Quick Comment on Muslim Claim

I wonder when there will be a response (or more likely, a disparaging retort) from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad regarding a news story that I read today. According to the German newspaper Bild, the original blueprints revealing the ominous 1941 expansion plan for Auschwitz have been found in Berlin. The plans included a room marked 'Gaskammer' (translates to gas chamber) and, according to Bild, "also include a crematorium and a "L. Keller" — an abbreviation for "Leichenkeller" or corpse cellar." The release of the blueprints for Auschwitz prove that the Third Reich planned to systematically kill the Jewish people of Europe. It will be revealing to see what Ahmadinejad has to say in the coming days, given that he has repeatedly stated that the Holocaust never happened. "These documents reveal that everyone who had even anything remotely to do with the planning and construction of the concentration camp must have know that people were to be gassed to death in assembly-line fashion," Bild wrote.

Given that Auschwitz was the largest death camp in Germany, and more than one million Jews were killed there, the idea that anyone who claims to be intellectually honest can deny the Holocaust in this modern age is ludicrous. This newly uncovered documentation proves beyond a doubt that the Nazi's "Final Solution" was underway before the United States stepped in to prevent the genocide of the entire European Jewish population.

Gee, maybe there is a lesson for the future in there somewhere, if we remember that by studying the past, we can prevent a repetition of the same grave errors in the future.

G. W. Exotic Animal Park (part 3 of 3)

This morning, Josh and I went back to see the ligers and tigers again. We went earlier, so that we could get in the cage with the 10-week old cats. The ligers were really wound up, but we managed to get them to lie down near us. Mostly, the cats crawl up on your lap and then start chewing on your shoes or each other. I got some pictures of Josh, and of the ligers chewing on my shoes, or just lounging beside or on us. This is the information I was given by the handlers: Even though they are small cubs now, these are still wild animals, and will some day be huge cats that weigh in excess of 1,000 pounds. The liger shares the characteristics of both the lion and the tiger. Because of its hybrid characteristics, the liger can be larger than a lion, and is possibly the largest cat in the world! Amazingly, while standing on its hind legs, a liger can stand approximately 12 feet tall. That is a big cat!

Okay. Here are the pictures of Josh and I, and the 10-week old liger cubs.

This was a very cool experience! Maybe next time, I can get some pictures of the adult cats, but not quite so close without a zoom lens!

G. W. Exotic Animal Park (part 2 of 3)

To continue my thoughts and our family experience with the G.W. Exotic Animal Foundation, let me spend my efforts posting pictures. Today, we saw the tigers and ligers that travel in support of the foundation. To be accurate, there was only one white Bengal tiger. All of the other large felines were actually ligers. We spent our time with the ligers, as the Bengal was six months old, and much too large to be in close proximity, on the same side of the cage walls, unless you don't value your safety.

What is a liger, you may ask? Putting on my Animal Planet hat for a moment... ahem. (In an official, Don LaFontaine-like, Marlin Perkins-esque voice): The liger is a large feline that results from cross-breeding a female tiger with a male lion. This hybridization produces cubs with more lionistic features than if the reverse pairing had occurred. That would produce a more tigeristic creature known as a tigon. Go here for more information. http://www.liger.org/

We spent time inside the cage with the two-week old liger cubs today. Jericho sat on Mom's lap, and he watched the action, but he didn't become too interactive. Gabriel was timid, but he did bottle-feed a couple of the liger cubs. The little guys are not very steady on their feet yet, and their eyes have not been open long. If you sit down and don't move around too much, within a moment or two, the cubs crawl over and snuggle up against you, just like you are a member of the pride. It was a very cool experience for all of us.

Okay. Enough jawing! Here are a few of the pictures of the 14-day old ligers and Gabriel.

G. W. Exotic Animal Park (part 1 of 3)

We took the G-Man and Jericho out to DQ. I didn’t realize that there was something very cool for us to see in town this weekend. There was supposed to be an illusionist, but he apparently had a medical emergency. However, we did get to see some tigers that travel with the magician. The idea behind the traveling showcase of tigers, ligers, and other animals, is to educate the public and to raise funding for the park where the tigers are based, in Wynnewood, Oklahoma. The park is called G.W. Exotic Animal Park. It is associated with the G. W. Exotic Animal Foundation, an educational zoo that “rescues” tigers and other exotic animals from well-intentioned by ill-prepared owners.

The animals in the park roam free and semi-wild within the park. Species include tigers, lions, parrots, monkeys, panthers, and many reptilian species such as turtles, lizards, crocs and gators. I found out that the park was named for G.W., the son of the founders, after he was killed by a drunk driver. The owner, Joe Schreibvogel, frequently takes in additional large and exotic animals that need expert care and protection from the likes of PETA and casual exotic animal owners who really cannot provide decent care for the animals. I agree with the sentiments of Mr. Schreibvogel, who says "If we don't care for God's most beautiful creatures He is not going to care for us."

The website address for the G.W. Exotic Animal Foundation and affiliated park is http://www.gwpark.org/. The park is an accredited member of the United States Zoological Association. I wish I could afford to help them out, but since we can’t do much in that regard, I thought I would give them a mention that is well deserved.

Back to this weekend, since I digressed from the point. We went to see the tigers and other animals that the G.W. Exotic Animal Foundation had in the entourage. We got a chance to see some of the animals up close. I took quite a few pictures, and in the next several posts, I will show some of the pictures. I hope you enjoy my efforts. Thanks for reading. Feel free to share the photos if you so chose.

Last Political Comments of 2008 (From Me)

To anyone who actually knows anything at all about me, this is not a news flash: I am not thrilled about the results or the integrity of the presidential election. Hell, I do not even think that there is much integrity remaining in the process after this election. I really do not want to dwell on that today. Other than to say that I do not trust either Saddam Hussein Osama Obama or Joe “Hair Plugs” Biden whatsoever, I am giving my mind a rest from the political discussion for a little while. I am sure that some of the folks who occasionally read this thing will be relieved to NOT discuss politics after this ridiculously long presidential cycle.

I have only two comments regarding politics and then I will give it a necessary respite for a time of my choosing, determined by the moment I feel it is time to write about politics again, whenever that may be. It just won’t be in the next week, and likely not much of anything before the swearing in on the Koran, so help Obama, in Allah’s name, actually takes place. My two comments then: I plan to emulate the main-vein biased media in one way for the next four years, until our socialist president-elect is voted out or he buys the presidential office for another four years. He will be referred to as Mr. Obama, NOT as president, just as the mainstream parrot press corps has referred to President George W. Bush as Mr. Bush for the last eight years. As a renaissance "enumerated powers" conservative, I will be the first to admit, to my chagrin, that Bush has stumbled plenty of times and made many missteps. President Bush is NOT A CONSERVATIVE. What did you expect but wandering from conservativism? Duh! However, all of the blame does not belong with Bush, and MOST of the blame falls on Congress, which, I might add, has been under the control of the Democrat Party for two years. Have you noticed that the economy is falling apart on the Democratic Congressional watch? Coincidence? Yeah right!

In any case, President George W. Bush has earned my respect, for putting up with all the bullpucky from the biased mainstream media with class and dignity, despite the fact that the media certainly do not deserve any respect at all. What a bunch of utopian, euphorian, socialist-leaning, big-government loving, constitutional originalism-hating liberal anti-American hacks!

My second and final political comment for awhile: I received an email discussing the 2012 presidential election. Geez! I will only say that we need a breather from presidential electioneering for at least a year, and that my favored choices for candidates are Bobby Jindal and Sarah Palin, two conservatives with a bit of Ronald Reagan’s values. That’s it. No more politics until… sometime later, in 2009. Thanks. Over and out.

Quick Comment on Work in the Dakotas

One of the techs servicing South Dakota properties left the company recently. It looks like the result will be that both I and the other remote for this side of Minnesota will be spending more time in the Dakotas. So far, that rings true. The other tech spent a week in North Dakota. I worked at the casino right on the North Dakota-South Dakota border, and this week, the other tech will be in North Dakota. All of next week, I will be in a hotel in South Dakota and working in North Dakota (long story, short drive). My studies will be starting again very soon, so I am hoping that I do not start the next class until the week after next. I will work around whatever the conditions are at that time, but I prefer to not spend my first week in a class stuck in a hotel. On the other hand, what else am I going to do in the hotel, but focus on homework?I am not aware of a lot of photo opportunities that suit me in that area of the Dakotas. I am sure I can find something interesting to shoot anywhere I happen to be working. I may not post the pictures here, but I have my photography sites and I will post photos I really like at those websites.

Quick Observation

Take a look at this picture. The race is not decided yet, but again, God help us here... please! Even though that irrelevant dufus, Dean Barkley, pulled enough votes from Norm Coleman to make it possible for that quixotic, loose cannon liberal, Al Franken, to be a contender in the voting, at least Barkley is follicly honest. There is a lot of weaving going on here. Can you say "Hair Club for Men"? Cy Sperling would be so proud.

As Black as I Am

Barack Obama is like me in only one way: NOT BLACK. He is of Muslim descent, and happens to be half-white and half-black. His family was never held in slavery. His ancestors were Muslim slave-owners, but the media will never tell you THAT truth. Do not believe the propagandist garbage that you hear and see in the media. I am in shock that Americans are so incredibly naïve and stupid. Hussein Osama Obama played the race card, because he is the epitome of racist. I can't wait for the conspiracy mills to get going, and I can't wait for that to bring out the truth. Even with the return of the so-called Fairness Doctrine (and the end of free speech against the machine), the truth is a virus. The truth will not be silenced. Some are already calling for an untimely end to Obama. I do not believe that is right. It is not our place to make such a call, even if you call it free speech. God help him, because free Americans will not stand for Marxism stealing the fruit of our labor. It may sound trite, but I am afraid for my children's future, especially with this lying non-American in office. He managed to steal yet another election for himself. God help us.

America the Free, Home of the Entitled

I need to be at Mille Lacs at 7 a.m., more or less. I couldn’t sleep, so I got tired of tossing and turning and decided to get out of bed. My inability to sleep was caused by the obvious, the death of free America being at-hand. So many people are getting so much from the government (also known as confiscatory Marxist economics, the Robin Hood-esque collectivism that unconstitutionally drives our federal government to steal from hardworking people to give the fruits of our labor to the shiftless and the weak-minded, who now believe that they are entitled to a handout). Economic justice? A buzzword for Marxism, collectivism, socialism, the end of free America where the American Dream is based on the hard work and drive to succeed on one's merits. Removing the ability to fail means that truly succeeding becomes nearly impossible.

This is the nightmare scenario. The only good thing I see is that Obama will have one term and be gone, because he is going to royally turn the screws on hard-working Americans and he is going to destroy the economy. George W. Bush is largely responsible for Obama being elected. Bush took us down the path to socialism with his ill-conceived prescription drug program. He reached across the aisle to work with the liberals at every turn, but that was not enough power for the Democrats. They and their media lied to us and the American people stopped thinking for themselves. We have been spoon-fed stupidity, and I am ashamed that we collectively fell for all the lies being spread. The media didn’t help us, but did help Obama. They and Obama together bought the election. The truth will come out about the tens of millions in foreign donations and the stolen election. How many people voted multiple times? How many absentee ballots from illegals and ACORN were forced into the system, and PAID FOR BY TAX DOLLARS (This means you, ACORN).

We are America, and the march towards Marxism has been happening under our indifferent eyes. We just were not willing to call it what it really is: This is the beginning of the end for a free America. God help us. This is the time for a renewed call to action and desperate prayer for deliverance through God's power over humanity. This is not the time to be a meek Christian who hides his faith. It is time to proudly wear that Christian faith on one's sleeve, before that, too, is illegal. Abortion on demand will not end now, ever, until God gets tired of our sin and messing up His creation. Within the next month or so, a number of Supreme Court justices will announce their retirement. Why? Because now, they can retire, knowing that radical anti-life judges will take their place. Roe v. Wade will stand with a renewed vigor defended by a culture of death, despite the fact that Roe is plainly unconstitutional.

Elderly people will face a change toward blatant medical duty-to-die when their usefulness to society is judged to be gone. Under socialized medicine, even if you have paid into the "system" for decades, if you are in ill health, who is going to be deemed worthy of treatment, the 25-year old who earns minimum wage but has a lifetime of work ahead of them, or the elderly person who has supported the system for decades, but is near the end of their life expectancy? I think the answer is obvious. Duty to die. Think about that. It is coming. God help us. God forgive us.

I am going to take a page from the main vein parrot press corps, an unrepentant arm of the true socialist, er, Democrat Party. As they never called George W. "President Bush", so, too, will I never allow myself to give Hussein Obama that honor. As the propagandist media disrespectfully called W only Mr. Bush, I will return the favor to Mr. Hussein Osama Obama. I will always respect the office of the presidency and its noble underpinnings. I will never give undue honor to a Muslim anti-American traitor in hiding. Mr. Obama, you may have stolen the title, with the help of ACORN and your racist anti-American politics, but you will never be my president.

We need prayer more now than ever. Free America, it was nice knowing you. Will we cave to the pressures of Mr. Abomination and the future of a mediocre nation, under a Marxist administration? We do not need to rename this once great nation to know that the reality has been done. Today, we took an irretrievable step down a path toward becoming the de facto United Socialist States of America. This is a tragic error and we shall never turn back toward the freedom we lost today. Fervent prayer is in order today. I weep for my children, for the future, and for an America that lost its soul forever. God help us.

From Each According to His Ability, to Each According to His Need?

What if Obama wins the presidency? Will ACORN get the credit for stealing the election? There are countless witnesses who can attest to the fact that Democrats stuffed ballot boxes in 2000 and 2004, using the names of dead people and absentee ballots to follow their long-held mantra (spoken quietly in public) "Vote early, vote often" as if it is their birthright to rule the average American and rob us of our liberties. One example was the college student from Madison, Wisconsin, who bragged about voting 13 times for John Kerry. The Democrats are, as we speak, trying to steal another election that does not belong to them by birthright or anything virtuous. My dad said that Democrats have always tried to steal elections and have always stuffed ballot boxes, but that conservatives do not do that, because they (we) do not believe in winning elections by cheating. Is it scary that the Democrats offer freebies to garner votes, but in reality, would strip American liberties in the name of the common good? What's even scarier than Obama winning is the phony sense of a mandate, when he will claim that the people have spoken, a statement he is certain to make. The Abomination will say that this is a mandate on his policy plans, if, God forbid, he does win.

The reality is that what would have elected Hussein Obama would be a blatant despotic brainwashing of the public, using an amalgamation of media partiality, and an electorate tired of Bush, again because of the misrepresentations and outright lies by the main vein media. Using this Marxist and propagandist tripe as his directive, Hussein Osama Obama would misconstrue a win as America agreeing with his radical, anti-free market, anti-American leftist ideologies.

A triumphant Obama will misguidedly consider that America believes as he does, that you strengthen the fragile, by weakening the strong--or that you enrich the underprivileged by bankrupting the wealthy.

When Democrats in the House created the monstrous Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, John McCain spoke out against this nationalization of mortgage underwriting. And yet, the Democrats and the disinformation machine known collectively as the mainstream media transferred the blame to Republicans and conservatives who tried to stop the financial bleeding--this false accusation caused the Obama surge in the polls--consequently, Hussein Osama Obama will certainly misinterpret this to mean that America is tired of free market capitalism and is ripe for socialism, something that he believes in and calls "the change we need". Yeah? Says who?

If the media were actually unbiased, if Congressional Democrats admitted their financial illiteracy, if Loren Michaels and Saturday Night Live made fun of Joe “Plugs” Biden the way they mocked Sarah Palin, if Letterman was fair to John McCain instead of blatantly biased, America would have had a clearer, more evenhanded representation of the candidates in this presidential election.

As it stands, if Barack Hussein Osama Obama wins the presidency, it will have been a dishonest and unfair undertaking. America will slip down a path to collectivism from which she can never return to the liberties that we are about to give up. Why Americans would ever be dumb enough to vote for this poor excuse for a leader is beyond me.

Though Obama says he is not socialistic, when he says he will take the hard-earned dollars from every Joe the Plumber and every John the carpenter, to give that money to another who has not earned as much, that IS socialism, by any name.

When you give your dollars freely to less privileged folks, it is charity. When you are forced by collectivist autocrats to give to others with no regard to what is in your heart, is that really living in a Christ-like fashion? Seriously... Is it? When the government forces you to give for the greater good, whatever that might be, when Obama confiscates the dollars you worked hard to earn, it is not only Marxist, socialistic, anti-American, and unfair, it is slavery. Are you truly free today? If Hussein Obama wins the presidency, you will never be free again. Talk about un-American. God help us, and by the way... Why should God bless America when we damn Him and kick Him out of our lives?

Gabriel at the dentist

Gabriel had his first ever dentist appointment yesterday. I liked it because he is now more interested in brushing his teeth. The hygienist who cleaned his teeth couldn't believe that he was only 3 1/2 and had never been to the dentist before. He sat very still and was remarkably cooperative. They found that he has a small cavity on a front tooth. The dentist decided that he is cooperative enough that he is willing to try to fix it. I don't think he usually does that on children Gabriel's age. It makes me happy to know that he was such a good boy.

Special friend?

Gabriel's teacher told me that he did something really cute today: he was tattelling for his friend. There is a little girl in class with whom he is friends. I believe her name is Haley. Some kids were taking things from her or something and Gabriel would go to Mrs. Fundanet and tell about this. He did it in a way that confused the teacher, though, and he had to explain to her that it wasn't something happening to him; it was his friend who was experiencing this. She just thought it was so cute. This was the first day I heard that he was friends with a girl. It caused me to wonder how much he plays with her and what he really thinks of her since she isn't mentioned. He talks about Gretchen, a girl from church who is also in his class, but he has never talked about this girl. We will have to see what happens and if he talks about her.

(Not a) Newsflash: Vikings Play Like It Doesn't Matter

Fourth quarter. Vikings are not in the lead. Well, duh. At least the Vikes are only down by one.

Private message to Childress. Let your offensive coordinator call the plays, or you are going to get fired.. finally. Geez. Childress is not going to be the head coach after this year anyway, thankfully.

I imagine that old Brad is in panic mode by now, knowing that he is toast. At least Jackson is out for awhile, or the Vikings would not have won even a single game. Frerotte is not flashy, but he is at least somewhat consistent out there. Oh, if only we had a team full of Adrian Petersons, eh, Childress?

It looks like Longwell is going to win this game for us again. Winning is always a good thing, but winning by a fieldgoal (when the Vikings actually manage a win) is B-O-R-I-N-G!!!

The Countdown

I haven't decided what to do with the countdown clock for the expiration of the ban on offshore drilling. I guess that depends on what the originating source of the timer does after the ban expires later today. I am sure that the Marxists in control of America's Congress will pull some trick and spin it in the media, giving themselves all the credit, while demonizing conservatives and Republicans and conservative Republicans for acting in America's and your true best interest.

Remember, the government is here to help. Big government is your friend.

If you believe that statement, you scare me. Belief in such things is a threat to the future of America, land of the free and the home of the brave. God help us. We need it!

The Real Inconvenient Truth

Despite all the gloomy news and yellow journalism from the left, there is a light at the end of the tunnel! If conservatives get their way, God willing, the market will be forced to fix itself without taxpayers footing the bill. Further, and this is almost certainly too good to be true (at least for long), the libs in Congress are not renewing the ban on offshore drilling, a ban that is set to expire tonight. I believe that the plan is to let the ban expire and then, when Obama wins, God forbid, the libs will rush in and do an end-run to kill any hopes of looking for oil here at home. They claim they want energy independence, but the costs of the pipe dreams of wind energy actually generating enough power to pay for the wind generators is far-fetched. It's a fairy tale! It's all about keeping Americans under the thumb of a domineering government, a de facto fiefdom, with socialist liberals in charge of YOUR life.

For today, though, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We can only hope this isnt just a trick, but I am confident that this is just political posturing from the left, as always.

For the truth about offshore drilling and shale exploration, click here.

The Young Viking

With enthusiastic fans like this, how can the Vikings lose (again?)

The Jedi Padawan: Anakin Skywalker

Gabriel in his Halloween garb for 2008.

Playing With the Camera (part 4) - Dandelions

Gabriel, busy re-seeding dandelions.

Playing With the Camera (part 3)

A close-up of Jericho, lounging around on the floor and enjoying his sippy cup.

Playing With the Camera (part 2)

Gabriel is 3-years old. He was clowning around last week, and I guess, figured a Frisbee made good head gear. It is rather stylish, isn't it?

Playing With the Camera (part 1)

Jericho at 1-year old. Taken last week. Jericho was deep in thought, from the look of this photo.

PHOTOGRAPHY IS LIFE

I have been giving consideration to what I really want to do in the next five years in my life. Or ten years. Or twenty. Whatever. I have been considering what I truly enjoy doing. I really take pleasure in my job and think that I have the best employer I could ask for, and the ideal fit for me. In the future, that may no longer be true, but today, this is good for me. My real passion, aside from Heather, Jericho, and Gabriel is photography.

I have investigated the idea of taking photography classes, but haven’t made up my mind if there is something out there for me yet, something that can make the spark of inspiration grow ever more stimulating. I considered the New York Institute of Photography, but am not sure if it is reputable or not. NYIP has been in business for 99 years, so it has staying power, but what will it do for me as an aspiring photographer? I do not know yet, but it is a consideration. This is the site, if you want to see what I am seeing: http://www.nyip.com/

Another site I have investigated, though not a formal photography training organization, is the Nikon User Community. It is a forum for photographers who happen to think that Nikon cameras are great tools for the photographic vision. I am not a site member, but am mulling it over. The site is http://www.nikonians.org/ in case you are interested. There are sites out there just like it for Canon users, but the D300 has made me a true believer in the quality of Nikon cameras. Maybe someday, I will graduate to a D3, but if I do that, it will be funded by a reinvestment in a photography business or profitable hobby. We will see if it is in the cards.

I have been investigating another site called Part Time Photographer. The idea is that the forums on the site encourage aspiring photographers to develop their craft, while helping to see if the individual could become a paid shutterbug. The last post I read has hints about a ready-made business plan, not a full-blown document, but the guidelines that would allow a part-time photographer to see how feasible it will be to conduct their business for profit. I am not there yet, but some day, anything is possible. If you are curious or interested, the URL is here. http://www.ptphotographer.com/

I have a couple other URLs to share, but I will do that shortly. The one I have hinted about in the past is a photography site that I am developing. No one but Heather and a couple of her friends have even seen the site yet. I do promise that one of these days, I will publish the site. I am just trying to be sure that only my very best work is on display. I think that it drives Heather mad, but maybe not, that when I go to work at Lake Vermillion or Grand Portage, I may take 500-700 pictures in one day, and when I return, I sort through the pictures, and I decide that two or three are good enough for public consumption. To be honest, I hope that I have set my standards high enough, so that when I put my site online, it doesn’t disappoint. I am being off the wall with that comment, I admit, but it is not meant to be avant-garde or pretentious. I just want to put my best work out there and I don’t want to disappoint with what I hope is an engaging photographic vision. If you are interested, stay tuned and I will tell you more, as soon as the site is ready. I know, I said it would be ready months ago. When it is ready, you will be the first to know.

Looking back to when I got the D300, I had a post or two here about how the capabilities of that camera really energized my enthusiasm for photography. Each new day is like that, and it just keeps getting more exciting. I see photographic possibilities everywhere.

Photography is life.

Life, Death, and Accountability

Mom told me that a classmate of one of my nieces committed suicide yesterday. Barring severe psychosis, it really makes a person wonder what is wrong with people, both kids and adults, when taking one’s own life seems like a viable or effective solution. While nobody asked for my opinion, I am giving it anyway. Why does this happen? The average teenager knows right from wrong, but sees no consequence of bad behavior. Why? Society focuses too much on material achievement, and as a result, parents are not paying attention to what their kids are doing. Kids should hang out with their friends more often under the watchful eyes of the parents. You know, parents should encourage their kids to hang out at home with their friends, instead of hanging out in parts unknown and doing who knows what. Too often, when kids get into trouble, part of the blame lies with inattentive parents.

The one good thing about Heather working and me watching the boys a lot more evenings is that it gives me a chance to spend quality time with Gabriel and Jericho. Further, it forces me to pay attention. That is key to kids turning out okay. Kids need to know that their parents really care, even when parents are in disagreement with the kids. You know how it is. Teens think their parents are just being difficult, but when children reach adulthood, they understand that parents really do have moral and ethical experience from which to direct their children’s behavior, and have the best interests of their children in mind when they make demands that seemed annoying and overbearing. Later, it all makes sense. I say that as a former kid and a former teenager. I have been there.

May those kids rest in peace and hopefully, the friends they have left behind will find peace and a better way to cope. Parents need to pay attention! Families need to remember that they are the first line of defense in the safety and welfare for their children. When parents fail, when teenagers fail, a big part of the answer is accountability for personal actions, and parents keeping a close eye on their kids. Completely different and absolutely the same, like Ronald Reagan versus the big Russian bear: Trust but verify. Parenthood is no different; it is just a different scale of consequences!

A Death in the Family

We received the news last night that my aunt, Dorothy, passed on. Mom tells me that she didn't have Alzheimer’s, but she was frustrated by having increasing memory loss and limited mobility, for a few years, at least. It progressed to the point that she was rarely fully cognizant of her surroundings. It makes one reflect on the value of life and the mystery of death, when death is a merciful event that seems preferably to life, for family members who watch their loved ones slowly slipping away. I have had a few people in my life who dealt with terminal illnesses. When the terminal illness is a protracted condition, the family members have time to adjust to the inevitability of human mortality, such that, when death finally comes, it is a relief. The family members who are left behind can rest assured that their loved one is no longer suffering the frailties of the human condition.


I remember the illness and death of my next door neighbor, George, when I lived in Burnsville. George had a type of degenerative distal muscular dystrophy. George and his wife, Janet spent a lot of time with me in the several years that his health was declining. We would go out to dinner and go for drives in the outlying areas of the suburbs, usually about once a week, but sometimes more often. I worked from home then more than I do now, and George would call me at the house for assistance. I would go next door and help him to the restroom and get him drinks and so forth.

George was a man who was of pedestrian faith like so many of us as we go through life, distracted by the things that seem important at the time, but in the big picture, are trivialities. We really enjoyed going out to dinner; the company was as good as the dining experience, but it was not destined to last. George was a big guy, funny as Bob Hope, and as George grew weaker, he had more problems with his limited range of movement, labored breathing, and poor balance. We stopped going out to dinner, because he was not able to walk or maintain his balance, even with assistance.

When George couldn’t go out any longer, it was something we all missed. His strength completely failed him. However, what happened in the meantime was significant. The more physical abilities were stolen from George by the MD, the stronger his faith became. Near the end of his life, George began to talk about the future, and how he would soon be strong again. George grinned, as best he could with his weak muscles, and he told us how he would soon be a new and better man, and how he would dance with the Lord. George was very frail, but when he did manage to go to a church service, he found the strength to carry on for another day. Ultimately, the MD caught up with him, and he couldn’t leave the house. I continued to visit him until the week of his mortal end, when he left the pain behind and found the gift of immortality. He spent the end of his life with his pastor and prayer leaders of his church. He told his wife not to grieve for him, but to be ready to move on with life and to celebrate every day, not endlessly dwelling on his memory. His wife told me this part: At the end, his weakness left him long enough for him to put his hands to heaven and to wear a big smile on his face. Later that day, George passed away. I have no doubt that he danced with Jesus with a renewed lightness of being. I am confident that it is that way with others who suffer from terminal illnesses. I am not sure, though, if it is better when death comes unexpectedly, or after an illness, when the end is expected and predictable.

Would the anticipation of the death of a loved one give some comfort in knowing that the family was preparing and able to say good-bye? Having lost three of my closest friends in accidents and another to heart failure at the age of twenty six, the shock of a sudden loss is hard to comprehend and not easy to accept, as if those left behind have a choice but to accept the loss. I have had capacious experiences with the deaths of extended family and friends. Revisiting the losses in my mind reminds me that the whole idea of the death of a loved one is hard to consider, without becoming awash with maudlin poignancy and private melancholy. I do know that the family and friends can find a modicum of comfort, and that is in this:


While I was not close to my aunt, I can empathize with her children, and the losses that my dad and mom are going through. My mom grew close to my aunt in the past months, as my aunt’s health declined. I was happy to hear that seven of Dorothy’s nine adult children were able to be with her as she passed from this world. There may be some comfort in that. I can say that from my own experiences. I hope that Dorothy’s children know my mother went to visit often and to ensure that Dorothy was well attended until the end mercifully came. I am confident that Dorothy is in a better place now, without pain and earthly concerns.

The Bible tells us that we do not have the capacity or authority to judge the worth of another, since righteous judgment is left to God alone. As a human with my own weaknesses, I still insist that we can faithfully believe, as my mother said, "If Dorothy did not make heaven, then no one will."

The Palin Thread Still Continues

While the main vein media piles on Sarah Palin and attacks her for noteworthy deficiencies, such as having a shoe untied or for using a double negative in the same sentence with a split infinitive, Palin continues to impress and enthrall the masses. This lady kicks liberal booty all over town, and it looks like she is taking names, too.


Remember the parrot press corps fawning over Barack Hussein “Karl Marx” Obama having 80,000 people in attendance for his DNC acceptance speech? This was THE definitive emergence event for Obama, and you can bet that Obama will not have another speech before the election with that many people in attendance. Did you happen to hear that Sarah Palin had an event in Florida on Sunday attended by 60,000 people? This was not the Palin get-acquainted event or anything of that nature. This is just another homespun meeting for her, and the buzz is big. She is drawing thousands to rally after rally.

Yes, conservatives love life again, with Palin, who gives conservatism a fresh face and new hope. Sarah Palin is definitely the foil to John McCain’s wishy-washy stances and middle-of-the-road moderate politics. Two things seem exceedingly ironic here. One, John McCain, moderate to liberal Republican, has birthed a conservatism renaissance. Who would believe it? The second irony is that in a search of network news sites, the only web site that mentions the fact that Sarah Palin raised a crowd of 60,000 people for a rally happens to be Fox News. This is big news today. Why wasn’t this mentioned prominently on CNN, CBS, or MS-NBC, among others? At the same time, Obama is front-and-center, no matter how droll and dull his activities of the day might be at the moment. The media want Obama to win, and their bold-faced support for him through yellow journalism is tantamount to an endorsement. The free publicity given Obama is illegal, or at least it would be if there still were purist journalists in the main vein media. Can you say propagandists with an agenda? I just did, and it is true.

Speaking of the contrast in media coverage between those two political stars, I heard a good one regarding Sarah Palin and Barack Hussein “The Marxist” Obama. The source for this is a reporter with years of experience in Alaska.

“What’s the difference between Sarah Palin and Barack Obama?”

“One is a well turned-out, good-looking, and let’s be honest, pretty sexy piece of eye-candy.

“The other kills her own food.”

In the words of that vacuous dim bulb, Paris Hilton, but with genuine acuity behind the charm, “That’s hot!”

The In-laws Visit

Heather’s parents were in Minnesota to visit the weekend of September 12th. It was a good time, as it always is when the in-laws visit. We worked around the house quite a bit, including redoing the closet. I know, exciting stuff. I would much prefer to sit around and relax with the family, but when they visit, we always seem to be productive and get a lot done around the house, so that works, too.

Jericho decided it was time to walk. He took his first tentative steps for his Nana, but by the end of the weekend, he was showing off for her. Just like his big brother, Jericho is a ham who loves attention. I guess all kids are that way. Gabriel and Jericho enjoyed the visit with their Nana and Papa. On Saturday, the four of them got their pictures taken by a pro. I will post a picture when I have some available. I know I haven’t been posting a lot of pictures lately, but I will have to remedy that shortly. I have been taking quite a few pictures, as if there is a time that I don’t take a lot of pictures. I have had the Nikon D300 since late April, and according to the automatic numbering system, I have taken 12,000 pictures so far.

Speaking of pictures, Josh and I took the boys for a bike ride on Sunday while Heather was working. We didn’t get more than a mile from the house on the bike paths, but it took us three hours to get out there and back. We stopped to take pictures behind the Wal-Mart on the path, where there are oodles of flowers and lots of bees. As you may not know, taking pictures of bees is one of my favorite subjects, after my kids, of course. While I took pictures, Josh wanted to see how far Jericho could walk. He called Jericho to walk to him, and then Josh kept backing up to see how long he could stay on his feet. I guess he walked 30 steps or more, so it looks like the little guy is officially a biped now. For a while, it looked like he would crawl forever! That would work, though, as Jericho crawls mighty fast, and until this month, that worked for him.

When kids are small, it really is an exciting time. Everything changes so fast and they do grow up too fast. Sometimes, it would be fun to be a kid again. I thought I was pretty smart when I was a kid, but since then, I have learned that I sure had a lot to learn.

Engineering Meeting

Last week, eight hardware engineers visited Minnesota. Along with my boss and another Tech III, we had a forum to discuss hardware issues. It was so beneficial; I am not sure why the company doesn’t do this regularly. I believe that it really gave our customer the feeling that the company is concerned about their issues in a tangible way that is so easy to miss without enough face time. There is talk that there will be quarterly meetings like this, though I would be surprised if there were more in Minnesota in the near future. I really hope that this continues, as it will do a lot of good as we roll out our new machines and have de facto convergence with PC hardware. While I am sure it was an expensive visit, I can guarantee that it was money well spent, based on the enthusiastic response and the positive impression it left with the customers. Kudos to the engineering management for making that call.

The Palin Thread Continues

The mainstream media machine tries to connect many of Alaska's problems to Sarah Palin. That just helps her, you aberrants! The fact that Governor Palin is a reformer and wants to clean up Alaska truly proves that she is the REAL candidate for Change. Saying Alaska tried to get the "Bridge To Nowhere" before Governor Palin pulled the plug only supports her emergent characterization as a reformer who will clean house, even if that means offending the folks in your own political party. Governor Palin didn’t care if she offended Republicans when she cut ties with Alaska’s former pork-barrel addiction.

Just for the record, Citizens Against Government Waste, last year ranked all United States senators by what they called “taxpayer friendliness”. Wouldn’t you know it, Joe Biden scored at 0%, and Obama came in at 10%. John McCain, the maverick who lives his beliefs, beyond and despite party lines, scored a laudable 100%.

I just read an article in today’s Wall Street Journal, in which Senator Jim DeMint, from South Carolina, stated the facts regarding Governor Palin's record on spending, and I quote:
“Mrs. Palin used her veto pen to slash more local projects than any other governor in the state’s history. She cut nearly 10% of Alaska's budget this year, saving state residents $268 million. This included vetoing a $30,000 van for Campfire USA and $200,000 for a tennis court irrigation system. She succinctly justified these cuts by saying they were ‘not a state responsibility.’”

Senator DeMint goes on to say that “Obama voted for numerous wasteful earmarks last year, including: $12 million for bicycle paths, $450,000 for the International Peace Museum, $500,000 for a baseball stadium and $392,000 for a visitor's center in Louisiana, [while] Gov. Palin cut Alaska’s federal earmark requests in half last year, one of the strongest moves against earmarks by any governor.”

Barack Hussein Obama accused Governor Palin of lying, and that she was one of the biggest supporters of earmarks for Alaska, but here are the facts. Governor Palin originally supported the so-called “Bridge to Nowhere”, but later she personally terminated the project in her own state. Governor Palin’s reason for doing so? She saw that federal earmarks were such an unnecessary burden on the federal budget, making the deficit ever greater, and thus she changed her position in a reasonable rethinking of earmarking. Governor Palin’s actions saved taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.

To give credit where credit is due, Senator DeMint wrote that “Even the Alaska Democratic Party credits her with killing the bridge.” Who is the liar, Barrack Hussein Obama? Never forget that Obama and Biden had a chance to vote to kill the bridge project, and yet they both voted for the $223 million bridge. Even today, neither Obama nor Biden has withdrawn their support for the notorious “Bridge to Nowhere.”

DeMint concluded by noting that Palin “is one of the strongest anti-earmark governors in America. If more governors around the country would do what she has done, we would be much closer to fixing our nation's fiscal problems than we are.

“Mrs. Palin’s record here is solid and inspiring. She will help Mr. McCain shut down the congressional favor factory, and she has a record to prove it. Actions mean something. You can't just make stuff up.” Obama used those exact words (“You can’t just make stuff up”) but the irony of it is that Barack Hussein Obama is the liar, while Palin is busy telling the truth.

Did you know that about six months ago, the Alaskan Daily News reported that ‘Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens is aggravated about what he sees as Gov. Sarah Palin's antagonism toward the earmarks he uses to steer federal money to the state.’ Funny… which Alaska senator embarrassed the state and the Republican Party with an indictment for corruption? Senator Ted Stevens, you stink and are an embarassment to Republicans. Thank God I am not a Republican, but an independent with values and beliefs that vary from conservative to libertarian.

To Senator Ted Stevens, I say this: Enjoy life in prison. I hate to admit that there is enough corruption to go around, on both sides of the aisle. I just wish that there was a viable third side of the aisle, so to speak, because that "third side of the aisle" is where I would be found.

The Palin Thread Continues

Another thought regarding Governor Palin: Her daughter, Bristol, is pregnant and unmarried at the age of 17. Whether Bristol marries the father of their baby or not is simply not material for public consumption. I predict that, to the chagrin of the main vein media, Bristol’s pregnancy will not harm the McCain-Palin poll numbers. As the networks invade the private lives of the Palin family, it will become obvious to all but the liberal maniacs that the family is close knit; this will merely bring them even closer. Besides, this is a family matter and plainly none of our business, in the first place. Bristol Palin’s pregnancy is irrelevant to Governor Palin’s suitability to be vice president, and we, and the media, should leave it at that.

John McCain has been roundly criticized for choosing Governor Sarah Palin, because of her staunchly pro-life stance. Future president McCain has the right to choose whomever he wants to join him on the ticket, as long as they pass constitutional muster. For the uninformed, that basically means that the vice presidential candidate has to meet all the qualifications of the presidential candidate, including being an American born in America or specific U.S. territories. John McCain made an excellent choice with Governor Palin. It is obvious that he respects her, and as a self-styled maverick, he chose someone who has the chutzpa to stand up to corruption, not only from the other side of the aisle, but among the Republican Party as well. Governor Palin has stood up to Republican corruption and won. Duh. When that happens, we all come out ahead.

The Palin Thread Continues

The traditional media are saying that Sarah Palin fired the Public Safety Commissioner of Alaska for refusing to terminate her brother-in-law, Mike Wooten, because Wooten and Palin’s sister were going through an ugly divorce. As usual, the New York Times twisted the truth in their efforts to aid and abet the Marxist enemies within. The Old Gray Spin-meisters who hope to coronate Barrack Hussein Obama king propagandized last week that Palin audaciously used her influence to get the Public Safety Commissioner fired. Why would she do this? The main vein media claim the reason is because Wooten threatened the life of Sarah Palin’s father. This is not conjecture or rhetoric. This is a fact supported by the evidence. Wooten did this, and this has been substantiated and proven to be a fact. Instead of termination, Wooten, the trooper, faced a five-day suspension. Wooten also was seen drinking in his patrol car, and he tasered an 11-year old kid, who happened to be his Palin’s nephew, and Wooten’s stepson. These statements have also been substantiated and proven to be absolutely and completely factual.

This part is my opinion, but it is common sense. Mike Wooten was obviously not worthy of working in law enforcement, let alone to be armed by the state of Alaska. Wooten should never have been wearing a badge, and the fact that he was threatening the lives and safety of his in-laws seems to be irrelevant to the New York Times. Why should she, as governor, not be allowed to fire a state worker who was insubordinate and obviously not a suitable employee? That Wooten was a member of her family, albeit by marriage, is irrelevant. Of course, the union protected Mike Wooten from termination, and consequently, we have this “Troopergate” scandal, courtesy of the liberal media and the socialist-leaning union. The bias is blatant, as always. When would Governor Palin have been justified in firing the Public Safety Commissioner for refusing to terminate Mike Wooten, when Officer Wooten killed somebody?

To elucidate, we can make some safe assumptions, if only for the sake of discussion. Let's "assume" that the facts of the situation, for the purpose of discussion, constitute an ethics violation: Governor Sarah Palin terminated the Alaska Public Safety Commissioner because he refused to fire a state trooper who made death threats against a senior citizen, and used a Taser on his 11-year old stepson.

Face it, folks, because here it is: In Alaska, the Public Safety Commissioner is a governor-appointed position, held “at the discretion of the governor”. What that means is that she can fire any person holding that job title for cause or even if there is no cause at all. If Alaskans do not like that, they can change Alaska state law and leave the whining to the liberals.

I have absolutely no qualms with the governor exerting political influence to have a state trooper - a public servant who is responsible for public safety - terminated for making death threats against an old man and using a weapon on an 11-year old. The fact that the seasoned citizen was her father is irrelevant. The fact that the child who was tasered happens to be Governor Palin’s nephew is also irrelevant, when the public safety is put at risk by the very law officer charged with defending the peace.

Again, let’s enter dangerous territory of assuming, despite the risk of making an ass of “u” and “me” for our assumptions. Let us assume that Governor Palin’s termination of the Public Safety Commissioner of Alaska WAS an ethics violation. Extremist Palin-haters would rather self-righteously claim "Ethics first!" at the expense of safety for the most vulnerable in our society, the old and the young. Ridiculous as always, courtesy of your friendly neighborhood liberals in the Parrot Press Corps. Meanwhile, liberals keep goose-stepping down that greasy slope towards Marxism and selling out America to the U.N. and one-world government, with one-world government taxation and transference of wealth from America to the rest of the world. I say to all of you socialist wing nuts: Your lunatic fringe attacks on Governor Sarah Palin only serve to isolate you. Your personal attacks highlight the fact that you are scared, because wannabe king Obama is faltering in the polls, and to you, it doesn’t make sense. These dumb American commoners just don’t get it, that Obama is the savior we have all been waiting for. Or not.

Most of us don't wear tinfoil hats and drink Marxist Kool-Aid. You liberals and your politics of personal destruction only confirm that Governor Palin is the right choice for the real America. That’s me. Not you Marxists.

Liberals, eat my shorts.

The Palin Thread Continues

Despite the nonsense spouted by the “Parrot Press Corps”, to borrow a phrase coined by Mike Church, regarding the mainstream media and its blatantly biased reporting and supporting Barrack Hussein Obama, Palin has more executive experience than Obama, McCain, and Biden combined. Certainly, McCain is part of the establishment, not something I am thrilled about, but so is Obama. Joe Biden has been in Congress since I was a couple years old, even longer than McCain.

Minor tangent: Did you know that in the first 144 years in the life of the American republican experiment, all the laws written by the Congress filled 2,375 pages? In 2008, Congress passes enough laws to fill that many pages every single day that it is in session. WITHOUT EXCEPTION. Take this as one example. The 2008 federal budget was over 3000 pages long.

Do you think that you are really free? Freedom is not what it used to be.

The Palin Thread

I have been writing my posts in MS Word and didnt get around to posting all of my comments, so I am doing that today, with the date of creation added. That is how my blog often gets updated, with ten posts in one day, all with different dates, because the entries were created on different days. Makes sense to me. You know how it goes... too busy to blog every day, or too lazy to log in to blog. Potato, po-tah-to. In any case, I wrote a bunch of comments regarding Sarah Palin. There are enough comments from different days, and that is the point of the name of this series: The Palin Thread.

In August, I met with my insurance agent, who is a former Minnesota legislator, and I told him that Sarah Palin was the single best person to be on the ticket with John McCain, and even a better choice than Tim Pawlenty. A week later, I stopped in to see my agent again, and he said, “You called it!”

I hope that he runs for office again. Heather and I will both volunteer for his campaign in a minute if he throws his name in the running. We need someone to represent us who is not part of the organization. Take Jon Ward for example. This guy was a teacher in Brainerd. Okay, so he was named Teacher of the Year. Great. We need teachers like that. It isn’t for me to tell him how to run his life, but when he retired and ran for state office, who was he representing? The teachers’ union. That is quite a biased background from which to legislate. Ward is one of the people who thinks that the answer to lousy education is more money, always more money. Sure, and what do they say about being in a hole? The public educational system in the United States is the captive of the Marxists in the teachers’ union. When you are in a hole, stop digging. Jon Ward as representative simply represents a bigger shovel, not a ladder to climb out of the hole.

Back to Sarah Palin for vice president. She is perfect for the job for plenty of reasons. She is definitely not part of the establishment, like all the other candidates, including Barrack Hussein “Karl Marx” Obama. The reason that Palin is perfect is the same reason that Biden is not ideal. The longer people stay in politics, the more likelihood they have of getting corrupted, serving their own interests and lining their pockets, blinded by power and removed from the realities of the people they serve.

Casino Talk. Pre-season Football.

The Indiana Jones system relocation was completed with no issues. In fact, it was close to flawless. The sign company had us unbolt and drop all the machines off the bases, and then they moved the sign and all the bases as one unit, all bolted together. We haven’t ever moved a bank that way before, but it worked great and it went fast. Maybe we will have to consider that in the future. Of course, it will only work if the system doesn’t have to move that far and doesn’t have to move to another floor in the casino.

Matt Leinart is showing some poise in the pocket for the Cardinals. The Cards haven’t officially decided to keep him in the starting position, apparently, based on the banter between the color guys on ESPN, but after his performance with USC, you would think that it would be a foregone conclusion. The Vikings had a ghost of a chance of getting him in the 2006 draft, but passed on him. Hey, at least they got Tarvaris Jackson. Oh wait, that isn’t any consolation. After all, Matt Leinart is only a Heisman Trophy Winner and Rose Bowl MVP. Why would the Vikings want that loser when they could have a draft pick like Jackson? Bring back Brad Johnson, please! (Sidebar to my nephew, Marty, the biggest sports fan in the history of the world: I am kidding, I am kidding! Bring back Daunte Culpepper, and to really throw a monkey wrench in the works, bring back Mike Tice, and/or Denny Green to boot!)

Back to the casino talk. We converted four games to a different game theme, the Cross of Coronado. I don’t think that the game is particularly unique, but it does fix an issue that we had with the previous theme. I cannot really say too much about it. It was a problem minimizing the profit potential for both the company and the casinos who are our customers. This conversion should remedy that.

Speaking of minimal profits, when will the media get tired of talking the economy down in the hopes of assuring the wacko coronation of Barack “Oh Bummer” as King of the “Blame America” crowd. I did find it telling that Dick Morris said that if “Oh Bummer” were elected, the U.S. economy would suffer from a massive economic depression. Believing that Barack’s massive tax increases would help create jobs is about as dumb as believing that we can’t drill our way out of our petroleum shortage. Duh. How else are you going to get the oil? I will revisit the petroleum issue and point out some factors and statements made by the Marxist side of the aisle that prove that they are a bunch of disingenuous hypocrites and phonies whose lies ring hollow. That will be a long entry, so I will leave that for another day, or at least until I get home again on Friday night.

Pre-season Football (Not the Vikes)

Okay. I am watching Reggie Bush and the New Orleans Saints playing the Arizona Cardinals in what is apparently the very first pre-season NFL football game. This is great! It isn’t the Vikings, and it is two teams that I do not pay any particularly noteworthy amount of attention to, and yet, I love this. I am so ready for Vikings football to begin. Of course, we apparently had a chance to get our hands on Brett Favre, but he went to the New York Jets. Odd? Definitely. I thought it was funny to hear that if the Jets dare to trade Favre back to the Vikings, they have to give up three first-round draft picks to the Packers. That is somewhat hilarious, especially given that, based on the fact the Jets have only won the conference three times in the last forty years, they cannot afford to give up three first round draft picks. Coincidentally, if Favre ever went to the Vikings (and he won’t be allowed, believe me), the first round picks that the Cheddar Heads would gain may be exactly what the Packers need at this point.

It is hard to imagine the mindset of the Packers, in letting Favre go to another team, and saying that he is too divisive to the Green and Yellow. Even though he is a Packer and always will be, no matter the colors he wears, Favre is one of the greatest football players of all time, with poise and well-earned respect among his peers, something that is rare these day. Favre is a consummate professional. I can say that from a purist point of view, as opposed to a schizophrenic point of view, that of a dedicated NFC North rival.

Newsflash: Vikings fans do not care for the Packers. Rhetorical comment: Duh. Another rhetorical comment: Any true sports fan, an NFL fan in particular, can appreciate the athletic talent of a player of Favre’s caliber, even if he happened to be part of one of the biggest conference rivalries in the past fifteen years.

I think that it would have been interesting to have Favre playing for the Vikings for a couple of years. It would have certainly made for interesting conversation on Monday morning. Even more tantalizing would be the idea of Favre dressed in purple and gold, causing Packer fans to squirm as the Vikings kick moldy Packer cheese around, with the larger-than-life Favre at the helm of the Purple People Eaters. Two things are certain. One, with Tarvaris Jackson at QB, the Vikings don’t have a prayer of emulating the Minnesota Moving Company of old. Two, Favre at the helm of the Vikings team would be sweet, not only because he is an incredible athlete, but also because anything that bugs the crap out of the Packers is good for me.

One other NFL comment… Madden 2009 comes out next week. I can’t wait to check it out! That should look fantastic at 1080P on a PS3. Any way you slice it, NFL football returns. Hot damn! This is awesome.

One-Nighter. Not as Exciting as It Sounds.

Tomorrow, I am working with my brother at Fortune Bay, doing a system relocation and theme conversion. We are moving the Indiana Jones system, because the bank of games is too heavy for its current location. The beams in the second floor support structure are not rated for that much weight in such a small area, and we have to move the system for safety reasons. We aren’t moving the system very far, but instead turning the system the other way. It follows the principle of load-bearing structural members. For instance, if you put a lot of weight on a non-load-bearing wall, and the plaster start cracking and the house falls down. Well, that is hyperbole, but you get the idea. The system is too heavy for its current location and configuration.

I will be stuck in a hotel, but only for one night. I am not thrilled, but it is part of the job. At least I get a chance to take some sunrise pictures on the way home the following day. Better yet, coming home will be sweet, and it will be a Friday. Coming home to your family rocks, and when it is a Friday, that rocks even more. It's like Jerry Reed said in The Waterboy: "The only thing better than one crawfish dinner is five crawfish dinners."

Wii! Wii! Wii! All the Way Home.

WII Sports is a lot of fun. I am not so impressed with M&Ms Racing, but it is what it is, a cheap and cheesy marketing tool for M&M Mars. The controls on that game are pathetically unresponsive, though it is fun to crash into obstructions until the novelty wears off. It is particularly entertaining to watch the G-Man try his hand at driving a 3-wheeled speedster on the M&Ms Factory racetrack. We really want the Mario Go-Cart game, but good luck getting a copy of that. Apparently, local stores get a few copies on Sunday mornings, and if you happen to be there at the right moment, you can actually buy it. If you are a few minutes late, forget it. You can’t even find it online at Amazon or New Egg. Maybe we can find it for Christmas.

I would say that Nintendo of America was shortchanging their profit potential, but on the other hand, they certainly do understand the law of supply and demand, and also the words of Ronaldus Magnus, regarding the vaudeville mindset of his younger years: Always leave them hungry for more. I suppose as long as NOA does not make enough WII consoles that the stores are always out of stock, they can keep the prices high, and people will always be scrambling for the games. That is the essence of supply and demand. Shucks! It is working, but we got our WII, so take that, Nintendo. Talk about irony, huh? They got us to buy one! =)

MLB Twins. Notre Dame. Wii!

Heather and I were trying to coordinate a Minnesota Twins game with my nephew, Marty, his wife, Tara, and their two boys, Brady and Ben. I wonder if Marty has taken his younger son to a baseball game yet. I am sure that they did go to Marty’s baseball games, but a pro game? No doubt. I remember that in Brady’s first year of life, he went to quite a few games. I think that is great. That is how sports fans are built, starting them out right and what is better than the sounds and the smells of the game, live and in-person? Do you know what is crazy? Gabriel is three years old, and he has yet to go to a baseball game. It is getting kind of late in the season, so the Twins games are becoming rather meaningless. Still, it would be interesting for him, and a new experience. The Dome isn’t a great stadium for baseball, but it still a cool experience. A Vikings game would be better, but any pro sporting event has its energy, so we will try to still go to a game this year. NFL games are just so expensive. We are settling for televised sports, I guess.

I bought Heather a book about Notre Dame football (concerning this year’s team). Heather does love her Notre Dame football. I really need to watch some college football games with her, especially since Smosh lives in Indiana. I guess some day, either we need to move to Indiana, or the rest of the family needs to move to Minnesota.

But back to sports... I think that college football does not move as fast as pro football, but IMNSHO, the penultimate sporting event is football, if you ask me. Basketball is for sissies. Baseball is for old-timers with plenty of time on their hands, and guys who like a slow pace (not as slow as golf… yawn!). I admit that baseball is the perfect sport for a hot, lazy summer Saturday afternoon, but this is August, baby, and to paraphrase the son of Bocephus, I AM READY for some football!

While I was talking about sports I find too slow-paced for my taste, I didn’t mention the sport for geriatric light-weights. GOLF. Talk about dull. To be honest, I am not a golfer, in case you didn’t know that. However, let me tell you, golfing on the WII is fun stuff. Gabriel and I golf either a practice round of three holes or a full round of nine. The funny part is that the G-Man gets a big kick out of hitting the ball in the water hazard and puts a big effort into making a splash with the ball as often as he can. I am getting some practice, and I admit (quietly, secretly) that getting a bogey making par is satisfying AND fun. I doubt that I could do as well with golf in the real world, but this gets me off the chair, away from the computer, and having fun with my son. The WII has been a good investment for us, because we have fun together. Sometimes Heather, G, and I all bowl together. When Josh was visiting, he was bowling with us, too. He adeptly repeats the exact same stance and body movements so that he gets a strike three or four frames in a row. What a booger!

Josh. County Fair.

Josh stayed with us the last two weeks, but on Saturday, he went home. Dave came to pick him up at the Crow Wing County fairgrounds. Josh and all of our family members went to the fair in the morning and stayed there until afternoon. Josh and Gabriel rode on a few rides, including the scrambler (by whatever name it was called at this particular fair). Gabriel had a good time and didn’t want to go home. I hate to disappoint the little guy, but we couldn’t stay forever.

We did visit with the CW Republicans. I saw that there were very few faces representing the party at the fair, though there were plenty of ignorant libs chanting the Democrat party talking points, like a bunch of mind-numbed robots. Funny how those people seem to never speak for themselves. In any case, we saw David Allan Pundt for the second time, and we offered to support him in his campaign for state representative. He is a fiscal conservative and calls for responsibility and accountability in government. Pundt says that small government is the answer, and this is a mindset that I can support and believe. He is a Viet Nam veteran, and a family man who supports pro-life causes, the sanctity of life from birth to natural death, and the right of private citizens to bear arms. Right on, (future) Representative Pundt! Keep it up; we need more of this mindset in government on every level. By the way, after we talked to his campaign representative, within three days (today), his campaign put a huge lawn sign in front of our house. As far as I am concerned, they can bring at least a couple more. Check out his campaign site at http://www.davidallanpundt.com/ This is a good man with a grass roots point of view that we need to encourage in our elected officials.

Gabriel said that he missed Josh already within an hour or two of Josh going back to his home. I like having him around most of the time. He is a teenager, so he gets testy, but then we all have our good days and bad days. Lately, Josh has been really good with the boys and spending more time with them. That is mainly because we are rearranging the house and the computer that Josh uses to get online is disassembled. He couldn’t get online, and so he was spending his days watching TV and playing with the boys.

Josh is a good kid, and I hope that he understands that when he is respectful and friendly, he is welcome to come to our home. When I have a problem with him, it is because he sometimes likes to spend his time downstairs watching TV and online, instead of being part of our household. When he is in our home, Heather and I agree that he should be part of the family goings-on, instead of isolating himself. He can be online at home, so when he visits, if he joins our family interactions, then I am glad to have him in the neighborhood, so to speak. I hope he comes back soon. The bike rides with the whole family, and Josh, are good exercise and lots of fun. The goats like our bike ride-interrupting visits, too. However, that is a story for another day.

Moving the Office

We have been working on rearranging things here. It has been a long, slow process, and it will be a while before it is finished. We moved my office into the former playroom and my office becomes a storage room. The family room remains the family room, albeit sharing the title and purpose of the playroom now as well. Our thinking is that the big TV is in the playroom, so it is better suited to play and entertainment, making it an altogether entertaining place for the whole family. That is our logic anyway. The other reason for moving the office is that it gets to be 90-100° in the office this time of year. With my marketing class starting next week and Accuweather saying it is supposed to be in the 90s all week, summer may finally be here in its humid and hot glory. I was not looking forward to another summer of long nights of study in a sauna, so this may work out better.


I worked on a couple of other minor things this weekend as well. We converted the bathroom window in the basement to frosted glass, for the sake of privacy, since the window is at the ground level. Also, since the bedroom in the basement is now the technology center and my office all rolled in one, we frosted that window so that you can only see blurry shapes through the window now. It isn't as if we have prowlers in the neighborhood (at least that I am aware of) but the neighborhood is growing, and we would prefer to avoid tempting any lowlife who happens to be wandering through the woods here.


Not coincidentally, I can't tell you how many times we have heard the teenagers and wannabe rebels (maybe one and the same, but not necessarily, in my experience) doing brakestands and smoking the tires on their parents' cars at the end of the turnaround behind our property. I say "their parents' cars" for two reasons. One, the wannabe rebels appear to be rebels without a clue, for the simple reason that only a clueless person would intentionally cause premature wear to the tread on their tires, in the name of stinking out the passengers in their cars and generally disturbing the deer and wildlife in the woods. Two, only an imbecile would due the same thing, wearing out their tires in the name of attention, and that would lead me to assume that these creeps are driving their parents' cars, since the lack of care for the hardware suggests that someone didn't work too hard for the vehicles they are abusing. Anyway, it is annoying, but one of these days, the Taxter cops will drive through the neighborhood and give them a place to spend their dollars (on tires and fines for stupidity and moving violations). Scratch that first one. It isn't illegal to be stupid. Want proof? Just look at the liberals who are destroying this country in the name of power and the buying of votes of gullible victims of society (read: victims of their own shortsighted errors in judgement). That reminds me... what will happen when 51 percent of the populace receive some manner of government benefits paid for by the taxes of the rest? Do you think these people will ever vote out the enablers who are taxing and spending us into oblivion? Just curious.


Okay. That is enough babbling for one night. I am still working on my PC and rebuilding the office structure as we, uh, speak. Heather needs more peat moss for the dozens of flower pots we have growing here, so we need to restock our gardening supplies. Ciao.

Saturday

We sat around today and didn’t do anything productive, but sometimes you just have to do that. We mainly watched a bunch of movies in the basement in our “home theater.” We watched Fool’s Gold with Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson. I think it is an entertaining movie, despite the panning by critics. But then again, what do those goofballs know anyway? Usually, it seems that if the critics dislike a movie, it is almost a surefire winner. Part of the problem is that movie critics read into a movie too much. If the movie is designed to entertain, is the movie entertaining? This movie was very entertaining, the scenery was beautiful in the Bahamas, and the story line was good for what it was, entertainment. Part of the problem is that self-important critics like Christy Lemire think that they are the be-all and end-all in judging a movie, when it seems that the average movie critic forgot how to have fun. Further, movie critics are offering a personal opinion, and their opinions generally stink and miss the mark because the average person is looking for amusement, not critical acclaim and a serious message. The average movie critic needs to stop acting their age and start having fun with the movies. As I sometimes do, I digress…

We watched a bunch of movies today, including the aforementioned Fool’s Gold. We also watched Dan in Real Life (another movie the critics hated but that I thought was actually a very good movie vehicle for Steve Carell). Also, we watched Juno, which did receive critical acclaim. I am not thrilled by the teen pregnancy, but the character, Juno, handles everything with class and a precocious maturity beyond her years. She is a little nutty, but the message is good. Anytime a pregnant teen thumbs her nose at abortion and gives the baby up for adoption, it is a good message. Admittedly, I would prefer if the average teen would wait until marriage to start having children, but with the garbage messages that are put out there by the major media, movies and television, what do you expect? I say this especially in light of the fact that so many parents think that the responsibility for raising children with a strong moral center lies with the schools. That is asinine and shortsighted, but I can’t raise the children for other parents. I sure as hell will never entrust our children to teachers who espouse the radical beliefs of the teachers’ union, but I can’t tell the rest of the world how to raise their children and remain true to my libertarian beliefs.

Another movie we watched today was Jumper. Amazingly, we are three for three in enjoying movies that critics gave the thumbs down. The critics hated this movie, too, but Heather and I both thought that it was original, fast-paced and fun. Samuel L. Jackson looked absolutely cartoonish and bozoesque (just made that word up; do you like it?) with his snow white fro. He looked like a clown, but what matters is that he was intense in his acting precision, so that made up for his ridiculously brash dye job. The screen writers were trying to bash Christianity when they had the plot point regarding religious believers who are self-appointed judge, jury, and executioner. That would seem to be more relevant to Muslim wackos, since they feel it is acceptable to kill anyone who does not follow their radical line. But it is politically incorrect and unpopular among liberal wing nuts to be critical of Islamists, while it is wholly encouraged to loathe and subvert Christianity at every turn, especially for political expediency or media-induced propaganda subterfuge. To underscore my point here, in the movie, the religious zealotry mentioned is the Inquisition, so it follows that once again, Christianity is the target of the bashing. Just keep in mind that the Inquisition took place hundreds of years ago and is not in any way synonymous with contemporary Christian beliefs. So there.

Despite the critics panning every movie that the populace loves, the movies were all entertaining. I am sure that I will watch each one of these movies repeatedly, despite the critical disapproval. As I said, I do not care what any professional critic says, since the critics are full of crap and miss the mark with their, uh, professional opinions, loosely defined. I am sure that the critics know that their job is to muddy the water and cause discussion and controversy in the name of increased movie viewership. Maybe these guys should get into network broadcasting and propadandist news spin to slant every story against traditional American values in the name of furthering the yellow journalism so prevalent today.

This post isn't about postulating with regard to the lies and distortions of the media. It is about the movies we watched today and how much we loved them. The critics are full of crap and have a snooty, highbrow lack of taste, in my opinion. Ultimately, I have a very simple credo regarding what constitutes a good movie: If the movie entertains, then it is good enough for me.