Are you an issue based voter like me?
My friend Molly sent me a great link to see which candidate fits you best on the issues that matter to you: glassbooth.org
The survey on the issues confirmed what I already knew. I was going to vote for McCain. It also confirmed that that I was only and issue or two on the McCain side.
I know people that swear on a stack of Mothers graves that, "if McCain wins they are moving to Canada". I'm not that adamant either way.
-- Let me know what your glassboot.org scores are! VOTE!
My $.02 on the Meltdown
When Brenda and I bought the townhouse we could not believe how much money the bank would loan us. We didn't even need my name on the loan at all to buy it. We bought it under just Brendas name and got some serious tax advantages. I still owned a townhouse that we rented out.
Brenda could have easily gotten a loan she could not afford. One that the two of us together could not afford!
We showed restraint. We knew what size house we could afford. We spent hours drilling the numbers in spreadsheets, analyzing budgets. We played it conservative. Leveraged both townhouses into our current house. Once again, %30 down and a loan we could afford.
That was the key. We bought what we could actually afford. We borrowed what we could afford, not what they would loan us. The Jugheads that took the loans the stupid banks allowed them are the ones that snowballed this mess into a meltdown. Everyone gambled the Real Estate market would continue to climb. Banks and borrowers.
--Gambled and lost.
Brenda is on the mend, the stock market not so much
Brenda starts back to work next week. It has been a long six weeks to get back to this level. The entire six weeks went faster for me than the 4 hours I had to wait to see her that morning in the hospital.
In preparation for her return to work, we did the last, most painful, activity we needed to do.
Look at our retirement fund.
Ouch.
It was not as bad as we thought it would be. It still sucks. After the "Dot Com" bubble I was more conservative in my mutual fund choices. One fund we have continues to climb. Even now. Slow and steady.
The closer we get to retirement the more will be transferred to secure funds like that.
--For now, there's Scotch!
In preparation for her return to work, we did the last, most painful, activity we needed to do.
Look at our retirement fund.
Ouch.
It was not as bad as we thought it would be. It still sucks. After the "Dot Com" bubble I was more conservative in my mutual fund choices. One fund we have continues to climb. Even now. Slow and steady.
The closer we get to retirement the more will be transferred to secure funds like that.
--For now, there's Scotch!
The world sucks sometimes.
This cartoon represents one of the main reasons I believe that McCain will win the election.
It's unfortunate.
I wish it was only about the issues. Race should not be a part of the equation.
--But it will be...
I Love McDonalds!
"The McDonald's hamburger on the right is from 2008; the one on the left is from 1996. And they both look fairly edible. Wellness educator and nutrition consultant Karen Hanrahan has kept a McDonald's hamburger since 1996 to illustrate its nonexistent ability to decay. Aside from drying out and bit and having "the oddest smell," it apparently hasn't changed much in the past 12 years. This isn't the first time someone kept an uneaten McDonald's hamburger for an extended period of time for the sake of science. Or in the case of the Bionic Burger Museum, multiple burgers for over 19 years. There are even instructions on how to start your own collection of old, self-preserving burgers.
Anyone else have experience with Fast Food That Just Won't Rot?"
--Better Life through Technology!!
What's a Pirates Favorite Letter?
Talk like a pirate today or I will send you to Davey Jones Locker!!
--AAARRRrrrrrrr...
This Years Hawk
Here is the Gray-Meister Hawk for this season.
Started school with the Hawk and size 10 sneakers!
--He's my Man!
Forest and sky
I went to the mountains today.
A friend of BR's from work has 20 acres about 70 miles from here, and was kind enough to let us go up with him today. It's very beautiful. It's surrounded by hills and trees and mountains and sky and quiet.
We had lunch at a great little mom and pop diner that still had prices from the 70's.
We even got to meet some interesting neighbors when I locked my keys in the van!
--We even got to do some target shooting!
Smell Like Team Spirit...
The baby from the Nirvana album cover is 17.
That's the story of Spencer Elden, whom you may know as the little baby floating towards a dollar bill on the cover of Nirvana's 1991 album, Nevermind.
Nearly 17 years later, amid hating school and playing water polo, Elden is still struggling to make sense of his (very) public image.
"Quite a few people in the world have seen my penis," he says from his home in Los Angeles. "So that's kinda cool. I'm just a normal kid living it up and doing the best I can while I'm here."
--Damn, I'm old.My Left Hand
So yesterday I was working in the back yard and managed to slam by hand in the garden shed door. I did not break anything but dammit it hurts.
This isn't a whine fest (well, maybe a little) it's about my left hand.
It is my knuckle on my index finger. But what it does is limits the use of my left hand. I cannot so much as hold an empty coffee mug. I never realized how much I use my left hand. I could not even squeeze my tooth paste tube.
--The worse part is that I am going camping this Friday!
This isn't a whine fest (well, maybe a little) it's about my left hand.
It is my knuckle on my index finger. But what it does is limits the use of my left hand. I cannot so much as hold an empty coffee mug. I never realized how much I use my left hand. I could not even squeeze my tooth paste tube.
--The worse part is that I am going camping this Friday!
Happy 4th of July!!
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness."
-- Now go pursue some Happiness!!
Fires, Stories and Ghosts...
I went camping this weekend with old friends. It's tradition that I spend an hour, around the fire, telling "Absolutely True Stories".I love doing it.
The audience is getting older and more jaded. I will need new material for next year if I want to send those kids to bed crying.
There are classics I tell every year:
- The Shadow Man
- Room for One More
- The Hitchhikers Shoe
- The Golden Arm
- Silent Lightening (new for 08!)
- Lizzy Borden
- The Missing Boyfriend
I need new material. Email me damn you...
The Fat Lady sings a beautiful tune called Freedom...
It is an Individual Right. Confirmed.
In a dramatic moment on the last day of this term, the Supreme Court declared for the first time that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to self-defense and gun ownership.
For most of the last century, the interpretation of the Second Amendment has been that the right to bear arms is a collective right, such as with military service; Thursday's ruling says gun ownership is also an individual right.
The 5-4 ruling grows out of a Washington, D.C., case in which a security guard sued the district for prohibiting him from keeping his handgun at home. In the District of Columbia, it is a crime to carry an unregistered firearm, and the registration of handguns is prohibited. The rules are so strict, they essentially regulate handguns out of existence. The regulations were intended to curb gun violence in the capital city.
The ruling struck down the ban on constitutional grounds, saying it flew in the face of the constitutional right to bear arms.
--An Individual Right. It makes me feel like this!!!
Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.
RIP George Carlin
George Carlin, in his own words.
Always do whatever's next.
George Carlin
At a formal dinner party, the person nearest death should always be seated closest to the bathroom.
George Carlin
Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
George Carlin
By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth.
George Carlin
Death is caused by swallowing small amounts of saliva over a long period of time.
George Carlin
Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.
George Carlin
Dusting is a good example of the futility of trying to put things right. As soon as you dust, the fact of your next dusting has already been established.
George Carlin
Electricity is really just organized lightning.
George Carlin
Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity.
George Carlin
Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck.
George Carlin
Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?
George Carlin
"I am" is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that "I do" is the longest sentence?
George Carlin
I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it.
George Carlin
I recently went to a new doctor and noticed he was located in something called the Professional Building. I felt better right away.
George Carlin
I think it would be interesting if old people got anti-Alzheimer's disease where they slowly began to recover other people's lost memories.
George Carlin
I think people should be allowed to do anything they want. We haven't tried that for a while. Maybe this time it'll work.
George Carlin
I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more as they get older; then it dawned on me - they're cramming for their final exam.
George Carlin
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, "Where's the self-help section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
George Carlin
I would never want to be a member of a group whose symbol was a guy nailed to two pieces of wood.
George Carlin
I'm always relieved when someone is delivering a eulogy and I realize I'm listening to it.
George Carlin
I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.
George Carlin
I'm not concerned about all hell breaking loose, but that a PART of hell will break loose... it'll be much harder to detect.
George Carlin
If God had intended us not to masturbate he would've made our arms shorter.
George Carlin
If it's true that our species is alone in the universe, then I'd have to say the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little.
George Carlin
If we could just find out who's in charge, we could kill him.
George Carlin
If you can't beat them, arrange to have them beaten.
George Carlin
In comic strips, the person on the right always speaks first.
George Carlin
Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist.
George Carlin
Just cause you got the monkey off your back doesn't mean the circus has left town.
George Carlin
May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house.
George Carlin
Most people work just hard enough not to get fired and get paid just enough money not to quit.
George Carlin
Not only do I not know what's going on, I wouldn't know what to do about it if I did.
George Carlin
One can never know for sure what a deserted area looks like.
George Carlin
One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.
George Carlin
People who say they don't care what people think are usually desperate to have people think they don't care what people think.
George Carlin
Religion is just mind control.
George Carlin
Some people see things that are and ask, Why? Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not? Some people have to go to work and don't have time for all that.
George Carlin
Standing ovations have become far too commonplace. What we need are ovations where the audience members all punch and kick one another.
George Carlin
The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.
George Carlin
The other night I ate at a real nice family restaurant. Every table had an argument going.
George Carlin
The reason I talk to myself is that I'm the only one whose answers I accept.
George Carlin
The status quo sucks.
George Carlin
The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done.
George Carlin
There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls.
George Carlin
There's no present. There's only the immediate future and the recent past.
George Carlin
Think off-center.
George Carlin
Weather forecast for tonight: dark.
George Carlin
Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?
George Carlin
What does it mean to pre-board? Do you get on before you get on?
George Carlin
When someone is impatient and says, "I haven't got all day," I always wonder, How can that be? How can you not have all day?
George Carlin
When Thomas Edison worked late into the night on the electric light, he had to do it by gas lamp or candle. I'm sure it made the work seem that much more urgent.
George Carlin
When you step on the brakes your life is in your foot's hands.
George Carlin
When you're born you get a ticket to the freak show. When you're born in America, you get a front row seat.
George Carlin
You know an odd feeling? Sitting on the toilet eating a chocolate candy bar.
George Carlin
You know the good part about all those executions in Texas? Fewer Texans.
George Carlin
Summer
Summer officially began today. It was the kids last of school! They had Excellent report cards! Summer began with lots of happy dancing.
We will be camping, going to the pool, watching movies, relaxing, grilling and enjoying life!
--What will we do next weekend?
We will be camping, going to the pool, watching movies, relaxing, grilling and enjoying life!
--What will we do next weekend?
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