are, and will not punish one group to appease another.

Also, there has been lots of talk about small businesses and the $250K threshold. Let me tell you that the Obama is correct about certain businesses, like mine, as I don’t make that amount, so I am not affected by the tax increase. I also don’t create any jobs.

Jobs are created by businesses that will be affected by the tax increase. Facts are that “small businesses” (those with less than 100 employees) do make up almost 50% of the new jobs created, but almost all of those jobs come from businesses that current employ at least 20 workers now. Those businesses with over 20 employees, are also the ones making over $250K, so if you increase their taxes, which increase their costs, they are less likely to hire new employees. I have seen this over and over during my career.

Overall, neither one of these two candidates will have an effect on the economy in any large scale manner, as the economy always goes in a cycle. A President’s policies may determine how fast we get out of this “low”, and keeping taxes low for all is the best policy to quicken the recovery pace.

Windfall Profits Tax - Barack Obama wants to put a “special” tax on the profits of oil companies, and while we all hate paying for gas and seeing oil profits at these large numbers, this is plain and simple supply and demand capitalism. Wanting to tax them more is plain stupid. The day this is proposed, the CEO of Exxon should get on the air, and make a statement that says, “The tax that is imposed is fine with us. Please be aware that the price per gallon will rise $X tomorrow to offset our additional costs”.

Exxon make about 10 cents per dollar in profit, so on a $100 fill up, they make $10. It costs Apple $100 to make a Nano that it then sells for $200, and nobody is talking about taxing them any differently.

Energy and Jobs – John McCain wants to drill for oil, while building nuclear facilities, and bringing other alternatives “online”. I have always felt that we would have a long transition period, so we need as many possibilities as we can open for use, until we determine, as a nation, how we are going to “fuel” ourselves. I would not be surprised if in ten to fifteen years we have gas, natural gas, hybrid, hydrogen, and battery powered vehicles all sharing the road, with the “old gas” auto slowly decreasing in number. Any US drilling is good drilling, as any dollar we keep for ourselves during the transition is one less going to those outside US boarders.

At the same time, we would start getting the other alternatives (wind, nuclear, solar, etc.) closer to being “online” and supplementing what we now use. I do not believe we would have a complete overhaul to a whole new “green” system for at least 20 to 30 years, and all those years would mean jobs for people that want them.

Federal spending – President Bush spent like a sailor on leave or a rich girl with daddy’s credit card. Whatever your analogy, it has been a disgrace. Senator McCain has always been a “penny pincher” when it comes to the budget, and I don’t see it stopping here.

Meanwhile, an Obama, Pelosi, Reid “trifecta” would make the Bush days seems like they were spending at the “five and dime”. Obama has already mentioned a $150 billion stimulus, and Pelosi has already stated that she would double it to $300 billion. That is before he has even been elected.

Abortion – Look at your son, daughter, niece, nephew, or grandchild. Now think about the issue. Now go back and look at that child again. You decide.

Bill Ayers matters – I have heard the argument, “it was 40 years ago when Ayers committed his crimes, and he and Obama only were on some boards together”. It is a matter of judgment, and this was bad judgment. Obama should have excused himself from the board, or asked the Ayers be dismissed. This is a man that as recently as 2001, said that he wished he had done more damage to the country.

Again, if McCain was on a board, with a former Nazi, KKK member, or an abortion clinic bomber, there would be uproar from the left.

I don’t need a nanny – My basic philosophy is that you “take care of your own” and don’t look to others, in this case the government, to help you. I see and hear many that support Obama claim that their lives will be great if he is elected, and that the Republicans got us into this mess. Really? The Republicans ran up your credit card bills? Or made you buy a house you could not afford (and stop all the predatory lending garbage, as there has to be someone that actually looked at what they were signing), that was overpriced, but you figured you could “flip it” and make a buck. This was all President Bush and the Republicans’ doings?

Let me give you a hint. No matter who wins, it will not change unless you do something to make it change. Looking for the government to do it for you just makes you a child to their government parenting. Had parents, they taught me to get it myself.

Now again, as I have stated, I am for small and limited government. What possibly lies ahead, and what some people seem to be wanting is downright scary.

So, those are my main reasons that I support John McCain (I could go on, but I think this is enough), and hope that he is elected President of these United States. I don’t agree with everything he wants to do, or does not want to do, but for myself the choice is simple. We will rise up as a nation as long as each one of us as individuals does his/her best to make that possible. Sitting down and waiting on the government to do it for you, is not how we will get it done.

Will my world end if John McCain is not elected? No. I will be disappointed, but I am an American first, and a Republican second. My "house" is in order, so I am not going to be effected too much in either case, and in truth I will probably benefit from the increased business with so many tax changes possible. But again, my choice is made not only with me in mind, but the country as a whole.

Until the next time.....

sold for.....

2008-10-28T21:55:00.000-04:00

So I put up all our items that we wanted to sell on Craigslist, and within a matter of a couple of hours we sold off the bunk bed and have two people wanting the outdoor table and chairs set. The bunk bed was picked up today, and the table/chairs is supposed to be looked at and bought tomorrow. If that person falls through, a couple really wants it, and has emailed me quite a bit checking on it (a little "stalky" :-) ).

Now, we just need to start getting some interest in the big items.

I set up estimate appointments with four different movers over the rest of this week. All seemed OK with our time frame of packing the house and loading a truck by December 23rd or 24th. I can already feeling myself stressing over this, and I have not even gotten to the cars, or setting up ours and the cats' travel back east.

I am working up a long post (probably broken up into multiple posts) of why I am voting for John McCain (I know you are brimming with anticipation). Figured after preaching about knowing your candidate, I should "put up" and explain my reason for the McCain / Palin ticket.

I will say that none of them have to with the fact the Obama is a black man (technically half black), but you would think from most on the Democratic side that being a racist is the only reason you would not be voting for him. I have seen, read, and heard more garbage pointed in that direction then I ever care to hear again. Seems that if you disagree with the proposed Democratic agenda, it is only because you keep a sheet over your head.

Now, I am not naive, as there are some nuts with plenty of hate coming out of them and towards Obama because of his skin color, but they do not represent even 1% of us who are voting for John McCain.

It has gotten so that Morgan will not let me put out my McCain / Palin yard sign in fear of the house or my car, which I leave in the driveway, being damaged. I have worn my McCain / Palin hat almost everyday for the past month, and I do get some funny looks. I also get some "nice hat" remarks, but they are always done in a whisper to me, like they are telling me a secret.

- Will they finish Game 5 in Philadelphia before next spring?
- And the ride now goes back up again.
- Hurricanes lose to Montreal 3-2 in OT.

Until the next time.....

and it starts.....

2008-10-27T19:17:00.000-04:00

Somehow it is only about 8 weeks until we move back to NC. How did that happen? Today, a real estate agent that Morgan dealt with when we came out here, stopped by so he can list the house for rent. I will say that the owners have been real nice about this, and did not give us any hassle when I told them we were leaving early (that could be because they will probably get more rent then we are paying now). It would be nice to get this rented for them before we leave.

Morgan and I also listed a bunch of items on Craigslist. Already have a few replies, and the stuff has not been up for more than 45 minutes. Hopefully we will be able to sell them quickly. We were discussing it last night, and we will probably mention this to people at church, in case somebody knows someone still looking for furniture or households due to last year's fires. If we don't sell the items, we might think about donating them, just to not have to move with them, and then try to sell again back in NC.

Kellie mentioned that we have our drywall up, so that means we should be able to move up the closing to December 31st. Just waiting for the builder to call me back and confirm it. Then, I will start calling movers, and try to get the cars set up for the move. The cars are the biggest hassle, especially the Viper because it needs to be put in a special inside carrier. As for the motorcycle, I will either "pack" it in the moving truck (I know Allied Movers will do it), or have Harley Davidson come and get it with their trucking service.

Otherwise, it is pretty quiet around here. Like moving isn't enough.

The Hurricanes won their game Saturday night over the New York Islanders 4-3. Cam Ward stopped 57 shots! I know they were not good shots, but still, they took 60 shots. That is one a minute. Think we might need to tighten the "D" a little bit. The Canes also suffered two new injuries. As Brandon Sutter suffered a concussion and will be evaluated, while Joni Pitkanen tore his meniscus (my knee injury) and will be out for about a month.

One of my favorites, Bret Hedican signed a contract with the Anaheim Ducks. He and Kristi had moved to California after last season, so it was a good fit.

- Saw a Shell station at $3.09 yesterday. Below $2. Wow.
- Have a feeling LittleBigPlanet is something Morgan and Cassie will enjoy.
- Really? High School Musical 3 was #1 at the box office. I'm shocked. ;-)

Until the next time.....

sharp dressed (wo)man.....

2008-10-23T18:07:00.000-04:00

To borrow and edit an old ZZ Top song title. This is referring to the AP's investigation (wish they worked this hard on Obama's background) and finding that the RNC has spent about $150K on clothing for Governor Palin. No, I am not going to defend this amount, as it is absolutely ridiculous. If it around $50K or so, I probably would not have minded, and it is probably not a story, but once it crossed the six figure threshold, there is no good way to spin this, especially 2 weeks from voting day.

Again, I ask what are the McCain people thinking? Every time they take a step forward, something comes up, that could have been avoided, and they take a step back. I mean with this climate, any Democrat should be 20 points ahead, but this is still a race (extremely slim, but I will not write an obit on this yet), because as the sport phrase goes, "Obama can't seem to put away the other team", but everyday, the people in charge of this campaign keep finding another way to make sure they don't close the gap. Unbelievable.

I will say this in defense of Governor Palin. She was a late choice, and did not have 6 months to prepare for the possibility of campaigning non-stop since September 1st. Again, I am not defending this money, but I am saying that if she, or the RNC, thought in June that this was a possibility, her personal closet would have been updated, and we would not have a story (not that is really is a story).

Of course on the opposite end of the spectrum, we have Senator Biden telling Democratic donors that the United States and world will have an extreme problem after Obama is elected, because enemies will test him, and even his supporters will not like President Obama's response, but that they need to "hang tight" and be with him. I have had to read his remarks numerous times to believe what I am reading, and this is getting no real play in the media at all. Think it would be different if Governor Palin said the same thing.

We had our first little "bump" on our travels back to NC, as I was told that there is no room for Cassie in 5th grade at WCA. Kind of felt like a bit of a kick in the stomach, as she was really looking forward to going back there, but it is only for the last half of the 5th grade, and we are applying for the sixth grade, and feel pretty confident that she will get in if a space opens up. Cassie was pretty upset at first, but we told her that as soon as a spot opens for her, she will be returning.

Otherwise, not much going on. I need to get some pictures taken of the large furniture items we are trying to sell on Craigslist, so we can get them posted. Want to try and sell them here (including our bedroom set, Cassie's bunk bed, sectional couch, washer/dryer, and elliptical machine), so we don't have to pay to move them, and then sell them in NC.

- Phillies win Game 1 over the Rays.
- For Star Wars and gaming geeks.
- Blu-Ray DVD player that can download and play NetFlix. Cool.

Until the next time.....

nice ride.....

2008-10-21T22:35:00.000-04:00

Been a few days, but really there has been nothing too exciting going on around here. We are settling into a gameplan about the move, but otherwise not much. Now, I could have done four days of politics, but I decided to spare you and give you a few days off before I go full bore these last two weeks of the campaign. ;-)

On Sunday morning the Eternal Riders from church had our monthly ride. We were joined by our Pastor, Harry, as he is also an avid rider. It was a nice sunny, cool day, as I was able to stay in a long sleeve t-shirt for the whole ride, and never really got warm. After the first part of the trip (about 60 miles) we stopped for lunch and watched the rest of the Charger game (they lost).

Then after lunch, some stay to ride longer, while others head back to their homes. I was asked if I had even been to a place called, The Hideout. I had not, so that was where we were going, including Pastor Harry. Little did I know, until I rode up on it, that it is up in the mountains, tucked away off any roads (hence, the name), and real life Biker Bar. Oh, yes. Here is this group of riders with our shirts bearing The Cross and our church logo, along with our Pastor, parking and enjoying the atmosphere. Not a place I would normally go, but it was nice to look at all the different rides, and we were asked by a few who we were, but were not bothered at all.

After that was over, we headed back up the mountains, and made a long route home. By the time we were done, I had logged over 130 miles for the day. As Pastor Harry and I were the last two after the group started breaking off, it was real nice to ride with him for a while, talk a little, then say our goodbyes.

It was a very good day. I also made me think about the events in finding CRB even more. First we are out here in 2004, live near the church, but never come across them in our short time here. But in truth, at the time, we were not looking. Then for really no reason, have it tug on Morgan and me that we need to try it again here. Within a month of the decision, we are here. I attend a few different churches, the last one with Morgan, but nothing "sticks", and I am getting really down (Go back to beginning of this blog. I was a mess.). Then only after an accidental conversation with another swim parent, am I told about CRB. We make our first visit in December 2007, and the rest, as the say, is history.

As much as I have missed friends, family, etc., I would not trade the past eleven months since we stepped in CRB for anything. I feel so much better about everything, that I really can't describe it. I will apologize in advance, as I will probably repeat this quite a bit in the coming weeks, as we get closer to leaving.

OK, rant time. :-) As you know from reading these posts, I am a news junkie. But, I mean real news. Good journalism, with good research and "digging". I don't care what it is about, I like a story that goes deep. Personally, I feel it is gone in journalism (24 hour news networks, internet, etc. part of the blame), and I am starting to see that I am not the only one. Do I feel there is a bias in the media. Yes, I do, and I am not the only one, as even members of the media say there is a bias, but does not seem willing to do anything about it.

Sunday morning on CNN's Reliable Sources, the question was brought up about Senator Obama broken promise to take public financing, like John McCain, and the incredible amounts of money that he has brought in. The editor of Time Magazine admitted that if this was switched, and John McCain had broken his promise and was getting all this money, journalists would be all over the story. He said it was "mark" on them for not doing it. Well, thank you, but 2 weeks before the election is not when this admission should be made. Oh well, maybe we will find out about some of this money after November 4th, when there is nothing we can do. :-(

This link about bad mortgages and how the media is reporting it comes from a Geezer buddy, CyberKnight's blog. Ask the "average American" and they will tell you it was President Bush's fault (and John McCain, because they are one in the same person according to the Democrats), because there is nobody standing up to what is being said out on "the stump". Why what is in this piece has not been brought forward to the American public makes my head explode.

OK, picking up the pieces, and wrapping up. :-)

First, it was nice to see the Hurricanes grab 3 of 4 points while here in Southern California. Very sloppy defense on Friday night cost them from winning both games.

- I have had this email spoofing happen to me.
- HSM3 opens Friday, but I can hear the girls screeching already.
- Who had Tampa Bay against Philadelphia in their World Series pool?

Until the next time.....

back and forth.....

2008-10-16T19:48:00.000-04:00

So now it official, except for signatures, that we will be back in NC by January 9, 2009. Morgan got the final OK, and now it is just a matter of "transferring" her over the the NC part of her company.

I have already spoken with the builder, and while he is not 100% positive, he thinks we might be able to move the closing from January 9, 2009 to December 31, 2008. We are going to speak again in about a week or 10 days to see if the sheetrock is up. If so, he does not think moving it up 10 days would be a problem.

That means ten more days before we can set up definite dates, but at least we can start little things, like selling off items we will not be moving with (anyone need a brand new sectional couch, bunk bed, elliptical machine, or outside picnic table?), getting Cassie's paperwork started to return to WCA (if they want her back ;-) ), and a couple of other things. Everything else will have to wait until we have a definite date.

I also need to inform my NC clients, and will do so later tonight or tomorrow in a mass e-mail. Although the clients I retained was very good last tax season, that was people trying it, so if anyone was not thrilled with the "long distance", this will get them settled to know they can come to the office again this year. Besides them having "sit down" appointments again, I do not plan on changing anything I started out here. I will still be paperless, regardless of where I am located.

A good debate last night, and I mean that in overall terms. I would much rather have them sitting at a table and "going at it", then podiums. Even the town hall format, which I like, seemed stiffed, but that is because these campaigns set so many ground rules, it just takes away from any real chance of debate.

My understanding is that in Europe they have debates this way, with the candidates sitting next to each other at a table, and they are much longer than 90 minutes. Basically a moderator throws out a question, and let's the two candidates truly debate. From what I have heard, it is fascinating. Doubtful we would ever see something like that here, but it would be OK with me if it was tried.

That's it for now. Morgan and I have our couples "small group" at church to attend.

- Josh Hamilton has written a book describing his darkest days, and his "comeback".
- Oh no. Even Southwest Airlines lost money.
- Even the World Series will "change" for Barack Obama.

Until the next time.....

as Tom Petty would sing.....

2008-10-15T18:54:00.000-04:00

..... "the waiting is the hardest part".

Today was supposed to be the day Morgan's bosses gave the word about her setting up the studio back in NC. Although we understand it is out of our hands, and all indications are that it will be "a go", I will admit to being anxious about it. Instead, around 10am, Morgan sent me a text message telling me that they will be talking tomorrow. Ugh!

Morgan has updated her work blog.

It has been a pretty quiet week over here. Finally lost that "fuzzy" head feeling last night, and today has been fine. It was either a quick bug in my system, or these winds kicked up something that played with my head.

The winds were enough to kick up some fires around the county, and yesterday we had one about 5 or 6 miles from the house. Luckily, the winds have calmed down, and the fires are being contained.

The third and last Presidential Debate is tonight. If the polls are to be believed, all Senator Obama has to do is show up tonight, and this race will be over. I am amazed that he is as "Teflon" as he is. He has given no details, and lately just swipes aside ideas of Senator McCain as "no good", and everybody just shakes their heads in agreement. I understand he has the lead and can "play defense", but really, where is the scrutiny.

He is proposing large tax decreases, but never during his political career (as short as it is) has he ever followed this path. He talked about tax breaks during his campaign to be a US Senator in 2004, but once elected, he has never once proposed tax break legislation. Now he wants to "give away the house", and nobody questions his 180 degree turn on the issue.

But that is not what bothers me. It is the free pass on Bill Ayers that really gets to me. This is a someone, who along with his wife, were linked with the radical group, Weather Underground, but were let go from prosecution because of a technicality with wiretaps. As late as 2001, he was quoted as saying that he wished he had done more during his time with the group.

Obama and Ayers served on an education board together. If they were together for a short time, and then Obama excused himself from the board because of Ayers, that would be acceptable, but that never happened.

Want to make a bet that if Senator McCain was on a board with a known abortion clinic bomber that a stink would be made, and it would be front page news everyday.

The Obama campaign is brushing this off, and saying that people are not and should not be concerned with these stories. They are saying the only thing people care about is the economy. And while that might be correct, I do believe that some would be concerned about this connection, if it was examined closer than it has been.

Some of the reason I have been reading on why it is not brought up now, is that it was brought up during the primaries. Umm, excuse me, but the only people paying attention during the primaries are political junkies (nuts) like me. The majority of people now getting ready to vote were not reading these stories back in February or March.

And if that doesn't get you a bit riled up, how about the petition by academic professors (including some at UNC) that endorses Bill Ayers, and his work in education. If forty years forgives bombing your own nation's people, I guess instead of executing him, we could have held Timothy McVeigh for forty years, and then let him teach.

- Time for the Wall Street ride to go down again.
- Salute a serviceman (or woman), as they keep getting the bad guys.
- That Dodgers / Red Sox prediction doesn't look so good.

Until the next time.....

in the air.....

2008-10-13T19:42:00.000-04:00

So, my "dashboard" is telling me this will be post #200. Time for a party. Well, maybe not today for the party. Around noon I all of a sudden got a little light and "fuzzy" headed. Not sure if it a cold coming on, or something in the air bothering my head and sinuses.

Could be in the air, as the Santa Ana winds have started up here in Southern California. There is already a fire going on near Los Angeles, so now you start keeping an eye on the news around here to see if anything else pops up. The winds are supposed to calm down around Wednesday, so hopefully this will be a "nothing" event.

Last year's evacuation due to the fires (before I was blogging), was more than enough for me.

Still waiting on word from Morgan's bosses concerning a "yea or nay" on us going back east this year or next. I'm getting "itchy", but understand it is out of our hands.

Thanks to Kellie for the updated pictures of the house.

- Another wild day on Wall Street.

- Casey did not enjoy this, but Morgan did.

- I enjoyed Life on Mars, but not completely hooked yet.

Until the next time.....

no pumpkins here.....

2008-10-11T15:39:00.001-04:00

This is a "do nothing" weekend, which will not be said about the next two, so we started out early this morning to the local farmers market for pumpkins. Well, they had no pumpkins. There were a few small ones, and Morgan picked up three of them, but no large ones for carving. May need to travel to where we went last year, or just pick up from one of the local stores.

The investigation in Alaska about Governor Palin and the firing of the Public Safety Commissioner came back that she abused her power, though it also said she did not violate any laws. Very strange, but it will be just a blip on this campaign, and more than likely something she will need to deal with if she runs for re-election as governor (assuming McCain does not make a comeback).

Reading pieces of the investigation, and also seeing reporting on it, while I will acknowledge she did something wrong (it was actually her husband, Todd, who did the "pressuring"), who amongst us in the same situation would not have tried to do the same. It was a nasty divorce from her sister, plus the guy admitted that he used a stun gun (made the admission in a CNN interview) on one of Governor Palin's nephews.

The funny thing is, the gentlemen that was fired, has said that he was never told to fire the trooper (ex-husband), but it was readily known, they were unhappy the trooper still had a job. It must take quite a bit to fire a trooper up there, because he has a "write-up" of drinking while on duty, and that was not a fireable offense.

That should be the end of it, and like I mentioned it will probably be up to the voters in Alaska to decide her "punishment" on this if and when she is up for re-election.

Just as I am typing this, my "McCain-Palin" hat has finally arrived in the mail. They had such a backlog after she was named onto the ticket, that it took a month for me to finally receive it. At least I will get 3 weeks of usage from it. :-)

The Hurricanes won their season opener last night 6-4 over the Florida Panthers at the RBC Center. While I like the offensive show, giving up four goals is not a good thing. Tim Gleason had 3 assists last night. I have always liked Tim, and I am really hoping for a big season from him. He plays with an "edge" that I really like, and if he adds some offense, that would be huge.

The Canes are in Tampa Bay tonight to face the new-look Lightening, coached by Barry Melrose. The Tampa Bay Rays also host the Boston Red Sox in game 2 of the ALCS at the same time, so I am wondering about the Lightning crowd tonight, and if it will be "light" because of the overlap of events.

- My Dodgers are in a bit of a hole down 0-2.
- Chrysler & GM talking merger.
- Outdoor NBA game tonight.

Until the next time.....

adjust some more.....

2008-10-09T20:13:00.000-04:00

So after yesterday's post about McCain's plan, Chris commented on it and how we are still helping "bad homeowners", while not doing anything for those playing by the rules. I agree with him, but as I mentioned, I was going by what McCain's idea was, and using the cards we now have in front of us.

***BTW, while not perfect, this is at least a plan. Of course the Obama campaign was against it today, claiming it helps banks and Wall Street, and not people. How? They didn't say, but they just kept repeating it all day today. I'm no genius, and no matter what you think of the plan, but if people behind on their payments start making payments again, I think that is a good thing, and helps people, not Wall Street. I swear if McCain said the sky was blue, Obama would say no it not, all his kool-aid drinkers would all agree and claim McCain is out of touch.*** (end of rant)

Ok, so after seeing Chris' comment, and my wonderful wife applauding his remark, I saw a piece on CNN about the plan. It had two homeowners that live across the street from one another in Southern California. Both houses had decreased $200K since bought. One couple have not missed a payment, and scrimp and save each month, while the other lost his job, and had not made a payment since February. The first people did not like the idea, because it seemed to reward bad behavior (which it does), while the other liked the idea because right now his bank will not help him, but he wants to keep his house and make payments as best he can until he finds work again.

So it got me to thinking. What if instead of buying the bad loans like McCain's idea, the loans were renegotiated at a different base amount, but the difference between the new base and the existing mortgage was not forgiven, but held "off to the side", and would be repaid when the home was sold, or sooner (as interest would accrue) if the homeowner got into better financial time?

This idea came to me when it was mentioned that because these homes are in Southern California, it was very likely they would appreciate back up to their value, and the person not making payments now should not be rewarded if they do stay in the house and sell it.

Again, I know this is not the normal way of business, but this is not a normal time, and again, funds have been committed, and I would rather these funds help people than big firms. There are plenty of "what abouts" with my idea (what if values don't go up, etc.), but it is a starting point. It gets away from overly rewarding (yes, they still get a break, but much smaller) those that would normally be in foreclosure, but at the same time gets payments back into the system.

Again, under normal circumstances, I would not even bother thinking about something like this, but the number of foreclosed homes around the country is staggering. My feeling is that it is better option than empty houses in your neighborhood. So, while this is not ideal, I do think it approves on Senator McCain's base idea, and in the end would not cost as much as his original proposal.

At least it is an idea. Let me know what you think. I am sure at least one of you will. ;-)

- Our 360s will never be turned off.
- Your new season of CSI starts tonight.
- Would Governor Palin really go on SNL?

Until the next time.....

plain English.....

2008-10-08T17:47:00.000-04:00

I have added the link to Morgan's KSON Blog to the right side of the page, just below my "profile", and her picture. She has updated today, and expects to be updating daily for a while. Because it is within the station's website, it is not part of any "feed" that let's you know automatically when it is updated.

Thanks for the responses to my last post concerning the bailout and stock market. It was pretty raw and basic, but I think it did the job. Actually, if you go to Morgan's page in the next few days, you might see it, as she asked to "borrow" it.

We had a Presidential debate last night, and I must be in a complete "McCain fog", because I thought it was his best performance in a while, and nobody is saying good things about him. I am not saying he had a clear advantage over Senator Obama last night, but I thought he connected a bit more. Overall, I thought it was pretty even, with the slightest of advantages to Senator McCain.

Now, I will say he surprised me when McCain spoke about the government purchasing existing mortgages and renegotiating them to go with the current assessed value of the house they are attached to. As a fiscal Conservative, my head almost popped off when he said it. There are actually provisions for this in the bailout/rescue plan, so as the money will be spent, I don't have as much of a problem (still have a problem, but there is no way in heck that the government, knowing it has money to spend, is not going to spend it) with it going directly to help people, as compared to it going directly to big firms.

If done correctly, and the people who stopped paying their mortgages were to restart paying them at the new terms, this would help get money into the system, plus keep houses off the foreclosure market, where they usually knock down the property values around them, and give people another start (again, not my ideal solution, but I am working with the cards dealt on the table).

***Just a quick example is someone with a $300K mortgage that has now "reset" at 7% for 30 years. That payment is $2000 a month. If the house is worth $250K (in many cases I would bet it would be lower), and the government interest rate is 6%, that new payment is $1500 a month. A $6000 a year savings.***

Hockey season starts up tomorrow night. The NHL started this weekend in Prague (Rangers and Lightening) and Stockholm (Penguins and Senators), but it is almost like they didn't count if they don't happen on "NHL soil". It looks like another tough year for my Hurricanes, especially with injuries hitting them before the first puck is dropped, but I'm keeping the faith.

We don't plan on purchasing season tickets like the prior years when we return, but if we are back, they actually play a home game on my birthday (March 21st, for those needing to mark their calendars :-) ), so I know I would be attending at least one game this season.

I had mentioned in prior posts that the Canes are here in Los Angeles and Anaheim on October 17th and 19th, and we would look at attending the games. Well, I went to purchase tickets, and let's just say the prices are quite a bit higher here on the west coast, so we will be watching on television.

Had another nice Bible class on Monday. The class is really a "Bible history" class, in that we are getting a little background about each of the different books of the Bible. This little bit of background these past few weeks has really helped me in understanding a little better what I have been reading.

Tomorrow night is the couples' class that Morgan and I have been attending, and I still need to do my reading, so that's it for now.

- Another Nintendo DS coming.
- I am sure Giselle is taking care of him.
- October baseball. Dodgers vs. Red Sox in series?

Until the next time.....

the bailout and the stock market.....

2008-10-07T21:51:00.000-04:00

This is a special single idea post. Today's regular post is below.

Casey asked me to put in plain English what the $700 billion bailout was supposed to do. I think many people are confused by this bailout, and what it actually does, or is supposed to do. Also, many thought after being signed on Friday, things would automatically get better. The public did not expect to see a stock market drop of almost 1000 points these last three sessions. Well, the stock market and the credit market (which the bailout is supposed to fix) are two separate entities, and while the credit market is not effected by the stock market's ups and downs, the stock market can be effected by the credit market, if the credit market is slowed or "squeezed".

This mess has never been explained to the public in terms that "normal" people can understand. I will try to do so here, in the same way I was explaining it to Morgan earlier today. This is a very crude example, but I think it works.

Imagine that ABC Bank loans money to people and businesses. Under normal conditions, ABC makes loans to Mr. Smith and John Doe Company, along with many other people and businesses. Mr. Smith uses the money to buy a house or car, while John Doe Company uses its money to purchase equipment, inventory, and hire workers. All keeps the economy moving along.

Also a company, let's say Mike Jones, Inc., may even borrow money from ABC Bank in the form of a line of credit to pay some bills until income or cash flow arrives. All part of normal business. This is a little different though, because Mike Jones, Inc. has a line of credit, they don't actually have the money in hand, but know it is there if they need it.

***In real life, DEF Investment Bank might purchase the loans from ABC Bank, and then GHI Big Shot Firm might buy from DEF what it just bought from ABC. You don't see any of this, but this was how "Wall Street" got involved, because it turned those purchased mortgages into investment vehicles***

When payments are made, ABC can lend out more money, including the interest it makes on the loans. This "in and out" of money is what keeps cash flowing and our economy churning.

Well in the last few years, the Mr. Smiths of the world, have not been paying back their loans. On top of that, the houses that were to be used as collateral against the loans, are down in value as compared to when the loan was originated, plus nobody wants to buy the house. So, ABC has lots of pieces of paper, and no money. With no money, they can't lend money to businesses, so businesses can't expand, or possibly pay some of its bills. If they can't pay their bills, because people are not buying their goods, they may need to lay people off.

This is the credit crunch people have been talking about. There may be money out there in the system, but not in the amounts that there was before, so it is hard to get, and if you want it, you must pay higher interest rates to get it.

***A real life example of this was Caterpillar last week. They went to get some short term loans to pay some normal operating bills, and paid almost double their normal interest rate***

***As my "real life" example before. Because Mr. Smith is not paying back their loans, it not only effects ABC, but DEF, and GHI. So, because of the way these loans were handled as future investment instruments, Mr. Smith's loan being "purchased" up the chain, when not paid back, effects many different entities.***

OK, so the bailout. Well the bailout is really a "government will purchase those bad loans" agreement. What is supposed to happen is that the government will purchase the bad Mr. Smith loan (wherever it is in the system), in hopes that it will be paid back, or the collateral can be sold to offset the loan amount. By purchasing the loan from ABC Bank, the federal government is putting the money back into the system. With the money back into the system, it means that these ABC Bank can start making loans again, and at normal interest rates to people and businesses.

In essence it sounds good, but because we are in a bad economic cycle, companies are not looking to expand, just survive at this point. While this "bailout" will put the money back into the system, until people start spending money (which will only happen if jobs are created, housing values start rising, etc.) companies will just be "getting by".

This in a very raw and crude way is what the bailout is supposed to be about. I am not going to assign blame here, as I have done it in different posts, but let's say that home buyers, mortgage lenders, and firms looking to profit on those mortgages, are all to take a portion of the blame.

Now, what everybody is seeing, and somewhat understanding, is that the stock market is tanking, and with that, people can "see" their investments (usually retirement portfolios) shrinking. What needs to be understood is that the stock market is a reflection of how much money people are spending, or going to be spending, in the outside world. Right now, people are holding onto their money and not making many purchases outside the necessities. Investors expect people to be frugal for a while, so with that stocks are going down. The same with oil. Because investors think people will be driving and traveling less, oil went below $88 a barrel today.

***A little real life example for the stocks and your portfolio. I have purchased Apple stock. I have it for almost a year or so, and I paid $124 a share. Now Apple is iPods, iPhones, Macs, etc. A good solid company, and not going anywhere. At a time this summer those shares were close to $200 a share. Today, they dropped to less than $90 a share. Same great company, same great products, but investors think people will be holding their money and not purchasing as many iPods, iPhones, etc., so the stock falls.

Now if Apple was your 401K, you are thinking it is tanking, so you better leave it. First, you purchased at $124, so it really only lost $34 a share, as when it was at $200, that was "paper profit", so while it has gone down, it is not as far as it seems, because much of the loss was "paper profits".

Well, unless you think Apple is going to close its doors, and you think Americans will never buy "gadgets" again, Apple will rise again. It may take a while, but it will. The iPod is not going anywhere.***

So, unless you are completely pessimistic about the US economy over a long time (10 to 20 years), it is just a matter of patience.

The government did a terrible job explaining to average Americans what this all meant, and that it would not have an instant effect on the economy (and many think it will have no effect).

The economy goes in cycles, up and down. What has happened here is the "perfect storm". Besides an economic slowdown, housing values started declining and people in terrible loans found themselves "upside down", with no way to pay them back. Add to that the costs of items (food & energy) going up when oil rose to $150 a barrel, and it was/is a recipe for disaster.

Hopefully, I was able to explain in plain English, what is going on, and why things were done the way they were, and why things are happening now. It is a tough and confusing time, but this is America, and I believe we will get through this, but it is going to be a bit of a rough ride in getting there.

Until the next time.....

morning news.....

2008-10-07T18:50:00.000-04:00

As I had mentioned in prior posts, I was thinking about canceling my newspaper subscription, thus ending about 40 years of getting a newspaper delivered every morning wherever I have lived. Well, after reading that the local paper was shrinking even more and losing columnists, I did call and cancel. I have kept the Sunday paper for now, and to be honest, the only reason is to keep getting the coupons that accompany it, as they would "pay" for the subscription.

It has been "funny" not picking a paper up from the driveway, but hopefully that will change when we get back to NC and I start getting the News & Observer again. Though, if they go through many more staff cuts, I won't even bother with them.

Morgan is now blogging through her station's website. You can find her posts here and down the right side of this page under the links section. Because it is not a "regular" blog site, it can not go where I have the "other blogs of note". So, you will just have to check it daily, or maybe I will make sure to put in a mention when updated.

Our real estate broker in NC received an e-mail from the broker representing the homeowners who refused to release our deposit. They will not be appealing the court decision, and will be signing the release in the next day or so. Four months of angst for no good reason.

Tonight is the second Presidential Debate, and it will be held "town hall" style. Meaning that Senators Obama and McCain will be speaking directly with the people asking the questions. Senator McCain has been asking for these to occur once a week, since the campaign started, but after initially indicating he would, Senator Obama backed away from them. I wish he had not, as I think the electorate would have learned much more about these two, then just standard "stump" speeches.

In USA Today, I see some people have been writing in questions that they would ask. Quite a few want to know what the candidates will do to help them as their 401Ks are plummeting. The answer is "nothing". The same way government keeps their hands away when you are making profits (basically the last 20 years or so), they are to keep their hands away now as your values go down.

You were not guaranteed a profit when you chose where to place your retirement investments. This all comes back to understanding what you are doing and personal responsibility. When you join your company's retirement plan, you are given many options where to put your money. Each one gives you an idea what the risks are, so you need to choose wisely, and understand what you are choosing. In that listing of investment, are "fixed rate" investments. They are usually money market type accounts. They usually return about 3% or so, and most people stay away from them. Why? Because nobody want to make "only" 3%. Does not look so bad now.

There will be another post following this one about the bailout. Casey asked me to explain it in plain English, and I will do so in a separate entry.

- I am looking forward to Little Big Planet.
- Think Cassie would have liked to have been invited.
- More Hurricane injuries. This time Scotty Walker.

Until the next time.....

morning at the pool.....

2008-10-04T18:06:00.000-04:00

Ugh, 5am did come early, so I did not get myself out of bed until about 5:30am. Because I needed to get to the pool first, and might be there later then them, I rode the motorcycle there, while Morgan and Cassie drove in her car.

Cassie was registered for four events for the day (50, 100, 200 & 500 yard swims), and had a good day. She even recorded National "B" times for the 200 and 500 yard events. That gives her three national times in the past 6 months.

After the event is another story, as Cassie said something to Morgan, which made her head spin around. When I was told what had happened, my head also spun. She crossed a line that will make Morgan and I rethink quite a few things, as we try to get her back on track. This was out of "left field", so it is not the norm, but we know we need to nip this now before it goes any further.

Now, prior to this, I would have exploded with a yelling and screaming fit that would have peeled the paint from the walls. Instead, as she came through the door (I got home first, it happened in the car on the way home, and Morgan came inside first and told me before Cassie arrived in the house), I quietly, but sternly, gave her a few instructions of what she was to do, told her the first portion of her punishment, and told her not to make a "peep". She knew she was wrong, and was upset, but that did not matter, as she was going to see this through.

I was proud of myself, for "keeping my cool". I did say a prayer to calm me down as I was speaking with her at the same time to keep it at an even keel, and it worked. That may not be the best way to pray, but for that time it worked for me.

She is only 10, and we are going to go through "things", plenty, over the next few years. I understand that, but I also know I need to not have my blood pressure reach 300 each time it happens. It does no good for either of us. I'm just glad I was able to put lessons I have learned, and prayed about, into action, and have them work. It was a test for me, and I think I did OK.

Kellie mentioned to me that her husband saw Josh Hamilton at the gym the other day. Was not sure if they were still living in Raleigh, or had moved to Texas. I hope whenever we get back, I get a chance to meet him, and apologize for my thoughts years ago, and thank him for the inspiration he is to me, and to many others.

We have all heard of the "soccer mom" vote. Plus there is usually the Catholic, Jewish, Hispanic, etc. breakdowns, and the theory that they mostly vote in blocks. Are you now ready for the "ex-felons" voting block? I'm speechless.

Off to the rest of my weekend.

- First NHL game of the season, and it is in Prague?
- The Morgan vs. Sal NFL game this Sunday.
- Great story. Must eat a meal at Barry's when we get back to NC.

Until the next time.....

housing ideas.....

2008-10-03T18:16:00.000-04:00

A semi quiet weekend ahead of us. Cassie has a swim meet tomorrow morning. Her swim team is the host, so I will be at the pool at 6:30am tomorrow morning to help get the swimmers signed in for the meet. Also, because we are the hosts, our team gets to warm up first, so Morgan will have to get Cassie to the pool around 7am for her 7:15am warmup. So, there will be no sleeping in tomorrow morning. :-(

The House passed the bailout bill, and they were in such a hurry to get it done, the made sure all the "legal" papers were ready, and it has been signed by the President, and is now law. We were told how important it was, and that it would help stabilize the markets, but someone forgot to tell the stock market, as it sunk over 157 points for the day.

Now in truth, it is not the stock market that this money is to help, but the credit market. The cry is that without this money, there would be no money "in the system", which would mean loans for normal people would grind to a halt, businesses would not be able to get money that might be needed to pay bills, and an overall "sky is falling" scenario.

Why then keep mentioning the stock market? It is an easy number for Americans to understand. We like easy. Ugh!

In any case, the main problem are houses being foreclosed on, and nobody wanting, or able to purchase them. So, after looking on the internet, reading some different "what is going on" stories, and pilfering some ideas from other accountants, I have a few ideas to help get this moving again. Not perfect, but some ideas. Also, all of these assume that we are in a "correction" with regards to housing prices, and that we start back up at a normal rate of appreciation in the future.

- Allow those who are in default, or will be in default soon because of the terms of their loans changing, and that want to renegotiate their loan interest rates to do so. This is part of the new law, and thankfully the provision was dropped to allow a reduction in principle. Yes, you might be "upside down" now, but if you love the house, be willing to stay in it, and the value will increase over time.
- Along the same lines, when settling these loans with homeowners that want to keep their homes, bring all balances forward to start a re-amortization, and abate all late penalties and additional interest added on in prior months when payments were missed.
- For houses that are in foreclosure, and are bank owned. Drop the capital gains rate for those houses to 5% or 10%, or possible zero, for the person who buys them, if they are purchased within the next six months to a year. At the same time, increase the amount you can take each year on capital losses from the current $3000 to $10,000. These would sweeten the pot for investors, and might encourage people to buy these homes up, thus putting money in the banks hands, which in turn would go to repay the government. My feeling is that the quicker we relieve the market of these homes, the better it is for neighborhoods, and people in general. Also, I believe that a person/investor will put in effort into keeping these houses up, so they could be sold, or rented to their best advantage.

Again, not perfect, but for this lowly accountant, seems like an idea to keep those who want to stay in their homes, in them, and get these homes off the bank/government books, and into the hands of investors that would love to make money and pay little or no taxes on the gain.

Of course, personal responsibility should also be on that list, but I think I have mentioned that enough over the past few weeks. :-)

Again, anyone from the McCain camp that wants to "borrow" this plan, please have at it. :-)

So, Governor Palin and her husband released their last two years of tax returns. Guess they are middle class. Upper middle, but still middle. These are very basic returns, and are not complex at all. Of course the part that ills me the most is that they use H&R Block. :-(

I'm crying here Todd and Sarah. There has to be a qualifies accountant somewhere in town. If not, again call, and I will be more than happy to take you on as clients. :-)

Or maybe there is no accountant in town, in which case I wonder how Morgan would feel about Alaska. HA HA HA!!!

BTW, as a follow-up to the posts I did earlier about Josh Hamilton. His season ended last Sunday, as his Texas Rangers dd not make the playoffs, but it was no fault of his. He had a fabulous season, and will get plenty of votes and support for American League MVP. I will be following him closely, and hope and pray he only gets better.

- This was Morgan and Cassie's Friday afternoon entertainment.
- More Lego video game fun.
- My favorite comic strip.

Until the next time.....

off the milk carton.....

2008-10-03T03:14:00.000-04:00

OK, who stole Governor Palin for the last 2 weeks, and why did we not hear about her being found? :-)

I had watched some of her debates while running for the Governor of Alaska, watched the speech at the RNC, and I had seen how she was on the campaign trail those first 2 weeks. Plus, she was elected Governor, and has run the state for nearly two years. There is no way the woman I was seeing on my television the last few days was the same woman. I was sure that the real Sarah Palin was going to be in St. Louis.

I kept saying all these things to myself, but when I clicked on the television to watch the debate on my dvr, I had a strange feeling. That feeling went away after five minutes watching the debate. The Alaska Governor was back in the game.

Now, she did not hit a home run, and Senator Biden did a very nice job during the whole debate. I don't agree with him, but he did his job as the VP nominee. No, what Sarah Palin did was get back on her feet, show the public why she has won her previous campaigns, and took away the doubt that she is a liability on this ticket. She did exactly what she needed to do. Now, can we rewind the last 2+ weeks, and let this woman "redo" them?

In the end, people vote for the top of the ticket, but I believe that her mishandling over these past two weeks by the campaign cost them 1 or 2 points in those important states.

In the end, I am very happy for her that she can go the remainder of the campaign, and afterwards, with her head held high, knowing that she belongs in the "big leagues", as a politician, and as a woman in national politics.

Now if some of that spark and confidence could be rubbed off on John McCain.....

Until the next time.....

halfway home.....

2008-10-02T17:43:00.000-04:00

Today was the day that Morgan decided to speak with her morning show partners and management about heading back east. She was pretty nervous, but after a few conversations, things are looking good for getting their approval. There needs to be another couple of discussions with some upper management people, but we feel pretty good about how this is going so far.

Morgan and I have our Intimacy Bible class tonight. We, as a group, skipped last week because three of the couples (out of the five) were going to be singles for the night. It is an interesting two hours, and I really like being with these other couples (and we all know how easy I am in liking people :-) ).

While our class is going on, the Vice-Presidential debate will occurring, and "yes" I do have it set on the dvr. I am really hoping this goes well for Governor Palin, and that she shows how she won over the people of Alaska, why she is as popular as is up there, and why she has "star" quality if she wants to move up the Republican ladder. (I said "if", I think she will be very happy going back to Alaska if that is the way it turns out) That may sound like a lot, but I think if we see that person I observed and was very impressed with the first 3 weeks she was on the campaign, she can get back some of that "it" she had going for her.

Now, that may not and sadly probably will not change the way this election seems to be going, but it would get her feet back under her for going back to Alaska and governing the state, and also make it so that she is just not a "punch line" for those on the left. I don't care what state it is, she still was elected Governor, and has done a real nice job up there during her time in office. It would be a shame for this experience (which she did not ask for, but accepted for her party and to help the country) to take away what brought her into the spotlight in the first place.

Chris had an excellent post today concerning the bailout, and reasons this mess was caused in the first place. Also in the post he described unsubscribing from the McCain campaign website and mailings. I am sorry he has become disgusted with both candidates, but I completely understand his frustration.

I am not as disgusted as he is, but my frustration is starting to mount. What I would like is one House Member or Senator to vote "no", and say "we got into this because of greed, and there will be hard times, but this is what is best for the country". Instead they are voting "no", with some whining excuse that there is a better solution out there, and not telling people that we need to "suck it up, and we will get through it. It may hurt for a while, but all will be OK".

Why is this not being said? Fear. Fear of not not being re-elected. Why is that? Because a large part of the American population does not like to hear "no". They are on par with a 5 year old being told "no" to the candy they want, and if you say "no" to them, they will just look for someone else to say "yes", and in American politics there is always someone there to say "yes" if it means advancing his own concerns.

OK, I'm done for now.

- New cameras. Think Casey likes the Canon. ;-)
- Could be "Dancing with the Cellmate".
- Baseball in October. Playoff time. Go Dodgers!

Until the next time.....

Operation Baking Gals.....

2008-09-30T19:38:00.001-04:00

This is one of Morgan's projects that she found and enjoys.

Operation Baking Gals was the brain child of a couple of foodies who love to cook, have their own blogs and wanted to know how they could help those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 3 short months over 500 bakers have 'enlisted' to bake for our servicemen and women! Their mission is to bake dozens of cookies and mail them along with other goodies to these guys and gals once a month.

Morgan baked for Serviceman Isreal Reichard, who is serving somewhere in Iraq, about 5 dozen cookies and a massive bag of Tootsie Pops. It just shipped today. She is so excited to hear back from him when he gets it.

Again, the link: Operation Baking Gals

Until the next time.....

Ireland (Part 5).....

2008-09-29T18:36:00.000-04:00

Last set of Ireland pictures:

Some of the fishing boats in Dingle.....

The Beehive huts of Ireland. There are 414 of these huts in just a 3 mile stretch along the Dingle Peninsula. These are over 4,000 years old. Again, no mortar or dirt holding them together, just good handy work. These are said to have been used by Monks who prefered to live a solitary life as they translated writings. Now on farmers' land....they charge you 2 Euro to cross onto their property to have a look. Morgan took this picture from across the road.

On what's called the Slea Head drive. The lavender was in full bloom, so all the moutains had this purple hue.

This father and son stand by the side of the road and pose for pictures with silly tourists. This is the son, his donkey and his dog. You buy sprigs of lavender from them or just get a picture. They appreciate a Euro or two. This kid did not look thrilled with having to do any of this....

This is Dad, his donkey and his crazy dog who would jump up and down on the back of the donkey.

In Killarney--and it's purple mountain majesty. See how purple the moutains look? That is lavender in bloom.

In the city of Killarney, you can take a horse drawn carriage ride around the city.

The church in Killarney

Blarney Castle. This is where the famous 'Blarney Stone' is. Nope she didn't kiss it. Legend has it that he who kisses the blarney stone will be gifted with eloquence....or have the gift of gab. Morgan figured she was talkative enough--not to mention how unsanitary the whole idea of kissing that stone is--blech. The stone was built into the castle in 1446. The castle itself was built in the 1300's.

The view down from the top of Blarney Castle.

See that line at the top of the picture. That is the line of people waiting to kiss the Blarney Stone. Morgan took this picture from what would have been the 3rd floor of the castle.

At the Waterford Crystal factory in Waterford, Ireland. Super expensive crystal, but after you watch how it is made and how long it takes to produce one simple piece....you know why.

Waterford Crystal has and still produces the trophys for some of the most major sporting events world-wide. They also supplied the crystal ball that dropped in Time Square for the special millenium celebration.

A Waterford vase. This vase would bankrupt most of us.

One of the old mast ships in Tramore, Ireland. This is one of the 'Death Ships'. When The Great Famine hit Ireland in 1845-1849, these ships were loaded with those trying to escape certain death by coming to the Americas. They were packed with double their capacity knowing that on the voyage over to Ellis Island more than 1/2 would die from hunger and disease. A good amount of the Irish-Americans now living in the US are born out of those who made it over (and survived) during the famine.

Goodbye to Ireland. Morgan says she can't wait to go back. Her tour director, a born and raised Killarney native spoke these words to them on their last night in Ireland....it is an old Irish blessing:

"May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind always be at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

and rains fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand."

Until the next time.....

no bailout.....

2008-09-29T17:26:00.000-04:00

As flipped on the television in the kitchen while grabbing some breakfast, I was amazed to see the vote on the bailout being knocked down in pretty dramatic fashion. You need 218 votes to pass a bill, and the final tally had 228 against the measure. There were 133 Republicans and 95 Democrats that voted against it. Now how many did that so they could tell their constituents (all are up for re-election come November 4th) that they were "looking out for them", and how many were really against it, we will never know, but it seems some of the House Republicans (13, I think spoke up after the vote) were a little miffed at Speaker Pelosi for her last minute bashing of the Bush Administration and Republicans in her remarks on the House floor before the vote occurred. I think that was a bit ridiculous, but I did hear her remarks, and even though they should have been expected, she really should have thought, kept her mouth closed, and kept the remarks for after the vote. Not a good move on her part to give any fore to the other side.

So now what? Well the market took a beating, but also seemed a bit cautious, and I think is waiting to see what happens Thursday and Friday, when this is brought back up for a vote. I think at that time, there will be enough arm twisting to get it to pass.

As for our two Presidential nominees, at least John McCain stated this weekend, that he wanted to see the bill pass (your opinion on if that is good or not may vary), which was not the popular opinion. It wasn't a strong endorsement, but it was an endorsement. Senator Obama decided to not say anything. He took a "wait and see" approach, which to me means, "I don't want to say anything that might cost me votes". If he wants to be a leader, he needs to act like one, and that even includes times were you lead, and may be wrong.

Morgan returned yesterday from North Carolina, and taking care of all the house details. She says it was a tiring week, but she is very excited about everything. Everything down to where light switches will be placed has been marked, and is ready to go. Morgan even asked our builder, Preston, if he thinks it might be done earlier then our January 9th date. He is not sure, but it would be nice if all went smoothly, and we could get it as a Christmas or New Years present.

Speaking of that, I would not normally do this, and I know it has all been laid out by God, but Morgan will be speaking with her bosses starting on Thursday about moving back east. A few good thoughts and prayers for this to work out with our early return east, would be appreciated. Again, thank you in advance.

Have the second of my Bible guide classes tonight. The Essential Bible Companion is the book we are using as our outline guide for the class. After last week's discussion, I do want to pick up Message Bible to help supplement my readings, and for another understanding of what I am reading.

- 24 hours with no XBOX Live. The horror.
- Yes, The Boss plays the Super Bowl.
- Not the way to close Shea Stadium.

Until the next time.....

that was tame.....

2008-09-27T16:33:00.000-04:00

I Hate Politicians! That was the text I received from Casey last night towards the end of the debate. I was with Cassie at swimming practice, so I had it on the dvr, and was going to watch when I returned home. He sent a couple of messages about them "going at each other", so I really expected a good debate. Let's just say my level of confrontation is a little higher then his, so I sent him back a text at about 1am eastern telling him he is a "wimp". :-)

Not much accomplished last night, except I do get the sense that if these two were not running for President, both, but John McCain a little more, would be against this bailout. But, neither one wants to look America in the eye, and say, "No bailout! So expect some tough times ahead and buckle up, but I am the man that will lead you through this". One of them does that, and they could take that leadership role, that we are looking for one of them to grab. Of course at the same time, we would see if the American public is truthful in saying they really don't want this bailout (many polls are showing much distrust for it), and are willing to "tough it out". So it could also be a disaster.

Chris commented on yesterday's post, after the debate, that neither one did anything for him. While I agree that neither one established himself "head and shoulders" above the other, and I also agree with him for his reasons against Barack Obama, we don't see the same way about John McCain and foreign policy. Chris thinks he is a bit "trigger happy", while I think it is OK to "pump your chest" out a bit, especially with his background in foreign affairs. We both agree that we need to look at the foreign aid we give away without batting an eye.

I will say this though, I absolutely hate that we have our candidates talking foreign policy in such detail, and out in public. In this "know everything media" that surrounds us, the fact that both of them have to put their thoughts and policies for all to see bothers me. Yes, I want to know if one or the other is going to step into office and "play with all the fancy buttons", but they seem to be pressed too much for my taste on exactly what they would do (during the debate, and out on the campaign trail). Again, I may make it sound like the 1950's, but it is one area where I think "quieter is better".

The policy concerning Iraq though has to taken care of, and this is an area where I strongly disagree with Barack Obama. Maybe the war was wrong, and maybe (I say maybe, as that will be a different post) we were deceived (I don't believe it was intentional), but once we stepped on that ground, we began a job, and as Americans we must finish it to the best of our abilities. There is no timetable for this. We are done, when we are done. Setting a date, and not completing our obligation (again whether or not you agree with the war, we now, as Americans, have an obligation to complete the job) is just plain wrong.

I thought it was pretty even, but I do see areas where John McCain can improve, and must improve, in light of the other debates not focusing on foreign affairs. He needs to drive home the point, that all of the alternative energy ideas he has out on the table (nuclear plant building, off shore drilling, and the other alternative energy infrastructure) will bring about many jobs. Add to that the countries infrastructure itself (roads, bridges, etc.), and there are even more jobs. He is getting hammered about not caring for the middle class, but these are jobs that if people really want to work (their will be white collar engineering involved, along with blue collar work) will be available to them. Yes, these are "government" jobs in the sense that the government will pay for them, but with cutting government (and there is much to cut), and then the increased tax revenues from increased employment, and a growing economy, which would come from the increase in employment, it would be a good thing overall.

Chris seems to be more of an economist then me, so he can tell me if I am thinking correctly on this plan.

Again, if anyone from the McCain camp wants some "middle class" advice, you know how to reach me (and Chris). :-)

I can't let this post go without a mention of the death of Paul Newman. One of my favorite, if not favorite actors of all time. As I mentioned on Geezer Gamers, I am not a big multiple time movie watcher, but I could put Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and The Sting on in a loop on my television, and never get tired of them. Add The Hustler, The Color of Money (underrated in my opinion), and Slap Shot, and you have quite a bit of watching fun. As I look down the list at IMDB, it just reminds me of the many movies from the 1960's through the 1980's that we was in, and what a great actor he was. God bless.

- Big time math geeks are stoked.
- More about Paul Newman from ESPN.
- ESPN on Newman's love for racing, and more about Slap Shot.

Until the next time.....

Ireland (Part 4).....

2008-09-26T18:45:00.000-04:00

Fourth day of Ireland pictures. Hope you have seen the prior days.

Near the city of Doolin. The Cliffs of Moher. The most visited site in Ireland. Over 700 ft. tall and amazing breezes!!! (ok, they were gale force)

That's the other side of the Atlantic Ocean slamming into those rocks down there....

Yep....windy, windy day.

Again...overcast, drizzly--perfect for just amazing wildflowers growing everywhere.

Morgan enjoyed a medieval dinner at the famous Bunratty Castle. The Lord and his Lady of the castle welcomed us and had their court of helpers serve and sing thruout the night. Bunratty Castle was built in 1270. It was quite surreal sitting in the grand room knowing how much history had happened there before us...... This bag-pipper played for us on the way out.

The city of Adare just outside of Limerick. Famous for their thatched-roof cottages. Considered one of Ireland prettiest and most picturesque cities. Most of these cottages are little shops, but there are private homes scattered about. These cottages were built in the 12 century.

....these flowers are everywhere....and HUGE!

....more thatched cottages in Adare.....

Out on the Dingle Peninsula. Fishing is the money maker in this town.

Until the next time....

let it crumble.....

2008-09-26T17:54:00.000-04:00

If I see any more on television about this arguing concerning this "bailout" mess, I am going to lose it. The last straw for me was the lobbyist for the financial institutions complaining about the provision in the bill for a "cap on executive compensation". One actually said that the government should not be determining anyone's pay. Excuse me! You are lucky they weren't all rounded up and thrown in jail. Their salary should be the least of their concerns.

So, I say no bailout, and if there is a way to "stop payment" on the AIG, and other payments from the past few weeks, do it. Yes, it will put a squeeze on lending (and I say this as we need to apply for a mortgage in six weeks), but I can't take this nonsense anymore. The people that caused this mess, and we are helping, want to take part in making the rules. Are you kidding me? Plus, both the Republicans and Democrats are getting their feathers up, and politicizing this whole thing.

The Republicans in the House are correct. Just let it go. I know that will not happen, and they will get something done, but only because they are afraid to go back to their voters with nothing, even if nothing might be the best solution.

Now, as for that house that I will need a mortgage on, Morgan has been in NC since Tuesday night, and been taking care of the different "build items" since Wednesday afternoon. She has gone to all the different vendors, and has picked out everything. I have also been on the phone with her and the builder concerning some different items, and I really think we got everything covered. Morgan even got to meet with the "trim finisher", and was able to design the closets with racks, shoe cubbies, and any other items she could think of to make it functional.

Now that it is all framed, the other parts are starting to fall into place. Morgan said the windows were being delivered and installed today. I knew they were doing something, because I could never hear her today when we spoke.

An update on the small claims case that Morgan handled on Wednesday morning. She won the case, and it was pretty "cut and dry", but the homeowner was not a happy man, and left the courtroom pretty angry. The inspector provided a note to us as the inspector, and as a general contractor, and noted the house as not well maintained, and "average at best". That did not go over well.

Unfortunately for us, in North Carolina you can appeal a small claims verdict. So it is possible, we may have to go through all of this one more time. The judge told him the contract was solid, and we followed all the correct procedures, so I hope he thinks about it before we have to go forward, and waste more time, and money.

Governor Palin looked terrible last night in the CBS interview with Katie Couric. She seems nervous and not sure of herself. Not the same person we were introduced to four weeks ago. I really believe they did her a disservice by "hiding / shielding" her from the press. They got the stories they wanted by "invading" Alaska, and the whole time made her duck away from any questions. When finally in front of the press, I believe she has lost some of her confidence, and her outgoingness because she was thinking too much about not making a mistake when speaking, which caused her to make mistakes. Those are only amplified now with the election less than 6 weeks away.

First Presidential Debate is tonight. With it being on a Friday night, I really do wonder how many people will be watching, and how many are going to base their judgement off of soundbites, pundits, and the recap in their Sunday papers (for those that still read one).

- I would not "fly" this way, but very cool.
- More Rock Band 2 "love".
- A wild final weekend for baseball. Will the Mets collapse again?

Until the next time.....

Ireland (Part 3).....

2008-09-23T17:31:00.000-04:00

OK, a third day of Ireland. Hope you have not missed the last two.

There are over 3,000 Holy Wells scattered around Ireland. More than any other country in the world. Originally used for pagan sacrifice, St. Patrick is famous for having visited most of these well and blessing them as Christian sites. This is the Tobernalt Holy Well. St. Patrick used to hold baptisms here in this as he converted thousands of pagans to Christianity. He held mass here too. There have been many stories of the waters gushing from this well and of it's healing powers. It is a very sacred and respected place.

"First Glorious Mystery: Resurrection"

"Second Glorious Mystery: Ascension"

"Third Glorious Mystery: Descent of the Holy Spirit"

"Fourth Glorious Mystery: Assumption"

"Fifth Glorious Mystery: Coronation Of Our Lady"

This sign at the entrance of the well:
"Pilgrim, walk softly. This is holy ground"

The Belleek Pottery Factory. No wonder it's so expensive, everything is time-stakingly handmade. In Northern Ireland.

There is a guy who sits all day and creates these little flower buds in the palm of his hands. They will later become decoration for some pretty piece of pottery.

....and there he is hard at work. Wow, what tedious work.

The detail he creates is amazing. They train for years before they are allowed to actually create these for real.

The front of the Belleek Pottery factory

In Derry in Northern Ireland. The irony of this (in a couple of ways) just made me laugh.
"Baldies Barber"......and it's closed up.

Derry, Ireland is the town that saw the most violence at the hands of the IRA. Numerous bombings have left a good portion of this city in need of a rebuild. It's still a tense city. There is a 30 foot high fence that still divides the city between those who fly the British flag and those who fly the Irish flag. The Irish flag, btw, is orange, white and green. The Orange for the British, the Green for the Irish and the White stands for the peace between the two. Derry is a city that proves that that is still a sensitive and tense relationship. You do have to be careful what you say in what section of town.

Ahhhh, the town of Donegal. Morgan said she would live here. She took this because she just loved the stone work and the flowers on the building. Of course, it's a pub. The Olde Castle Pub.

This is Donegal Castle. Built in the 15th century by the O'donnell family. Still a very well known family in Ireland. They have a strong and royal lineage in the country.

This is a HUGE mural inside a church in Drumcliff. This is the church where Yeats funeral was held. He is buried in the churchs' graveyard. A much visited place. The mural says: "holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty. This do in remembrance of me" It is placed right above the altar where communion is held.

This is in the city of Knock. Here, in 1879, 15 townsfolk witnessed an apparition of the Virgin Mary, St. John & St. Joseph, a lamb on an altar in front of a huge cross that was surrounded by 6 angels--all in a glowing light. The apparition lasted over 2 hours. Investigations and inquiries with the 15 who saw the apparition went on for over 80 years and their stories never changed or wavered. Finally in 1979, Pope John II came to Knock and acknowleged the apparition as true and blessed the sight as holy ground. There are gorgeous statues inside the church of the exact apparition in the exact spot where it happened. It is believed the purpose of this apparition is to put before us the four positive and unchanging essentials for living a Christian life: (1) St. Joseph, the personification of humilty, with his head bowed and his hands joined facing the other figures representing humility or faith and trust in God,(2) Our Lady, looking towards heaven with her hands raised in a gesture of supplication representing prayer, (3) St John, described as making a point from the book in his left hand with his right hand raised with the index and middle finger extended representing Scripture and the law, (4) the lamb on the altar, obviously representing the lamb of God or the sacrifice of the Mass.

This scene of the crucifixion is outside the church next to the Basillica that was built for the Pope's visit.

The city streets in Galway. This is Irelands' fastest growing city. No matter how much any of these cities grow, they keep all the buildings in the same time period of it's surrounds. No 'modern' looking buildings are allowed. It's beautiful that they respect their heritage and history soooooo much. Look at the cobbled streets. Just gorgeous.

Until the next time.....

making a house.....

2008-09-23T17:05:00.000-04:00

Morgan is off to NC to do a walk-through of the framed house, and then visit the various places to get all of the "stuff" (fixtures, faucets, tile, carpeting, granite tops, etc.) picked out for the builder to order and start completing the build.

I miss her already. For a family that likes to be together, we sure seem to spend much time apart. Hopefully that will be fixed in the near future.

I handed her three drawings (loose interpretation) of how I wanted some ethernet wiring to have a central point in my office closet, and then the layout of where I wanted the cable, phones, etc. in the rest of the house.

Before she gets to have that fun, she must first waste a morning in small claims court. She was upset about it, but we decided we are not going to let this effect what the trip is for, and that is completing our new home. Our real estate agent, Debbie, is equally and nervous and upset about this situation. Nothing going to get better by being nervous, and it should all be over by 11am tomorrow morning.

Cassie and I have a pretty quiet week while we are on our own. Just swim practice, and a Girl Scouts meeting that happens this afternoon. My small group is not even meeting this Thursday, as three of the five couples have someone that was going to miss the night, so we just postponed the class for a week.

Last night started my New Believers Guide to the Bible class. Morgan took the class in the springtime, and loved it. The teacher, Dennis, is a very nice fellow, and really helps explain things in an easy fashion.

As I said, quiet. Think I will get a thing or two done before heading over to get Cassie.

- A Google phone. More iPhone competition.
- "Hootie" is a country star, and a real nice guy. (So says Morgan who has interviewed him)
- I loved School House Rock as a kid.

Until the next time.....

Ireland (Part 2).....

2008-09-22T19:29:00.000-04:00

More Ireland for you to enjoy.

The perfect Ireland climate grows the most amazing and abundant flowers.

The watch tower at Trim Castle.

Trim Castle. Built in 1170's. One of the largest castles in Europe and Irelands' largest.

One of the guard towers. Great shot.

Just a pretty old farm house behind Trim Castle. Can you imagine having a castle in your backyard? How fun!

Back view of the castle. If you were to look at it from an aerial view--it's in the shape of a cross.

Back view of Trim Castle.

In Sligo at the Carrick-on-Shannon (massive river). More than half of the motorcycle guys (and one gal) had left by the time Morgan snapped it. They were just out for a Sunday ride!

A beautiful old, old church in Sligo. Mass was just letting out.

The Cistercian Abbey in Sligo. The oldest abbey and most successful abbey in Ireland. The first monks came here in 1142. They were there to help reform the early Irish church that had fallen out of favor with the rest of early European Christians.

A pub across from the hotel in Sligo. There literally IS a pub on every street corner in Ireland.

No kidding!

This was on the way to Drumcliff to visit the the stomping grounds of poet W.B. Yeats. Just the most amazing landscape. At every turn, it was another postcard worthy shot.

more scenery on the way to Drumcliff

This is the pub where Yeats spent most of his time. It is small, dark and very cozy inside.

Until the next time....

mile high ride.....

2008-09-22T17:22:00.000-04:00

Here is a picture of the house from Sunday that Kellie was kind enough to take for us. We greatly appreciate it. They got a decent amount done in a week.

Yesterday we had a real nice ride with the church's motorcycle club, the Eternal Riders. At the same time, Morgan and Cassie went with the church's car club for their ride.

For our ride, we too the long, scenic route to the mountains, and made what would normally be a 45 mile ride, a 75 mile ride to the restaurant where we were to have lunch. It was a great weather day. Cool enough to enjoy the ride, but sunny enough to get some color on my arms.

At one point on the ride, we were in the east part of the county, and up at enough elevation (somewhere during the ride, we crossed the 5000 foot elevation sign) for the signs about not throwing snowballs were along the roadside. It was also the parts of the county that were effected by the 2003 and 2007 fires. It was very weird to see whole areas just burnt away.

For Morgan's ride, they drove a bunch of curvy roads in the northern part of the county, and ended up in Julian for their lunch. While eating, and after the church services were complete, Pastor Harry came up in his Camaro to join them on the rest of the trip. Morgan says he kept his car (which he and his son built) in immaculate condition.

Overall, a real nice day for all of us.

So, Chris (who I have been bantering back and forth with about the economy), and his wife, welcomed their second daughter to the family on Sunday morning. Congratulations.

He has a lot on his plate with the baby, but after quite a bit of reading, and looking at some different items, I am leaning more towards his opinion that we should not have done anything for any of these firms. Not there yet, as I believe Secretary Paulson is a good man to be in charge of this, but I am leaning. :-)

A quick goodbye to Yankee Stadium. They were never my favorite team, and the area of the city where the stadium is located, is, let's just say, not the best (neither is where Shea Stadium is located), but it was a great ballpark. Saw quite a few games there in the late 1970's and 1980's. In August 1992, Morgan and I saw U2 play there, and we got to walk on the field to get to our seats.

- So TV has a show to honor TV, and it is a terrible disaster?
- USA won Ryder Cup for first time since 1999, and Europe is angry.
- Jack White / Alicia Keys and the new James Bond song.

Until the next time.....

Ireland (Part 1).....

2008-09-20T15:05:00.000-04:00

Morgan helped edit and caption her trip to Ireland. The trip and pictures will be split up over 5 days. Enjoy.

The view from Morgan's hotel in Dublin. Her first night in Ireland!

This is the tourist info bldg in downtown Dublin. Obviously a former church.

One of the oldest bldgs and pubs in Dublin. And the flowers--because of the climate in Ireland, overcast and drizzly, the flowers and plants grow to massive sizes!

The Regency in Dublin--her first night.

Morgan's first night in Ireland included Shepherd's Pie for dinner and watching the big soccer match with some members of a local Dublin team. This was her first Guiness in Ireland.

St. Patrick statue at the Hills of Tara. A famous landmark where St. Patrick, thousands of years ago, first used the shamrock and it's 3 leaves to explain to pagans about the holy trinity--the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. He converted many to Christianity at this spot.

There is a gorgeous church on the grounds at the Hills of Tara. The cemetery was just classic and beautiful.

Oh my--there are a lot of sheep in Ireland. Just everywhere.

baaaaaaaaaaaa.....

Ireland is an island of rock. When tilled for the time hundreds and thousands of years ago, the first landowners saved the rock and built these gorgeous fences. They are 'dry set'. There is no concrete or dirt holding the rocks in place. Just good engineering!

The church on the Hills of Tara

The classic Celtic cross with the sun ringed thru it.

Trim Castle on the River Boyne. This is the castle that Mel Gibson used in the movie "Braveheart".

uh.....I didn't wanna ask what caused this.....

....another view of Trim Castle. Just sooo massive.

Until the next time.....

wild week.....

2008-09-19T15:45:00.000-04:00

If you like roller coasters, you sure must have enjoyed this week and the stock market ride. All I know is I don't enjoy roller coasters, so please make the ride stop. :-)

I don't want to give a mixed message about my thoughts of these past few days with the economy and the stock market. I believe in less / small government, and as a rule would say no government intervention. That being said, as I mentioned yesterday, I am not an economic wiz, so I am going to hope and pray that this was the right course of action. I did not want it to happen, but it has, so as always, I will support my government, and hope this works out for the best.

Again, if nothing else, and we "muddle" along for a while, I hope the "smart" people can get something in place that keeps our capitalistic society, while getting those speed bumps out there to keep this from happening again. I might be 180 degrees wrong, and even naive on this, and I will not dig my heels in and claim to know it all. I'm just having faith and hope with this mess.

JediChric's post today also dealt with Wall Street, but he had a very interesting point about oil prices, and their run up earlier in the year. He mentioned the media as part of the blame (I do think 24 hour cable news and internet, make us see thing worse than they are), but there was an interesting discussion last week on CNN's "Your Money".

The discussion centered on why with Hurricanes Gustov and Ike going through the Gulf, did oil prices not rise as they approached (unlike the gasoline spikes the southeast saw). The two "oil experts" both agreed that the rise in prices we saw in the spring were in large caused by the speculators and market "experts", and said that analyst was backed up when prices did not rise these past few weeks. One even mentioned Goldman Sachs by name, as their "oil expert" was the one to say that oil could reach $200 a barrel by summertime. They mentioned that what the expert forgot to say was that Goldman Sachs had lots of money tied up in oil futures. These are the clowns that need to be reeled in for manipulating the market.

Here is a picture of the house we are building back in NC. This was taken early in the week, and by now it should be fully framed. Thank you, Kellie.

A quiet Friday and Saturday ahead for us. Morgan is meeting a friend for coffee on Saturday morning, and Cassie has swim practice on Friday night, so nothing taxing. On Sunday, we will all be out for a good part of the morning and early afternoon as the church's car club has a ride scheduled to the mountains, which Morgan and Cassie will do, while the motorcycle club will also be riding, but we will be heading southeast to the Alpine area of the county.

Otherwise, I think it is a Rock Band 2 weekend for us. On the football side, we have a great matchup on Sunday Night Football with the Packers and Cowboys, while Monday Night Football comes to downtown San Diego when the Jets visit our beaches. Two good national games.

And I won't even mention about the non-caring fans here in the city that have not sold out the game, and have left open the possibility (slim, because someone will buy the tickets) that it could be blacked out here in town. Ugh!

- Microsoft taking on Apple over "coolness".
- Padre rookies as "Hooter Girls". Yuck!
- Sunday night is the final Yankee Stadium event.

Until the next time.....

economic times.....

2008-09-18T14:48:00.000-04:00

This piece of patriotic news from VP nominee, Joseph Biden:

Biden says it's 'patriotic' for wealthy to pay more in taxes:

Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden had this to say to correspondent Kate Snow earlier on ABC News' Good Morning America:
"We want to take money and put it back in the pocket of middle-class people." Those earning more than $250,000 a year will "pay more. ... It's time to be patriotic, Kate. Time to jump in. Time to be part of the deal. Time to help get America out of the rut. And the way to do that is -- they're still going to pay less taxes than they did under Reagan."

I find the "take money" and "be patriotic" parts of the answer fascinating. A pure and simple redistribution of wealth. You got it, give it to me and I will put it in someone elses hands. This is socialistic at its core, and when you add the big government programs to be brought forward by the Democrats (with Pelosi and Reid in charge of the two chambers, which scares me more than Obama in the White House), but the huge amount of the electorate with their hands out looking for this "help" and agreeing with this policy, has me shaking my head. Would people rather look for help and punish those who do well, then helping themselves?

Chris had an excellent response to part of my post from yesterday concerning the financial / economic situation. I will state right now that I am not a "big economic" guy, in terms of large scale economics, so what I have been following, reading and learning about with regard to what is going on in newer to me. I follow economics, but it has never been at the top of my list. My practice with individual clients, deals in a more personal level, and with having to stay on top of the US tax code, keeps me busy enough, so some of this has escaped me, or I did not follow all the details in prior years.

While I agree with his point about about Fanny and Freddie, and how this should have never been allowed to get to where they were (and the future reader, Ron Paul), I disagree with his point about AIG. Again, not totally up on this, but from everything I have read, AIG is so spread out with its dealings that it needed to be "propped up". Now this came at a large price to AIG, as the interest rate on this $85 billion is over 11%, so they are looking hard and hopefully they will "find" the money from outside sources in the near future.

I also feel he might be a little pessimistic about this just delaying the inevitable. From what I am reading, and trying to absorb, a complete bailout out of all the firms would have done so, but by "picking and choosing" (probably another discussion), and letting some go, this should help to solidify the situation. Again, I could be reading it different then him, and some others, but that is what I am getting when I put the pieces together.

Bottom line for me is that I hate the government having to get involved, but my hopes are (being very optimistic) that this will help "right the ship", and we will learn from this, and put into place safeguards to allow our free capitalistic economy, while placing a few speed bumps in place to make sure this does not happen again.

Anyway, I really appreciate his input, and it has had me reading and trying to learn more about the different items.

- Sunday's "60 Minutes" will be split between the candidates.
- If I didn't have an Ipod already, I would get a Zune.
- At less than $100 a barrel, are people caring about oil prices?

Until the next time.....

time flies.....

2008-09-17T17:06:00.000-04:00

Looking back at the calender, and I realized we have been out here in San Diego for more than a year now. Many, many things have changed in the year, and for the most part, they have been all good. And while we all enjoy it here, all three of us are itching, in our own ways and reasons, to head back east.

We will know in a few weeks if it will be this January, or next December. While Morgan and I want it to be sooner, rather than later, we have both said that we are OK with it if things do not work out, and we have to stay another year. We would not be completely happy, but we would be OK. At least that is what we say. :-)

Morgan will be in NC next week to do a walk through of the framed house. She also gets to go to each of the vendors and pick out all the "goodies" for inside the house. We have gone over many of the items, but as for colors, patterns, etc., I am leaving that all up to her.

Also, while she is up there, she gets to waste her Wednesday morning in small claims court. Back in June (posting on 6/12), I mentioned about a house close to where we used to live that we offered a contract on. Well after the inspections, I posted about the lack of care taken in the home, and the many "small things", that added up to a big list. As per the contract, the estimates to fix the items exceeded the stated limit, so we canceled the purchase. The homeowners were so upset, that they decided to keep our $3000 down payment. They have been told by their real estate agent that we followed the contract, but they do not seem to care, so it is off to small claims court on Wednesday morning.

Morgan is a bit nervous about it, but I told her that we will just have "bullet points", and with each one present a different item (contract and paragraph highlighted, inspection reports, contractor estimates, etc.). If the judge reads the contract, and looks at the estimates, we should be fine.

The homeowners contend that we never saw the house (We used to walk by it every day, and not a problem anyway, because they violated contract.), that we knew we were purchasing a 12 year old home (Yes, but we expected it better maintained. I sold my 10 year old home 9 months prior, and had only a couple of items, not 3 pages worth.), that the estimates are inflated (We used a licenced contractor, whom we trusted.), and possibly that the inspector was no good (Why, because he found all the items?). All of this is just "noise" on their part, and the contract is solid, so I am not worried.

I am sorry they have not sold their home, but taking it out on us (seems as if we were their only offer as it is still on the market) is not the correct way to go about it. We liked the home, but if there were so many "seen" items by the inspector, who knows how many there are "behind the walls".

Just frustrating and a time waster. My only fear is my sweet wife getting her anger up during the presentation. Don't want to have to fly cross country to bail her out of a Wake County jail. :-)

I am sure you have all seen and/or read about the Wall Street mess going on these past few days. Let me just say, "Relax, and take a breath". I know there is panic (bullhorned by some), and there may be more going on, but you need to sit back and relax. Our economic base is solid. What you are seeing comes from the mortgage mess, and people jumping off the "housing bubble". All of these "failures" can be linked to housing and mortgage programs that many of these companies invested in because they just thought housing would keep growing with no limit.

I just wish the government was not "bailing out" so many, but the latest one in helping AIG needed to be done. AIG has its "fingers" in too many places to be allowed to fail.

I'll go on more about this at another time (some of you are saying, "Yes, economics. That will be riveting."), but for now, here is some quick advice.

- If you are looking to retire "tomorrow", you need to work with someone now to get your finances straightened out.
- If you are younger than 50, sit and relax. Look over what your retirement is invested in, and see if you want to tweak the type of investments it is in. Whatever you do, do not take out your retirement early (unless you are in extreme financial hardship). This is especially true if it has lost value, because with the taxes and mandatory penalty, it will be extremely less in your pocket than a week ago.

- More good Rock Band 2 reviews.
- What is going on? Both Roddy & Justin hurt!
- Ryder Cup starts this weekend.

Until the next time.....

being informed.....

2008-09-15T18:03:00.000-04:00

Hooray for lazy weekends. Left the house on Saturday night for church, and Sunday morning to pick up Rock Band 2, and that was it. Some family time, some alone time, and no running around.

Want to thank Casey (just cover your eyes from the Patriot jerseys) for the nice words when he mentioned to his readers to check out this blog if they are looking for some political dialog. In his note he mentioned that my posts made him think about some things, and that really made me feel good.

Reason for that is I am not looking for these posting to change your mind. I want these posting to make you think, which in turn may have you change your mind (one way or the other).

My biggest "peeve" during election season is hearing or reading someone say they are backing a candidate because of a catchphrase. "Obama is all about change", or "McCain is going to clean up Washington". "McCain will get us off foreign oil" or "Obama will reform health care". Really? How? Please tell me one piece of a significant idea or issue (health care, economy, energy, foreign affairs, etc.) with some detail from your candidate that you think will get on down a right path. Most people can't do it. To a significant part of the possible voters, this is just like American Idol. Catchy phrase or a look is all it takes.

So, whether you agree or disagree with my leanings and discussions here, please take the next 50 days to know at least one issue that makes you want to vote for your candidate.

Reapergrrl mentioned in her posting today about the negative tone of the candidates. She is correct, and as we get closer to the election, when more start "tuning in", the ads make people want to "tune out".

Today, I am going to make a suggestion to the McCain campaign. Please get above the fray. The campaign has been blasted by the media on some of the ads that have run lately, and I am going to agree with them (shiver). Don't let Obama look like a victim. You came out of the conventions on a high, keep it going, and don't let this "mud" make you slip down below the others.

I know you made the suggestion back in late spring to have a Town Hall meeting with your opponent once a week, every week of the campaign. He turned you down. People don't know you asked for those meetings. You should have sent out a press release each day extending the invitation.

If your internet savvy daughter, or anyone from your campaign is trolling blogs and sees this, feel free to contact me for more advice. :-)

- How much longer for this financial shake-up before we settle?
- Opening skit was the only funny piece of SNL.
- People like this Clooney / Pitt team.

Until the next time.....

making news.....

2008-09-12T19:00:00.001-04:00

A "do nothing" weekend ahead of us. Morgan has to run off to the Padres game because country artist, Pat Green, is performing at the "Park at the Park". That is the family park area outside the ballpark behind centerfield. Cassie has a swim practice tomorrow morning, and besides church Saturday night, that is it. I look forward to nothing.

I have been mentioning about newspapers, and how they are cutting staff and/or their paper size. Well, our San Diego newspaper, the Union Tribune, has gone through those cuts, in the size of the paper. In my opinion, it was pretty thin to begin with as compared to other papers I have read in larger cities, but now it is even smaller in "page" size. I shrugged it off, and have kept subscribing, but today I received notice of a $2 monthly increase in my shrinking paper. That made the decision to cancel much easier. Maybe I will keep just the Sunday paper coming, but no longer will it be thrown on my driveway every day of the week.

"Palin Says War with Russia Possible"

Did the headline get your attention? Good, because it was meant to. It is not truly accurate, as it was only part of an answer (almost like those movie review one-liners you see), but it is the headline ABC News used on its website last night in promoting the interview Governor Palin had with Charlie Gibson.

I am not going to rip the interview. I thought Charlie presented fair questions, and I thought, although a little nervous sounding (and why not, knowing how this would be dissected), Governor Palin did well for herself. The question concerning the "Bush Doctrine" had me scratching my head at first, as it is not normally described that way (As a matter of fact, David Gergen, who last worked in he Clinton White House defended her by stating that was not the normal description of the "Doctrine". It is usually called the "Imminent Threat Doctrine"), but I thought once she got a handle of it, she did well.

Did she give direct answers to all questions? Yes, for the questions she was asked. Some of them were "talking point lines", but everyone tries to "stay on message". I can't believe anyone expected any bombshells from this interview.

Before I get to my problem with ABC, I will say this about one criticism I heard last night. Some were saying that she was "overly confident" and "seemed to have a high opinion of herself" when answering Charlie Gibson about being ready to be VP. As John King, from CNN noted, what was she supposed to say, "No".

OK, so the above headline was used by ABC News and is part of an answer given by Palin, and is not a fair account of the question and answer. The discussion was concerning Georgia and Ukraine joining NATO (Which Russia's Putin is fully against), and what would happen if Russia then invaded Georgia, like it did weeks ago. Governor Palin correctly stated, that if a fellow NATO country aggressively invaded another NATO country, then under the NATO "laws", the remaining NATO allies would take action against the aggressor. Charlie pressed her and asked if that meant a war with Russia. Governor Palin then said, "a war with Russia is possible under those circumstances", but then added it would be part of a NATO alliance, and we would try all diplomatic efforts first (formal discussions, sanctions, etc.) before it would ever come to that scenario. Seemed the headline writer left that part out.

Worse then that was when I watched the interview again later on Nightline (I can hear your yawns), they edited the interview to leave out the sanctions and diplomacy part of the answer. Her answer was cut to say, "A war with Russia is possible".

What kind of garbage is that? No news organization should be edited down any answer to the questions being asked. That edit took a her answer, and completely turned it 180 degrees. I understand ABC is upset this week because they were left off the debate schedule (PBS will moderate 2 debates, NBC & CBS once each, and ABC was given none), but news organizations are supposed to present the news, not make it, or in this case edit it to make news. I found this a terrible mismanagement of their news responsibility. Someone only watching Nightline heard a completely different answer than those that watched it on World News Tonight, or who might have read the transcripts.

I'm not saying they can't edit out a question for time, but cutting an answer in half is not how a news organization should be conducting itself. ABC knows better, and should clarify the matter.

- Ike is going to be devastating. We are praying for those in its path.
- Could SNL become relevant again?
- Rock Band 2 comes out on Sunday. Woo Hoo!

Until the next time.....

9-11.....

2008-09-11T14:54:00.000-04:00

I was on my way to taking Cassie to preschool when I heard Morgan talking on the air about a lane hitting one of the Twin Towers. Being a New Yorker, I figured she was describing one of those small private planes (like a Cessna) you see all the time, and just figured they got off course, and did not know how to maneuver around those buildings. Then I heard it was a passenger jet. I went home confused, and turned on the television, and just watched in silence. Just like many of you.

For every September 11th that has passed, and today no different, I look back and always wonder, "did that really happen, here, on American soil"?

I don't know about you, but I get a funny feeling in my stomach whenever I see 9:11 on a clock. Strange, but true. For myself, and many others, it is our "Pearl Harbor". A day we will not forget.

September 11th is the reason I have the eagle and American Flag tattooed on my left leg. It is the reason I do get passionate about this country and about politics. It is the reason I always give a nod to a fireman, policeman, or military person when we cross paths.

To me, this date, along with July 4th, Veterans Day, and Memorial Day are the four most important dates for the people of this country as a whole.

Take the time to pray or think about what we have as a country. Think about all those innocent people who are gone, along with their innocent families who were made to suffer because of the events of that day. Pray that it never happens again.

- USA Today story of today's events.
- Photo Gallery of events from today.
- Other events highlighted by USA Today.

Until the next time.....

virtual office.....

2008-09-10T18:25:00.000-04:00

Here is the news release from the CMAs the award nomination for Morgan and her show (Cliff and Company). As always, I am very proud of her.

The Carolina Hurricanes finally unveiled off their new "third or alternate" jersey. It is black, and has the hurricane warning flag as the emblem. I really like it, and actually hope they eventually adopt it as their "color" uniform. The red uniform they now wear always looks like pajamas to Morgan and me.

I received a call from my tax software company. They were calling to inform me that they were rolling out a new way to use their product, and my salesperson thought of me as a perfect candidate for trying it out. Instead of purchasing the software and keeping all the files on my computer (as I now do), I would lease the software and all of the programs and my files would be on their servers. Other accountants already do something similar with them, but on a product by product basis.

At first I was not sure, but then we spoke about not needing to back up client files, and the lease being "open", so for me it would actually open up all of their software, not just the pieces I currently use. On top of that, it also includes "virtual" Microsoft Office. So basically all the program I use everyday could be accessed by be from any computer that had an Internet connection. Best of all, it would cut my annual software cost in half.

I checked with other accountants that use VO, by posting a note on our bulletin board (under the guise that I was going to purchase it like they have), and I did not get one negative response.

It will not start until after next tax season ends, which I was a little bummed about, but I told my salesperson that if they decide to start this early, to please let me know.

JediChric noted yesterday that Liberals were ticking him off with the Sarah Palin can't be a mommy and VP talk. I understand his frustration, and I think many women are even more frustrated by this talk. I say, let them spout off, as there is no way they can win this argument.

He also posted in his blog today the "hoopla" concerning Senator Obama and his use of the "lipstick on a pig" reference. I have seen this clip 20+ times today on the news, and I do not take it like it was directed at Governor Palin. But, if you watch the clip, the partisan crowd sure did, as they were giving the line a standing ovation before it fully left his mouth.

Though, I'm going to call the McCain campaign to task for their "fake outrage". I don't want to see a non-story be played up as though Governor Palin was the victim (they even have a "web ad" out). Let it go, otherwise you risk the public getting "tuned out" if and when they do slip up and say something stupid. Like I'm told as a parent to my child, "Learn to pick your battles". This is one I encourage the McCain campaign to leave alone. Education (which Obama spoke about on Tuesday), energy, the economy, and taxes are the battles that need your attention. Not lipstick.

Governor Palin seems to have her own issue that needs to be cleared up, and that is concerning her travel per diems that were charged to Alaska. I had read that she spends most of her time working from her hometown, and only travels to Juneau when necessary. The amount or 2007 was about $93K, which is less than the $463K spend on travel by her predecessor in the Governor's mansion, but this will need to be cleared up. It could be all OK, but I would like to know one way or the other.

- Anne Hathaway needs to Google her next boyfriend.
- The other CMA nominees.
- Still one hockey player older than I am.

Until the next time.....

routine again.....

2008-09-09T19:50:00.000-04:00

All is quiet around here. School back into the schedule, along with afternoon swim practice, gets the routine back into place.

We did carpool with the girl next door for swimming, which helped out quite a bit, but she seems to have given up on it, so we are on our own with the back and forth of driving to practice. I'm was thinking about starting to walk in the afternoons in the neighborhood of the pool (instead of mornings near the house), to cut down on the driving, but then that would mean not eating with Morgan, and I would rather not miss that time.

When I took Cassie to swimming she informed me that she left her swim goggles and swim cap (the 1 day old orange one from the rough water swim) at the pool last night. Now, they are nowhere to be found. I was furious, as this is not Cassie's first "lost item". She said she will pay for her new goggles, and that she will, but the cap was her only keepsake from the swim. She has been swimming with this club for almost a year, and this must be her 4th set of goggles. "Shiny Object" girl needs to pay better attention to her stuff.

Morgan just found out that she and the show were nominated for another CMA Award. This will be her 3rd nomination, and we are hoping that "the third time is the charm". The official nominations will be announced tomorrow morning.

Governor Palin will be doing a sit down interview with Charlie Gibson of ABC News on Thursday and Friday. I really wish she was going on a Sunday program to put "it" on the table, but I understand the strategy. Charlie is not known for hard questioning, so I have a feeling that even if she does well (which I think she will), the media will still dog her for more one on one time. I think if it does go well, they will carefully and slowly roll her out for other interviews, but on their pacing.

That's it for now. Between our small group class, and our daily Bible reading for the next year, I need some quiet time to get caught up.

- New iPods and iTunes.
- Do we believe in Lance and his comeback?
- Are you Lost fans going to watch Fringe?

Until the next time.....

Mr. Mom.....

2008-09-08T19:11:00.000-04:00

Cassie had her rough water swim on Sunday morning, and had a good time. She did very well for her first "ocean race", and Morgan and I are proud of her. The above pictures from the morning in La Jolla. If you look (very closely, squint) to the left in the ocean picture, you can Cassie's orange cap in the water. :-)

Our church never ceases to amaze me with what they will do for the congregation. As I mentioned in prior posts, we are basically going to read the Bible in one year, and our weekly sermons will take us through the journey. We have been calling it, "Year of The Book". So, on Saturday night, we received a very nice 4 page "booklet" (laminated, colorful design, the whole nine yards) giving us 3 different areas of the Bible to read every day (Old & New Testament, along with a Psalm or Proverb). Each day (numbered from 1 to 365) is marked with a checkbox for you to mark off your readings each day. Then on top of that, every single person in the congregation was to receive a CRB T-shirt with the church's design on the front, and the "Year of The Book" design on the back. Very nice shirt, and another great idea, gift from the church.

Hopefully, there are a few new readers / lurkers here at the blog. I invited some people from Geezer Gamers over after a thread discussing the Presidential election was "locked" by the moderators. It was a very civil nine page (almost 150 post) discussion, but someone got uncomfortable, and it was closed down. I spoke with some in charge, and because somebody got uncomfortable, I agreed with their decision, as we are first and foremost a gaming site.

I have included a "following" area on the front page. Please feel free to let me know that you are following the site, even if you don't post any comments, etc.

On Friday morning when Soledad O'Brien, from CNN, was speaking with someone from workingmother.com, and how their boards were 50/50 on whether she was capable in handling the job and being a mother. O'Brein, the mother of four, was taken aback. She could not believe that there were women actually claiming another woman could not do a job because of being a mother. On top of that, the editor of the magazine stated that it seemed to be the number of children, and the young ages that seemed the most problemsome. That is when O'Brein mentioned she had four children of her own. Th editor was also bewildered by her own readers, as this is Working Mother Magazine, but she said this has been one of the most heated debates ever on their site.

Then Sunday, on CNN's Reliable Sources, Sally Quinn, of the Washington Post, also stated that she thinks the number of children, combined with the young ages, should be a reason of concern with Palin. Quinn had made this point earlier in the week, withdrew it in a Fox News interview, but was again bringing it up. Part of her reasoning was that even though they say the husband will take care and have all the same duties as a stay at home mom, men don't do the same amount as as a woman that stays home, and the woman still ends up still having to handle the children and household after they get home from work, or the office. So besides women not being able to balance work and family, she thinks men are incompetent to stay at home and have most of the household duties. Nice going in offending two different groups at once.

This is 2008, and this is still a discussion, and one that women are willing to argue against other women?

- Bad for the Patriots, and bad for football in general.

- Worst movie weekend in 7+ years. Good. Make better ones.

- This was a trainwreck. I miss Tim Russert.

Until the next time.....

I want my DirecTV.....

2008-09-05T22:33:00.000-04:00

I'm exhausted, as it was another night watching convention coverage until 2am. This was not planned. Because Morgan and I had our first "small group" meeting at church at 6:30. I set the dvr for the football game, and the convention coverage. Zap through the game, then zap through to McCain's speech, and call it a night.

So, when I got upstairs and turned on the TV, and saw CNN frozen on my screen, I knew something was wrong. (This is not the first time something has happened with these Time Warner boxes, and the problems are throughout the country. Worst part is because this is their new software, and they are rolling out these boxes, they will not be fixing it anytime soon.) I go to the listing, and the football is there, but no CNN, only a grey screen. So, it was "reboot city" to reset the box.

I knew I had let the game run over by an hour, so I figured I was in good shape. I watch the game, and here comes NBC News in Minnesota with their convention coverage. All right, a 10pm bedtime is in site. Well, that was all good until realizing that the game was over 3 hours long, McCain started late, and I only had a little sliver of "bar" left on my recording. So, about 35 to 40 minutes into the speech, up comes the "ending" box asking if I wanted to save or delete the show. There was no option for throwing the box out the second floor window, which was the option I wanted.

CNN "replays" their coverage at 11pm here in the west, so I was able to flip over to them, but they also have a 3 hour replay, so the part I missed was not being shown until after 1am in the morning. Ugh!

I do not like Time Warner Cable. I can't wait until we move and I can switch to DirecTV and their DVR or the new combo with TIVO.

Otherwise, I thought John McCain did a pretty good job with his speech. It is still an uphill battle at this point, but again, it will come down to the four debates. I would also like to hear some substance from either one at this point. McCain tried a little last night, but the only thing that stuck out was doubling the child exemption (that is the accountant in me). Otherwise, we have from both only outline bullet points, and no descriptions under the points.

The group Morgan and I are involved with through the church seems like it will be a nice nine week session. The other couples seem nice, but it was funny that we are the oldest in the group (by I would guess 8 to 10 years), and married the longest (us 17 years, the next was either 10 or 11). Made me feel old. :-)

As I have mentioned there are "Cassie activities" this weekend with her ocean swim these next two mornings, and a Girl Scouts get together tomorrow afternoon. She should do real well in that swim on Sunday morning.

- Talk about Odd Couple. Jerry Seinfeld & Bill Gates.
- Never thought I would see a Secretary of State in Libya.
- Hope Hanna skirts the NC & SC coasts.

Until the next time.....

red meat.....

2008-09-04T19:43:00.000-04:00

The NFL season kicks off tonight (dvring the game as I type) with the New York Giants hosting the Washington Redskins. As much as hockey is my number one sport, I do love football, as it is the sport most of my friends and fellow Geezers follow, so there is always conversation these next five months.

Also, there is the fantasy football aspect of it, as that keeps me interested in all the games, every week. This year I named all my teams "Always 70 and Sunny", obliviously in reference to living in San Diego. It started out as a joke because my first league this year was with the Windy City Geezers, so I wanted to help them "have warm thoughts" on those November / December nights. Some of them were not amused. :-)

I have uploaded all of Morgan's Ireland photos to five different posts, and have them saved. I hope to get Morgan to "caption" some of the pictures, then I will roll them out over a period of time.

Three paragraphs down, and some of you are going, "Great, maybe today we can skip the politics". Sorry. Not going to happen. Might as well skip to the end of the post. I know some of you are turned off by politics, and while completely understandable, it is upsetting. It is upsetting, because Washington made it this way. The most important right/control the people of this country have is to vote, and many, way too many, don't want to have anything to do with it. It is a shame.

Yes, my leanings are Republican, but I am more a moderate Republican. I believe in personal responsibility, very small federal government, capitalism and low taxes. If you want to use labels, Fiscally Conservative and Socially Moderate. While I am with the "right wing" portion of the party on some social issues, I am not "with them" on all of those issues, and might even be considered "liberal" for certain ones. Some might say that is the Libertarian Party, and it possibly is, but under our current structure, I have no problem being under the Republican tent.

I figured I should throw the above out there as I go through different issues that are discussed in the news leading up to the election in future posts, including the war.

So, the "red meat" title is the phrase being used by the media to describe how the speakers last week for the Democrats, and this week for the Republicans were giving the each party's base something to chew on, and get riled up. In truth, it is just "hot air" but deemed necessary by each party. Though mostly "rah-rah", if done well, these speeches can help launch political careers (Bill Clinton in 1988, Barack Obama in 2004), or make viewers go, what was that?". Because of the "short week", The Republicans trotted out Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and Rudy Guiliani all on one night. Ouch, were they rough on Obama. Some thought too rough, but it is a convention. As I have said, the real stuff starts next week on the campaign trails, and with the debates.

And, yes, I will gush over Governor Palin, and her speech. I understand that the speech was written by a "speech writer", and she used teleprompters, (so did Barack Obama on his big speech) but after what she has gone through these past five days, she was completely "on mark", and seemed like a natural up on the stage. Again, we will see what the next 8 weeks bring, but unless she has a complete meltdown, she is going to be a "star" of the Republican Party for quite a few years (if she wants to keep pursing politics).

Want to know why I am so high on Governor Palin (besides being a "hockey" mom)? Because I see my wife up there. Now Morgan has no political aspirations (unless she is hiding them from me), but I see a strong woman, who is intelligent, a great mother, and a great wife. I see a woman who can handle what is put in front of her in a "man's world", and can knock those obstacles to the side. Those traits all equal my lovely wife.

Those are also the traits that my daughter will pick up from Morgan, and who knows, maybe in 30 or so years, we will see my Cassie up there accepting a nomination.

- Hooray marriage!
- Time to get your XBOX 360.
- DirecTV and TIVO kiss and make up.

Until the next time.....

dog & pony show (part 2).....

2008-09-03T17:59:00.000-04:00

We are now in the middle of the Repubican Convention (after a day and half lull because of Hurricane Gustov), with tonight us finally hearing from Governor Palin, and tomorrow night from John McCain. As also mentioned last Tuesday, it is really the "same ol', same 'ol" for the whole week, except for the hour that Sarah Palin will speak tonight. Why? Because, for most of the country this will be the first time ever hearing her. There is a sense of "wonder" out there. Will she fall flat on her face? Will people see why people that know her like her so much? Will she really shake things up?

I figure for the same reason many tuned in to finally hear from Barack Obama last Thursday night, about the same numbers will turn on to hear Governor Palin. At least you would hope so, and not that people will have already have made up their minds on her because of what the media has said for these past five days.

I think she will do fine tonight, and people that were not sure, and come in with an open mind, will like her. But in truth, it will be the next two weeks or so, once out on the campaign trail, and when finally interviewed by the national media like Meet The Press, Face the Nation, etc., that will show her true value.

As for the "dog and pony" part. When zipping through what went on and was covered by television, it was the same old thing. I did notice how elaborate the DNC's set-up was as compared to this stage for the RNC. Not sure if the DNC went overboard, or if the RNC went understated, but there was a noticeable difference.

I will give a pat on the back to Senator Joe Lieberman. I don't agree with all his thinkings, but for him to actually walk out at the Republican Convention stage less than eight years after being the Democratic VP nominee, took guts. Thought I will bet that he does eat alone when at Democratic gatherings.

Morgan has started her preparation for the church breakfast that she is providing to them on Saturday morning. She will have a yogurt parfait, croissants, and fruit for them. This is a breakfast for all the small group leaders in the church.

For Cassie and I, our Saturday and Sunday morning will be tied up in La Jolla and her rough water swim event. Besides practice on Saturday morning, we need to pick up her race packet, which I was told can be a long line. Then on Sunday (with Morgan joining us) will be her "race" at 9am. For her age group it is only 250 yards, so she should do real well.

I am off to set up my 4th Fantasy Football team. I got "last minute asked" by the guys in the Geezer Gamers West group to help fill their league, and could not say "no". I should have, but really did not want to, as I like playing with fellow Geezers, and managing teams is easy once the season starts. Funny thing is for me, that I am now in four different leagues (one with my high school buddies, three with Geezers), through four different sites (NFL.com, ESPN, Yahoo & FleaFlicker), and each one is a totally different set-up, league rules and scoring. Yikes.

- Need to catch up on Lost. Here are all the episodes.
- She really needed her e-mail.
- NC's N&O downsizing staff and paper? Will there be actual newspapers in 20 years?

Until the next time.....

back home.....

2008-09-02T19:26:00.000-04:00

Morgan is back home from Ireland, and had a great time. She took over 500 pictures, and once I get the chance to edit them a bit for size, etc., I will start posting some of them. It is good to have her home. Real good. :-)

Not much going on otherwise, as we had a lazy Labor Day, and with the start of the month, my work has started flowing into the office. I'll be off in a short time to La Jolla for Cassie's swim practice, as that seems to be taking up time the rest of this week.

The big stories of the weekend was Gustov hitting the Gulf Coast, and some hiccups for Governor Palin.

Gustov did damage like any hurricane of that size would, but the obsession with New Orleans got to be a bit much. I understand the devastation of Katrina, and what happened in the days after Katrina with the slow government response, was dismal, but this is a city that is on the coast, and that is below sea level. Unless someone stopped Katrina in 2005, the destruction was going to occur. Now, because of the tragedies of three years ago, it seems the local, state, and federal government will go over board to protect the city, with the media right there for every second of it. New Orleans did OK, but it seems the smaller towns were hit the hardest, and they had no news crews camped out for them.

I will be interested to see the coverage for the rest of the storms that seem to be lining up in the Atlantic over the next couple of weeks, and if the same type of coverage is brought to them.

As for John McCain's VP pick, Governor Palin, she could have had a better weekend. This is not the way the Republicans wanted to have her introduced to the public.

"Trooper Gate" (as it is being nicknamed), is not much of anything, and if there is anything there, it looks like she was just protecting her family, in this case of sister and children, from a custody case that had turned real sour.

With the case of her daughter, Bristol, this is a very private matter, which seems that the family is handling in a healthy, and loving way. What more can you ask for, as this is a family issue, which unfortunately hits too many families across this country. Is this what they want for their 17 year old daughter? Of course not, but you deal the cards that are given to you, and move forward.

I do applaud, Senator Obama on his statement saying that this is a private matter, and the children of all politicians should be "off limits".

Off to the Pacific.

- Google's new browser, set to rival IE.
- Equal time. IE8 is available in beta.
- New iPods coming?

Until the next time.....

Happy Anniversary.....

2008-08-31T18:07:00.000-04:00

Only a couple of hours before Cassie and I trek off to the airport to pick up Morgan. Her flight arrives at 6pm, but then she needs to get her luggage, so who knows when she will be "ready". Luckily, the airport here in SD has a "cell phone lot", where you can sit and park and wait for the person you are picking up to call you. That way no going round and round the airport (like RDU), or waiting for security to threaten you and chase you off. :-)

Today is also our 17th wedding anniversary. We have had way more ups than downs over the time, and I love her more and more each and every day. I am a lucky man.

My Monday and Thursday nights are now filled up for the fall time with classes / small groups through church. On Mondays, I will be taking the "New Believers Guide to the Bible" class. Morgan took the class in the springtime and really enjoyed it. Then on Thursday evenings, Morgan and I will be joining a small group hosted by a couple we have become friendly with, Tony & Elise. We met them at a marriage workshop in March, and see them every Saturday night at church. They also came to the beach to watch us, and others being Baptized. We will be reading and discussing Intimacy Ignited, which is based off the Song of Solomon.

That's it. Lazy day, and I'm tired because I played games with some Geezers until 2am, and my body does not like me right now. :-)

- These Hurricane Hunters are nuts.
- Final month of baseball. Will the Rays hold on?
- ESPN's Presidential Fantasy League.

Until the next time.....

eye of the storms.....

2008-08-30T19:15:00.000-04:00

As I am writing this, Morgan should be getting her last night of sleep in Ireland. I was not able to check her in online, so she will need to do all of that at the airports tomorrow, but the way her travel schedule is, she will have plenty of time to do it. I can't wait to see her, and hear all about her trip.

Cassie just returned from a birthday party. It was for a girl she is in Girl Scouts with, and also goes to her school. They live over 20 miles away, but her mom teaches at their school, so I guess she gets to "bring" her child with her, instead of their neighborhood school. Cassie went with out neighbor and their family, so I was out of the loop on this one. Now, she needs to clean up for church.

So the Gulf of Mexico part of the country has Gustav bearing down on them, and then another storm, Hanna, making a strange path at this time that seems to take it due west and bring itself into the Gulf. When a storm gets into the Gulf, it has to hit something (unlike Atlantic hurricanes). I hope that they are incorrect about Hanna, and it turns north. Otherwise, I pray that these storms settle down and some to shore in deserted areas along the coast. That whole area is still getting its act together after Katrina in 2005, and does not need a repeat so soon.

The Republicans are supposed to have their convention next week, but it looks like there is a good possibility they will delay some or all of it a few days if Gustav does a tremendous amount of damage.

The other "storm" still revolves around John McCain's pick of Sarah Palin as his VP. People need to calm down. Let them have their convention (her speech is scheduled for Wednesday night), and get their feet on the ground. If the bar keeps getting lowered for her before she has a chance to do anything, it will be much easier for her to impress with her speech next week, as people will finally get to know a little about her, and may wonder what all the fuss was about.

I sent out a "summertime" email to my clients, and included a blurb about Morgan and I being Baptized, and also the link to the story about Morgan in San Diego Magazine. I received lots of nice feedback on both personal items, with Morgan's story getting many "That's amazing" comments.

- Guess there are people still wanting to hear John Edwards.
- Mr. Ocho Cinco?
- College Football's first weekend. Upsets already.

Until the next time.....

didn't see that coming.....

2008-08-30T00:01:00.000-04:00

Morgan still having a great time on her trip. We miss her, but she will be home in two days, so we are glad for that. Luckily, she has Monday off, but I think she might have a hard time getting readjusted to her schedule next week. It might take the whole week or so to get back to normal.

Cassie had her first rough water swim practice this evening. Not sure what they will really be doing besides swimming out then back, but any ocean swimming practice is a good thing for her. First, it is good for her to learn to swim in ocean water (in case of emergency), and it will also be a good tough workout that should help when normal practices start up again on September 8th.

So when I mentioned in Tuesday's post that I was looking for a "curveball" in John McCain's VP pick, I did not expect him to listen to me, but he did. :-) Sarah Palin, is the Governor of Alaska, and great selection by John McCain. She is unknown to many, (but polls showed not many know Senator Biden, and he has been a member of the Senate since 1972) and was "off the radar" to most concerning the VP pick, but when comparing her to the rest of the "short list" that was known, I find her to come out on top. She is a bit of a "maverick", in the same way McCain was/is (the pick shows he still has a "maverick" side), and that is a good thing.

Some are going to ask, "is she ready to be President"? Well, she is the governor of a state, so she deals with a legislature, in almost the same way a President deals with Congress. Also, being governor means she has dealt with budgets, and is the "buck stops here" person for the state problems. That to me is more "exposure" to the people, makes you a "manager of the people", a CEO, (if you will) and in my mind, makes you more qualified than being a Senator.

***History Lesson*** If you look back in history, the last sitting Senator to be elected President was John F. Kennedy in 1960 (Richard Nixon was a Senator, then was the VP under President Eisenhower from 1952-1960), as elected Presidents are usually governors (Carter, Reagan, Clinton, Bush) or vice-presidents (Johnson, Nixon & Bush, Sr.). So in most cases, our elected President has either been in charge of a state (which has to balanced budgets, make political deals, etc), or has been the "under study" to a President, and gets "on the job training". ***

But, she has no foreign policy experience? So? Neither did four (Carter, Reagan, Clinton, & Bush) of our last five (Bush, Sr. did) elected presidents, and it was not a factor (unless I missed when Arkansas or Texas were invaded, or brought into the Middle East peace talks). This is a "team" job. There is a reason why there is a Secretary of State, Defense Secretary, Generals, etc. surrounding anyone in the White House.

I can't imagine there is anyone that votes who actually thinks there is a person out there that knows every detail of every idea that needs to be implemented to run this country, and deal with foreign policy.

These are the same non-experience arguments brought up against Barack Obama. Guess what? Those arguments don't fly with me either. Sure, I would liked more "seasoned" participant, seeing that he has a very good chance to be our next President, but it will not be the deciding factor in my choice to vote for or against him. (My reasoning for both McCain and Obama right before election day) But, how long is that? Is it 10 years in Washington, DC? Or 6 years being a governor? Or a combination? But then on the other side, can they be "too seasoned" and then entrenched in the ways that are not working in the first place?

Anyway, a bold pick by McCain (whether it works or not.....), and after people get to know more about Governor Palin, a very good one. Even if they lose, unless she is a disaster out on the campaign trail, this should give her a "voice" on the national stage.

At the end of the day, you will decide between Barack Obama and John McCain. Not Joe Biden and Sarah Palin. Because if that was true, we would have had a President Dukakis, and not George HW Bush as our 41st president (Bentsen versus Quayle, anyone?).

Lots of religion, economics and politics lately. Hope I'm not losing too many of you, but it is my rant space. ;-)

- Lots of stars to make this movie good and funny.
- So, Comcast is going to cap broadband usage (large cap, for now).
- I'm very old. I can remember box seats for less than $10.

Until the next time.....

drafty.....

2008-08-27T19:11:00.000-04:00

Morgan said that most of today was spent in the bus, as they toured and did sight-seeing of the Ireland coast. She finally mentioned that the camera works well, and is easy, so she has taken many pictures. That means lots of editing by me next week. ;-)

I have been listening to little bits of her show in the morning, and let's just say they miss her. I'm not going to beat a dead horse (well, yes I am), but if you are in the information section of entertainment, it would be nice if you thought about looking at the front page of the paper, and maybe had an idea of a current event.

Hillary Clinton did not self-combust on stage last night (I normally do not care what one wears, but the orange suit must go), but tonight we get to see former President, Bill Clinton, make his speech while grinding his teeth the whole time. It should be fun. Actually, between the former President, Democratic VP nominee Joe Biden, and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, it is three gentlemen I like to hear speak or debate topics (although I don't usually agree with them on many points), but under this partisan setting, I will be fast-forwarding through the dvr.

Almost time for my first Fantasy Football draft of the season, so I need to wrap up. It is with some of my Geezer buddies from the Chicago area. There will be twelve of us playing in this one, and I have the 6th overall pick. Picking in the middle means I will have to think. I hate that. :-)

The other two I am in are "auto-drafts", so that means we don't meet live in a chat room and make our picks, but instead make a list in order, and the computer takes care of the drafting. One is with other Geezers, and the last one is with my high school buddies.

I see my friends in NC got a bunch of wet and dangerous weather. Hope everyone is OK, and I hope everyone got rain. I know it sounds crazy, but I miss weather.

- Guess we will find out if Michael Phelps is funny.
- Newest Nikon camera. Know Casey is looking.....
- Tampa Bay Rays help battle prostate cancer. Hooray for them!

Until the next time.....

dog and pony show.....

2008-08-26T19:22:00.000-04:00

Morgan had another nice day today in Ireland. It is funny that with the eight hour time difference that when she is "ending" her day and getting ready for dinner, I am just having my breakfast. I hope she has been taking pictures.

We have the Democratic National Convention going on in Denver this week, and next week the Republicans invade Minneapolis. You would think for the political "junk" I follow I would watch the conventions, but for the last few cycles, I really have not. Now, I will watch tonight to see if Hillary Clinton self-combusts while saying nice things about Barack Obama, but otherwise unless it rains Thursday night while Obama gives his speech outside at Invesco Field, this will be an uneventful event.

Same goes for the Republicans. Saturday we will be finding out John McCain's running mate (sure to be Mitt Romney, but a "curveball" would be nice), and then it will be a "by the script" four day convention. Only real "news" will be how much the party distances itself from President Bush, but other than that, no real news. A Labor Day two foot snowfall in Minnesota would be the only way to make the RNC party interesting.

Then it will be less than a 60 day sprint to the November 4th election.

Thursday evening I have "back to school night". The teacher that Cassie has was pretty good in sending home notes last week on what to expect this year, so I'm not sure what to expect.

On Friday Cassie starts her "rough water" swim practices. She will have four before the event on Sunday, September 7th. It is about 20 miles from the house, so I will need to stick around while she practices. Guess I can get caught up on my readings.

- History of Superman
- Now baseball will have instant replay for certain plays.
- Just what I need. A SportsCenter website.

Until the next time.....

standard of living.....

2008-08-25T19:21:00.000-04:00

In our daily texting of messages, Morgan says she is having a great time. She also found duct tape for the rip in her luggage. That will make it easier for her because they are in a different hotel almost every night.

Also, Kelli is the name of her Australian friend, who she has been traveling with. I told her not to bring up Olympic basketball, because the Americans knocked off both the men's and women's teams last week. :-)

I was watching CNN's Your Money, like I do every weekend (and yes that is as exciting as it sounds), and someone on the show was talking about the sluggish economy with regards to the economy in general plus the lousy housing market (some say lousy, I say correcting), but then added the statement that it is quite possible we would not have a better standard of living then the last generation. Not only is that a ridiculous statement, but I also feel it makes people that do not follow these things closely "fearful", which then causes even more problems.

As I stated earlier, all economics is cyclical, and everytime we hit the top of the circle, it is a little higher than the previous "high". The bottoms fluctuate on how low they go, but the tops always prevail over previous ones. Now, sometimes you go around the circle quickly, and sometimes it is like the Ferris wheel that seems to stop every two seconds. Right now, we seem to be on that slow moving wheel. I believe one reason for that is because of 24 hour information overload. It feels slower than others because we hear, read, and get links about it multiple times a day.

But, for the life of me, I can't understand the "lower standard" statement. A "generation" is supposed to be over a time period, not just "today".

Now, if you want to take that "snapshot" of the person $100K "upside down" on their house, and compare it to his/her parents, sure they seem in worse shape. But, what about that house? I will bet it is worth more than their parent's place at the same time of their lives. Sure, it might be "upside down", but if they waited it out (like our parents did, as they had much better economic patience then us), in a short time (relatively) things will turn around. These are just called "rough times", not some lowering of our standard of living, as compared to our parents.

Also, it is called "standard" of living. Standard means the basics that you need everyday to get by in life. Well, guess what? If you strip all the "extras" and "luxuries" we have and that we think we are entitled to, and "must" have to survive, we are well ahead of the game.

Ugh! Just wish some of these "talking heads" brought on as "experts" would think just a second before speaking. "Normal" people that are not "in tune" with money and economic matters are persuaded very easily by those who they think should know about these matters (I know the "power" I have, and I'm just the tax accountant).

More on those "extras" and "luxuries" in another post.

- Don't agree with his politics, but I like Joe Biden.
- OK, you Idol fans, you now have a 4th judge to complain about.
- Lots of bumpin' at Bristol on Saturday night.

Until the next time.....

paying for sunshine.....

2008-08-24T13:34:00.000-04:00

Have an update on Morgan in Ireland. We seem to be having some problems with text messages getting through (quickly, or at all), so after not hearing from her, and then when I checked online there were large amounts out of the ATM ($1.50 equals $1 Euro. Yikes! We had put money "aside" for the trip, and she told me she took it out early to have the Euros available to her from the start.), I got worried and called the hotel. That is when we found out about messages not getting through.

Morgan is doing well, and having a great time. Only problem was that her luggage has a big rip in it from where it was stored on the flight over to Ireland. She is hoping to find some tape to make a patch job (she did not lose anything), or she will just pick up the largest duffel/storage luggage she can find at a cheap price.

She has met up with a woman from Australia who is also traveling solo, and they have seemed to made a plan to travel together. I figured she would get together with someone on the trip. Overall, she is having a nice time, but Cassie and I miss her. :-(

It is no secret that California is a very high cost of living state, and the larger cities (San Francisco, Los Angeles, and here in San Diego) are even more then the state average.

With us being here almost a year, it is time for our automobile's insurance and registrations to be renewed. Well I just got them in and the insurance bill is at $2800, while our registration renewal fees are a little over $800! That is $800 just for the 4 stickers that go on our license plates. Ugh!

When we got here last year, because Morgan's Viper (it is a used 1994) and my motorcycle were purchased less then a year before we moved here, California charged us the sales tax difference as compared to NC (California sales tax is 7.75%, while NC on vehicles is 3%. Add that to the costs just to newly register a car, and we had a hefty bill well into the $2000 figures. Then our initial insurance bill came, and that was another $2500.

Add that together, and if we do stay here for another year plus the few months, it will cost us somewhere between $10K & $11K just to have cars here in the state.

I am not looking for tears, or a telethon, as again, I have always said, Morgan and I have been blessed with our employment and income situation, but that is a lot of money for anyone. When I looked back at my NC figures for insurance, registration and the Wake County taxes, that figure is right around half of what we are now paying.

You have to drive if you live here, so how a "normal" family swings it out here with these costs, is beyond my imagination. Especially when that is just auto. Look at the gas, food, and utility prices, and your eyes will explode.

There are many things I really like here in SD, but this is one area that always leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I have had people tell me that is the price we pay for the sunshine and weather. Well, I for one am looking for a discount, so let it rain.

- Four years until London (Vancouver for Winter 2010).
- Is this the slowest storm ever? Sure seems it.
- This is why I hate preseason football.

Until the next time.....

600 Starbucks.....

2008-08-22T19:09:00.000-04:00

Morgan is off and on her way to Ireland. As I write this, she is just boarding the plane from JFK to Dublin. Her total travel time is 17 "real" hours, but 4 of that is layover time in New York (both leaving and returning) , so 13 hours of flying. On the way there, in terms of "time", it is 25 hours because of the time difference (8 hours from here in SD), and 9 hours when she returns next Sunday.

I am really feeling bad about not going with her. As I have said, I am not much of a traveler, and when she made these plans, I made plenty of excuses in my head for not joining her. I was still uncomfortable out here, it was really "for her" as a "prize" for her weight loss, and when you factor in Cassie, I just dug me heels in and never even thought about going with her. She was supposed to have different travel partners, but each time they backed out, and each time, I kept saying, "I can't go". Today, I regret that, and am a bit sad about it. I have made a promise to myself not to let this happen again, especially when this great of distance in involved.

I really miss her already, but I know she will have a wonderful time.

I was reading about some clothing store closing, Steve & Barry's (which I never heard of) being sold, and 100 of its 276 stores being closed. That is 36% of it's existing stores closing. A quote in the article from an analyst states "“During their extreme growth mode, which was too ambitious, they took on some leases at the wrong price and wrong location,” Teitelbaum told." Really, do you think so? When you can close 100 of your stores, it was not ambitious growth, but lack of planning.

Steve & Barry's is not the only one closes locations. Many businesses are doing it right now (you can read about one almost everyday, it seems), but the biggest announcement in the past few months was Starbucks closing 600 stores.

What I don't get is the lack of "future vision" in these businesses forecasts. Was every CEO born within the last 10 years? Have not any of them realized that as long as there was an economy (Starting with Adam "buying" that apple. Bad deal.) it goes up and down, or in cycles?

We have all heard the joke the last few years about a Starbucks on every corner. Well in some places of the US, there literally is one on every corner. This article in USA Today from 2006 has a chart that shows how many stores are in each state (More now, as this was two years ago.), and how many residents per store (Now a bit lower, as the population has not grown that much in proportion to stores. Well, legally. But that is another post). The chart shows that after Washington, DC with less than 10,000 residents per store, the state of Washington is next at almost 12K per store, and while California is a little further down the list in terms of residents per store, there were 2004 stores in the state as of the writing of the article. 2004 coffee shops!

Now they are cutting 600 of those stores. For arguments sake, let's assume that it cost an average of $50,000 to upfit each store. That is $30 million to get them ready to make coffee. Just to get even from that, those 600 stores would need to sell 6 million cups of coffee at $5 a cup to just pay for the upfitting, and that is before purchasing any ingredients. What were they thinking?

I am not picking on these two, well maybe a little on Starbucks, as there are many other business "downsizing" their number of locations. Also, I am not against growth, but what I do believe in is smart and controlled growth (and that goes for housing, as well as businesses). There are many lessons to be learned from this "economic downturn" as it is being called, and those are lessons for businesses, as well as the population in general. My hope is that these lessons are learned as we make our way out of this, and when the economy gets "hot" again in the next upturn of the cycle.

Here is a free hint for business owners, and large company CEOs. If your product is good, we, as consumers, will make an effort to get it. If that means travelling to the next town for the store, or using the internet (and every retail by now should have a robust internet presence), we will do it. We don't need a store of yours on every corner. But, if it is the same as the other guy, we then will use convenience. So, if you want us, make or supply the better product. We will find you.

I was going to apologize for ranting, but I'm not. have a feeling there are more to come. ;-)

- This is the "movie of the week" Cassie wants to see.
- More Disney music being heard in our house.
- Cooking video games. I know one girl who wants them.

Until the next time.....

I saw your picture.....

2008-08-21T18:28:00.000-04:00

Morgan is packing for her trip. I miss her already. When she originally booked this I had no interest, but now I wish I were going with her. It's funny as I have no desire to visit my "homeland" of Italy, but Ireland seems like more fun to me. Maybe again in a few years, the three of us can go.

A few weeks ago, I gave the link to the online version of San Diego Magazine that had Morgan featured with before and after pictures of her weight loss, and then a Q&A with her about different items. The magazine is now out in print and available to subscribers, on newsstands, and it seems in hotel rooms.

She received an email form a gentleman who works in Houston for an oil company, and was visiting San Diego for conference or meeting he had to attend. Seems that in the week leading up to this trip, he had been told by his doctor that he needed to change his eating habits, to lose some weight, and just to get healthier in general. Seeing that the trip entailed business meetings with buffets and alcohol, he figured any new habits would have to start after he arrived back home to Houston. Well, on the first afternoon here, before an evening gatherings with clients / business people, he was flipping through the San Diego Magazine in his room and came across Morgan's page. Well, what he said was that he came across Morgan's picture in the right corner, and that made him stop flipping, but then he actually read the article. He told her that he was so inspired by her story, that he started his change of behavior at that time because of reading her story.

It made Morgan feel great, and it also made me proud that she was able to help someone. She already has two women that discuss their weight loss, due to Morgan's inspiration, on the air each Monday, and we are sure there are plenty of others that she does not know about.

Of course the other part of this story is having another man tell your wife, (quoting) "it was the stunning picture in the top right hand corner that caught my eye (as it would any man not dead)". I don't know how to react to this. I feel the "Yes, that's my beautiful wife" (proud), and the "I am one lucky man, now turn your head and bug off" (jealousy), emotions all at once. It's not a "rage" jealousy, but one of slight discomfort that I need to learn to adjust to, and get over.

Morgan and I have had this discussion quite a few times, and we have come to the conclusion that besides the person losing the weight having to deal with their "new you", their partners (especially long time ones) also must adjust to the "new them". It is just taking me a little while to get completely comfortable with the idea of other men "looking" at my wife.

Morgan and I have had a solid relationship for these past 18+ years, and I truly have nothing to worry about when it comes to Morgan, and our love for each other. I know how much I love her and how it grows each and every day.

I also feel I have the same "spark" for her and that seeing her makes me feel the same way now as it did 18 years ago. I may not always show it to her, and for that I apologize, but I feel it in me every time I see her.

That point was brought up to me at church last Saturday night. A couple we know and are friendly with, will be leading a "small group" of couples, with the Bible connection being intimacy. Tony mentioned that the thought process behind the topic was how couples don't feel the same spark that they did when they first meet, and are dating. Well, I do, and maybe even more so now than 18 years ago. I felt funny saying that when he told me, so I did not say anything, and I am interested in taking the class, but it made me wonder if I am in the minority on this issue. Yes, life is hard with work, Cassie, family, and the times in general, and we are more "tired" then awake most days, but I always feel a "spark" for Morgan. I always get that "feeling" when I see, or are with her, and no matter what we are doing. I can be crawling into bed after she is long asleep, or if she is still sleeping when I awake, or when I bug her with an inane question, and she gives me that "look", I always feel a little better because of her.

Maybe I am misunderstanding the "theme" of the class. Or maybe Morgan and I have it easier than most couples? In either case, I just know I am lucky to feel this way each and every day, and I have room for 50 mores years of "spark" with her.

- Only a couple of more Olympic days remaining.
- Fay has plenty of rain, bringing out the gators. Yikes.
- Just joined my 3rd Fantasy Football league. Must stop. :-)

Until the next time.....

birthday wife.....

2008-08-20T18:45:00.000-04:00

Today is the birthday of "The Love of My Life". Then on the 31st, we celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary, so we celebrate two special days within a two week period. I can't imagine life without her. In between today and the end of the month, she will be headed off to Ireland, so temporarily, we will be apart, and I will miss her very much each day.

We don't have anything special planned except for a family dinner somewhere of Morgan's choosing, and then a quick run to Best Buy to pick up a "point and shoot" camera for her trip.

Received an email from our builder that they have "pinned" the house on the lot, and will be digging for the footings tomorrow or Friday. Then next week, they will pour and work on the foundation. From there they will start thew framing, and expect the framing to be completed about a week before Morgan arrives for the walk through. I'm starting to get "itchy". :-)

Slow work time, so it looks like I have time for a quick nap before we go out. Of course, knowing me, I will find something else to do, and not get near the bed before we need to leave. Too much game playing these past few nights.

Again, Happy Birthday Honey!!!

- Are you CSI fans OK with Mr. Fishburne?
- Game predicted Russia/Georgia conflict?
- Get well soon, Yaz.

Until the next time.....