Being a child of a Christian household, even if I don't believe, I'd like to wish each and every person in the world a Happy New Year. It's the way we count solar rotations, so get over it!!!!!
Actually, this is my second favorite holiday of the year; Thanksgiving being the favorite. Thinking about it; they should be co-favorites: Thanksgiving is just about realizing how lucky we've been and the New Year is a combination of "we made it this year" and "gee, I hope we can make it next year".
Think about what the first people who celebrated Thanksgiving were faced with; and the first persons who celebrated a 'new year'. Both celebrations are about a successful result over whatever period. The New Year is looking forward; new hopes, new dreams, new days.
Happy New Year to you all. I hope 2010 turns into a wonderful year for the entire world!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Almost the new year...
It's late in the evening of 29 December 2009. Not the greatest of years but certainly not the worst.
Thankfully we now have a President who seems to cherish peace above war; now he just needs to figure out how to make that happen. I'm not very realistic; I'd just tell everyone that we were leaving and about a week later it would be a fact. Can't do that in the real world, I know, but I'd sure like to try it. Blow up about $10B worth of shit so it would only be good for scrap metal and "see ya".
Actually, I think that would be almost the best thing we could do. Over on Lee's religious blog he talked about why he wasn't surprised about the guy who tried to blow up a plane on Xmas. It really made sense to me - check it out: http://theeggbox.blogspot.com/2009/12/why-am-i-not-surprised.html
We, I mean the U.S., are treating this like a 'police action' but that's not what the Arabs think it is, they think it's a Christian invasion of their lands. Isn't that obvious to anyone open to a thought? Jesus A Fucking Christ, that asshole fundamentalist Christian G. W. Bush has gotten us into one war that has, to almost anyone, limited viability; one war that has none at all; and has us on the edge of invading yet another Arab country - this time for no reason whatsover except that they might actually use nuclear energy for... electricity! When are we going to be rid of the legacy of GWB? My guess is in about 150 years. What an asshole. I only hope that he goes out and digs a big hole in the Texas dirt and holding Dick Chaney in his arms, is struck by lightning and they fall into the hole, dead, becoming part of our nation physically! After all, isn't "dirt to dirt" part of their belief system? And if they are right and there is a God, I'm pretty sure they'll both be shoveling coal for a LONG TIME.
Yah, I'm gonna quit this joyous if unlikely line. Have a wonderful New Year if I don't get back.
I have seen war.... I hate war. Sam Rayburn
Thankfully we now have a President who seems to cherish peace above war; now he just needs to figure out how to make that happen. I'm not very realistic; I'd just tell everyone that we were leaving and about a week later it would be a fact. Can't do that in the real world, I know, but I'd sure like to try it. Blow up about $10B worth of shit so it would only be good for scrap metal and "see ya".
Actually, I think that would be almost the best thing we could do. Over on Lee's religious blog he talked about why he wasn't surprised about the guy who tried to blow up a plane on Xmas. It really made sense to me - check it out: http://theeggbox.blogspot.com/2009/12/why-am-i-not-surprised.html
We, I mean the U.S., are treating this like a 'police action' but that's not what the Arabs think it is, they think it's a Christian invasion of their lands. Isn't that obvious to anyone open to a thought? Jesus A Fucking Christ, that asshole fundamentalist Christian G. W. Bush has gotten us into one war that has, to almost anyone, limited viability; one war that has none at all; and has us on the edge of invading yet another Arab country - this time for no reason whatsover except that they might actually use nuclear energy for... electricity! When are we going to be rid of the legacy of GWB? My guess is in about 150 years. What an asshole. I only hope that he goes out and digs a big hole in the Texas dirt and holding Dick Chaney in his arms, is struck by lightning and they fall into the hole, dead, becoming part of our nation physically! After all, isn't "dirt to dirt" part of their belief system? And if they are right and there is a God, I'm pretty sure they'll both be shoveling coal for a LONG TIME.
Yah, I'm gonna quit this joyous if unlikely line. Have a wonderful New Year if I don't get back.
I have seen war.... I hate war. Sam Rayburn
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Merry Christmas and all that jazz.....
Haven't blogged in a while; not because nothing happened but because I was a lazy sod. Yeah, I know, what's new about that! We've been having weather in the valley. It has rained a couple of days; we are probably well on our way to that 4 inches (10 cm) that we are supposed to get. There were snow flurries one day as well but nothing else that stuck.
Went to Vegas a couple of times doing the Xmas present thing. I do like buying things for people; maybe I should just start doing it because I like it. It would certainly make people wonder what I was up to! The pass was clear both times but the sanding trucks were out so I need to get the car washed. Don't you just love a white car?
My wife and I agreed that we've been spending money like drunken sailors so we'd take it easy on Xmas. We went out together and bought each other a couple of things to put under the tree - useful stuff, like shirts that we actually like. LOL It worked pretty well I think so maybe we'll have to try it again next year. I did sneak in a surprise present for her but that's just for fun.
Our daughter will be here (from Vegas) but that's the Xmas party. Son & his lady can't make it; maybe next year but I'm not holding my breath. They seem to have a good relationship and enjoy being alone. If that works for them, that's all that is important. Daughter doesn't have a guy in her life right now so being with us works for her. Therefore, it works for us all. She is planning on staying two nights; we'll see if she can stand being with us that long!
Xmas eve is Mexican night (in honor of my father-in-law) around here. Enchiladas and margaritas will be the order of the day. Xmas is ham. Bought a nice pinot noir to go with it. We looked around for a prime rib but finding prime is difficult. The markets have choice grade but not prime so we decided to skip it. We have a good recipe for the ham, it's easy to find and reliable. Who needs more stress at this time of year.
Next week it a time to do some rebalancing in the portfolio. It's been quite a year for the markets. I'm thinking of shifting a bit more into bonds if I can find a good fund. Some of the fund managers seem to be even more inept than I am! I'm keeping more money in stocks than most advisors would suggest but I think that I'm looking at a 30 year retirement (ok, I'm being optimistic about living that long but why not?) and going into fixed income is just a recipe for being really poor when I'm over 80. Who wants that?
Gotta go. Have a Merry Christmas and try to stay out of trouble!
"At Christmas play and make good cheer,
For Christmas comes but once a year."
Thomas Tusser
Went to Vegas a couple of times doing the Xmas present thing. I do like buying things for people; maybe I should just start doing it because I like it. It would certainly make people wonder what I was up to! The pass was clear both times but the sanding trucks were out so I need to get the car washed. Don't you just love a white car?
My wife and I agreed that we've been spending money like drunken sailors so we'd take it easy on Xmas. We went out together and bought each other a couple of things to put under the tree - useful stuff, like shirts that we actually like. LOL It worked pretty well I think so maybe we'll have to try it again next year. I did sneak in a surprise present for her but that's just for fun.
Our daughter will be here (from Vegas) but that's the Xmas party. Son & his lady can't make it; maybe next year but I'm not holding my breath. They seem to have a good relationship and enjoy being alone. If that works for them, that's all that is important. Daughter doesn't have a guy in her life right now so being with us works for her. Therefore, it works for us all. She is planning on staying two nights; we'll see if she can stand being with us that long!
Xmas eve is Mexican night (in honor of my father-in-law) around here. Enchiladas and margaritas will be the order of the day. Xmas is ham. Bought a nice pinot noir to go with it. We looked around for a prime rib but finding prime is difficult. The markets have choice grade but not prime so we decided to skip it. We have a good recipe for the ham, it's easy to find and reliable. Who needs more stress at this time of year.
Next week it a time to do some rebalancing in the portfolio. It's been quite a year for the markets. I'm thinking of shifting a bit more into bonds if I can find a good fund. Some of the fund managers seem to be even more inept than I am! I'm keeping more money in stocks than most advisors would suggest but I think that I'm looking at a 30 year retirement (ok, I'm being optimistic about living that long but why not?) and going into fixed income is just a recipe for being really poor when I'm over 80. Who wants that?
Gotta go. Have a Merry Christmas and try to stay out of trouble!
"At Christmas play and make good cheer,
For Christmas comes but once a year."
Thomas Tusser
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Monday, December 07, 2009
Found a list I like!
Seven things that are hard to do:
1) Not to post really rude comment on the blogs of all these idiots who have an 'imaginary friend' in Jesus - or whoever!
2) Not to point out that some idiot blogger is being ripped-off/taken-advantage-of/made-a-fool-of.
3) Remember the basic rules of English - it's not easy to write correctly - much less well(!) and I'm sure I make many mistakes.
4) I'm trying hard not to go nutso about all the assholes, media 'artists' and companies who think Spanish is a second language here. I wish I was multi-lingual, honestly, but it's not about that.
5) The 2nd Amendment is important to me and I support it totally but it really isn't about full-automatic 50 cal. weapons.
6) The people writing the constitution were all mostly Christian but they intended this country to be open to all religions or to people of no religion at all. So shut the F&*K up about "under God"!
7) The news media is so full of idiots! I'd love to dump them all in the ocean except that the oceans would probably overflow the land masses to about the 2000 foot level! Could I at least throw Rupert Murdock in? Pretty please!
"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose" (As recorded by Janis Joplin)
KRIS KRISTOFFERSON & FRED FOSTER
1) Not to post really rude comment on the blogs of all these idiots who have an 'imaginary friend' in Jesus - or whoever!
2) Not to point out that some idiot blogger is being ripped-off/taken-advantage-of/made-a-fool-of.
3) Remember the basic rules of English - it's not easy to write correctly - much less well(!) and I'm sure I make many mistakes.
4) I'm trying hard not to go nutso about all the assholes, media 'artists' and companies who think Spanish is a second language here. I wish I was multi-lingual, honestly, but it's not about that.
5) The 2nd Amendment is important to me and I support it totally but it really isn't about full-automatic 50 cal. weapons.
6) The people writing the constitution were all mostly Christian but they intended this country to be open to all religions or to people of no religion at all. So shut the F&*K up about "under God"!
7) The news media is so full of idiots! I'd love to dump them all in the ocean except that the oceans would probably overflow the land masses to about the 2000 foot level! Could I at least throw Rupert Murdock in? Pretty please!
"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose" (As recorded by Janis Joplin)
KRIS KRISTOFFERSON & FRED FOSTER
An amazing place
A week ago or so I finished reading Bill Bryson's book 'In a Sunburned Country' about his love for and travels in Australia. Bill is a cross between a travel writer and a humorist and if you haven't tried his books I can recommend them. Here's his Random House site. He spent a lot of time and money visiting down under and seems to have really enjoyed his stay. Only in one city did he find people he didn't like! (Refreshing because the only person I know who's been there thought the people were awful but then again I think the guy who told me that is an idiot.) Bryson is an interesting guy: born in the US, spent most of his adult life in England. I found him originally when he wrote a sort of travel-log of the US from his peculiarly US-English background. The thing that he keeps repeating about Australia is what I keep noticing about Nevada - there's a lot of not much out here. Only in Australia, there is more of less - if you know what I mean.
People are getting ready for Christmas, Kwanzaa, Chanukah, and probably other holidays all over the world. Leaves me a bit cold as an atheist but I do like a party. We send Christmas cards to the older relatives and we have a special dinner and even a tree. The tree, of course, predates Christianity and we skip all the angels but it certainly does have Christian connotations these days. We exchange gifts; after one's childhood I expect most of us prefer to give than to receive. Certainly I do. Every year I give either money or food to the food bank; this year I think I'll have to find a few toys as well. There are plenty of poor people in our valley. So following on the Thanksgiving holiday, let's all be as generous as we can for this special time of year.
Come, yea thankful people, come
Raise the song of Harvest-home;
All is safely gathered in,
Ere the winter storms begin.
Henry Alford
People are getting ready for Christmas, Kwanzaa, Chanukah, and probably other holidays all over the world. Leaves me a bit cold as an atheist but I do like a party. We send Christmas cards to the older relatives and we have a special dinner and even a tree. The tree, of course, predates Christianity and we skip all the angels but it certainly does have Christian connotations these days. We exchange gifts; after one's childhood I expect most of us prefer to give than to receive. Certainly I do. Every year I give either money or food to the food bank; this year I think I'll have to find a few toys as well. There are plenty of poor people in our valley. So following on the Thanksgiving holiday, let's all be as generous as we can for this special time of year.
Come, yea thankful people, come
Raise the song of Harvest-home;
All is safely gathered in,
Ere the winter storms begin.
Henry Alford
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Help for the confused.
Here's a roadmap just in case you don't know what church you should be attending.
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
It almost makes me believe.....
It's a glorious morning in the desert! Woke about 06:30 and took the dog out. The sun was not yet up; hidden by the mountains to the east. In the west, above the rocky mountain, there was a layer of deep blue with a layer of pink above it. Most unusual. In the eastern sky light, whispy clouds formed a shape kind of like a human hand in an even lighter shade of pink. Gradually, as the sun rose, the clouds became white. The very top peaks of the rocky western mountains became pink; then, slowly, the color seeped down their slopes until they were totally pink. Finally, the sun rose in the eastern sky turning the pink mountains into yellow ones. In an hour, they will return to their brown, rocky state but in the morning they are magical.
"The sunshine is a glorious birth" William Wordsworth
"The sunshine is a glorious birth" William Wordsworth
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