The "O" Word
Conservative by Nature, Christian by Choice
Wait!  Where's the pictures?  They're supposed to be right here!  I swear, you can't find decent help these days...

Thursday Round-Up

April 16th, 2009 . by Cary

Before I get into a review of the blogs that I follow, let me say two things. First, yes, I am a charter member of the Domestic Terrorist Bloggers Network, but I am not a “terrorist” except in my own government’s eyes. And second, yesterday was “tax day” but it was also “tea party” day. There were eighteen listed events in the state of Arizona, with the largest being the gathering here at the capitol building in Phoenix. The paper says there were about 5,000 protesters in attendance; actual estimates put the number much, much higher, by at least a factor of three, but then the crowd wasn’t full of illegal immigrants demanding rights or lefties demanding money, so the estimators got thrown off. Obama and his Dem minions were not the only ones being protested; here in Arizona the governor, Jan Brewer (R), is planning on increasing taxes to cover the one BILLION dollar budget shortfall.

When TMBWitW and I run into a budget shortfall, we cut back on spending. Being simple minded, non-economic types, and certainly without years of experience in running a country (into the ground), we didn’t realize you could actually spend MORE than you BROUGHT IN and still call it good. We always thought that would eventually land you in the poor house, but hey – we don’t have Ivy-league educations, either. Oh, and we pay our taxes. Unlike certain cabinet appointees.

Were you aware that if you worked for the IRS and you tried to Geithner your return, you would be fired without ability to appeal? Don’t believe me? Check out the story in the April 15, 2009 Chicago Tribune: IRS workers see double standard on tax errors. Nothing to see there, folks – just the same double standard as always…

OK – Let’s get off the blood-pressure raising stuff and on to the reason you stopped in on this fine Thursday morning:

Tea Party Section! American and ProudAn Ol’ Broad’s RamblingsARRA News ServiceBloviating ZeppelinDo The Right ThingGateway PunditLast Refuge of a ScoundrelMonkey in the MiddleOath KeepersPolitical PistachioSamantha SpeaksTexas FredThe Black SphereThird Wave DaveAn Obama NationEject! Eject! Eject!Seaspook

Spring looks to have sprung, and might stay that way, on Unalaska. Steve has the story on A Sense of Place. Amboy Times has added another item to The List of Things That Offend Muslims. No, I’m not on there. Yet. Jump over to Assoluta Tranquilita to sign the petition to get the State of Texas to prosecute the killers of DASY to the maximum extent of the law. Then take a much-needed relaxing break At The Water. Basti has another gathering of tidbits. GuyK has his usual charming slant on today’s happenings over at Charming, Just Charming. cookiecrumbexpress has some motivating items. As usual, Dumb Looks Still Free is well worth the time it takes to read through his essay. Jenn has news and tidbits over at Take A Stand Against Liberals.

Roger W. Gardner posts his thoughts on the current maelstrom on Maggie’s Notebook. Kathi has Wednesday’s Hero up on Mail Call! Supporting The Troops. Mary tells us about Randy Alcorn’s one favorite book on Mary’s World.

Texas Gets It Right.

Memories from Viet Nam, courtesy of Greybeard, on Pitchpull. The Supremacy of Everyman on RattlerGator. Texas Fred likes the idea of 49 states in the United States, and Then there is the Republic of Texas… Meanwhile, Arizona’s former governor is calling my and my friends “terrorists” – visit the BLOG for more. Chief Roland has some advice for pirates. Kris has a few thoughts on the disposition of those trying to import terrorism on This Is Stoke Newington. TJ thinks that Texas as a separate geopolitical entity would be a good idea too. Personally, I think Texas should annex Oklahoma and Arizona.

Hammer shares some hard-earned experience. Hey, learn from others’ mistakes – you won’t live long enough to make all your own! What happens when a sub-network tells the truth? Yid With Lid has the answer. For something totally different, how about a Bishop who is taking Notre Dame to task? See the letter on Bottom Line Up Front.

How about some April Fool’s Day irony? Follow the fun on Improv Everywhere.

Always good for reminding us who the real terrorists are – The Religion of Peace. Would you spend your day with someone who does nothing but spew negativity? Andrew Tallman wants to know.

Chat ya later…

cary

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

1375 and a wake-up! No, wait – most of the country has already woke up, now we’re trying to get the rest of ya’ll to quit hittin’ the snooze alarm…

The O Word Wins an Award!

April 14th, 2009 . by Cary

I knew that eventually, someone, some day, would recognize what an awesome job I’m doing by maintaining this little corner information kiosk on the information superhighway.

Well, actually, it was awarded last month, and I only just today found out about it because – well, read through and you’ll figure it out.

Mary of “Hidden Treasures” thought I deserved this award. From the obligatory pass-ot-on verbiage:

“This award is bestowed upon a fellow blogger whose blog’s content or design is, in the giver’s opinion, brilliant.”

“When accepting this auspicious award, you must write a post bragging about it, including the name of the misguided soul who thinks you deserve such acclaim, and link back to the said person so everyone knows she/he is real. Choose a minimum of seven (7) blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Or improvise by including bloggers who have no idea who you are because you don’t have seven friends. Show the seven random victims’ names and links and leave a harassing comment informing them that they were prized with Honest Weblog. Well, there’s no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon. List at least ten (10) honest things about yourself. Then pass it on!”

OK, first, the ten (10) honest things about myself:

  • 1. I find it difficult to blow my own horn, so bragging is quite the stretch here.
  • 2. I call it my daily read, but this award was passed to me back on March 25, and I only found out because I felt guilty for not getting over there and reading more often…and she’s on my “daily read” list – twice!
  • 3. “Conservative by Nature, Christian by Choice” is more than a slogan – I really do live that way.
  • 4. Although I am working a bit here and there, I would rather be bringing in the majority of the income so my wife could stay home with our child.
  • 5. I quit drinking Coke (again!) on March 14, 2009, so it’s been a month; in the process I have lost twenty pounds.
  • 6. I miss my caffeine.
  • 7. I don’t miss the sugar from the soda or the acid reflux that the caffeine brings.
  • 8. That’s why I can’t just drink coffee for the caffeine.
  • 9. I am a self-taught bass player. I have many bad habits from that start in need of being broken.
  • 10. I am truly blessed to have Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior, and to have found and married The Most Beautiful Woman in the World, and to have the cutest daughter ever.

    Now then – who to bestow this prestigious honor upon…

    Of course, I will start with the bloggers that I know and have broken bread with:

    Gawfer, Greybeard, and Doug.

    Then there are those who I hope to meet soon (in no particular order):

    Sues, Texas Fred, Jenn, Gunny John, Bushwack, and Bloviating Zeppelin.

    I know, that’s nine. (11. I can’t count and have a hard time leaving off deserving people.)

    This sure leaves off a lot of deserving blogs – but if I get awarded again, I can certainly hand out another grouping.

    I’m off to leave the “harassing comment informing them” so ya’ll have a good day.

    Chat ya later…

    cary

    Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

  • Cleanup Monday

    April 13th, 2009 . by Cary

    Sometimes, things that I receive in e-mail pile up a bit, and although they are not directly related, they all have a common theme – the current economic climate. We have a couple of lessons, a petition, and a letter from the boss, so let’s dig in, shall we?

    First, James Baxter sends a lesson in socialism:

    A SIMPLE ANALOGY from a Texas Tech University professor:

    An economics professor at Texas Tech said he had never failed a single student before but had, once, failed an entire class. That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer. The professor then said OK, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism.

    All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A. After the first test the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.

    But, as the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too; so they studied little. The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around the average was an F.

    The scores never increased as bickering, blame, name calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

    All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great; but when government takes all the reward away; no one will try or want to succeed.

    Next up is a note from Gawfer and the politics of change – or rather, the change of politics:

    I recently asked my friends’ little girl what she wanted to be when she grows up. She said she wanted to be President some day. Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there, so I asked her, “If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?”

    She replied, “I’d give food and houses to all the homeless people.”

    Her parents beamed.

    “Wow…what a worthy goal.” I told her, “But you don’t have to wait until you’re President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull weeds, and sweep my yard, and I’ll pay you $50. Then I’ll take you over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward food and a new house.”

    She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me straight in the eye and asked, “Why doesn’t the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?”

    I said, “Welcome to the Republican Party.”

    Her parents still aren’t speaking to me.

    I promised a petition, and I deliver on my promises (unlike certain career crooks in suits…). Texas Fred first posted about this petition on April 10th. He has all the details, regarding who started the petition and what it hopes to accomplish; to read it for yourself and (hopefully) sign it, take a leap of faith on this link.

    Finally, a letter from the boss, passed on to me by James Baxter again:

    To All My Valued Employees,

    There have been some rumblings around the office about the future of this company, and more specifically, your job. As you know, the economy has changed for the worse and presents many challenges. However, the good news is this: The economy doesn’t pose a threat to your job. What does threaten your job however, is the changing political landscape in this country.

    However, let me tell you some little tidbits of fact which might help you decide what is in your best interests.

    First, while it is easy to spew rhetoric that casts employers against employees, you have to understand that for every business owner there is a Back Story. This back story is often neglected and overshadowed by what you see and hear. Sure, you see me park my Mercedes outside. You’ve seen my big home at last years Christmas party. I’m sure; all these flashy icons of luxury conjure up some idealized thoughts about my life.

    However, what you don’t see is the BACK STORY:

    I started this company 28 years ago. At that time, I lived in a 300 square foot studio apartment for 3 years. My entire living apartment was converted into an office so I could put forth 100% effort into building a company, which by the way, would eventually employ you.

    My diet consisted of Ramen Pride noodles because every dollar I spent went back into this company. I drove a rusty Toyota Corolla with a defective transmission. I didn’t have time to date. Often times, I stayed home on weekends, while my friends went out drinking and partying. In fact, I was married to my business — hard work, discipline, and sacrifice.

    Meanwhile, my friends got jobs. They worked 40 hours a week and made a modest $50K a year and spent every dime they earned. They drove flashy cars and lived in expensive homes and wore fancy designer clothes. Instead of hitting the Nordstrom’s for the latest hot fashion item, I was trolling through the discount store extracting any clothing item that didn’t look like it was birthed in the 70’s. My friends refinanced their mortgages and lived a life of luxury. I, however, did not. I put my time, my money, and my life into a business with a vision that eventually, someday, I too, will be able to afford these luxuries my friends supposedly had.

    So, while you physically arrive at the office at 9am, mentally check in at about noon, and then leave at 5pm, I don’t. There is no “off” button for me. When you leave the office, you are done and you have a weekend all to yourself. I unfortunately do not have the freedom. I eat, and breathe this company every minute of the day. There is no rest. There is no weekend. There is no happy hour. Every day this business is attached to my hip like a 1 year old special-needs child. You, of course, only see the fruits of that garden — the nice house, the Mercedes, the vacations… you never realize the Back Story and the sacrifices I’ve made.

    Now, the economy is falling apart and I, the guy that made all the right decisions and saved his money, have to bailout all the people who didn’t. The people that overspent their paychecks suddenly feel entitled to the same luxuries that I earned and sacrificed a decade of my life for.

    Yes, business ownership has is benefits but the price I’ve paid is steep and not without wounds.

    Unfortunately, the cost of running this business, and employing you, is starting to eclipse the threshold of marginal benefit and let me tell you why:

    I am being taxed to death and the government thinks I don’t pay enough. I have state taxes. Federal taxes. Property taxes. Sales and use taxes. Payroll taxes. Workers compensation taxes. Unemployment taxes. Taxes on taxes. I have to hire a tax man to manage all these taxes and then guess what? I have to pay taxes for employing him. Government mandates and regulations and all the accounting that goes with it, now occupy most of my time. On Oct 15th, I wrote a check to the US Treasury for $288,000 for quarterly taxes. You know what my “stimulus” check was? Zero. Nada. Zilch.

    The question I have is this: Who is stimulating the economy? Me, the guy who has provided 14 people good paying jobs and serves over 2,200,000 people per year with a flourishing business? Or, the single mother sitting at home pregnant with her fourth child waiting for her next welfare check? Obviously, government feels the latter is the economic stimulus of this country.

    The fact is, if I deducted (read: stole) 50% of your paycheck you’d quit and you wouldn’t work here. I mean, why should you? That’s nuts. Who wants to get rewarded only 50% of their hard work? Well, I agree which is why your job is in jeopardy.

    Here is what many of you don’t understand … to stimulate the economy you need to stimulate what runs the economy. Had suddenly government mandated to me that I didn’t need to pay taxes, guess what? Instead of depositing that $288,000 into the Washington black-hole, I would have spent it, hired more employees, and generated substantial economic growth. My employees would have enjoyed the wealth of that tax cut in the form of promotions and better salaries. But you can forget it now.

    When you have a comatose man on the verge of death, you don’t defibrillate and shock his thumb thinking that will bring him back to life, do you? Or, do you defibrillate his heart? Business is at the heart of America and always has been. To restart it, you must stimulate it, not kill it. Suddenly, the power brokers in Washington believe the poor of America are the essential drivers of the American economic engine. Nothing could be further from the truth and this is the type of change you can keep.

    So where am I going with all this?

    It’s quite simple.

    If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, my reaction will be swift and simple. I’ll fire you and your coworkers. You can then plead with the government to pay for your mortgage, your SUV, and your child’s future. Frankly, it isn’t my problem any more.

    Then, I will close this company down, move to another country, and retire. You see, I’m done. I’m done with a country that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, will be my citizenship.

    So, if you lose your job, it won’t be at the hands of the economy; it will be at the hands of a political hurricane that swept through this country, steamrolled the constitution, and will have changed its landscape forever. If that happens, you can find me sitting on a beach, retired, and with no employees to worry about….

    Signed, THE BOSS

    “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.”

    Margaret Thatcher

    So there’s my Monday catch-up/lecture on the economy. Hope you enjoyed it, and I pray you had a blessed Resurrection Sunday.

    Chat ya later…

    cary

    Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

    1378 and a wake-up!

    Friday!

    April 10th, 2009 . by Cary

    Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

    Just wear red and show your patriotism, okay? Don’t make me come over there and add black and blue to your palette today!

    OK, so I’m not as stiff and sore as I was yesterday, but this metal splinter in the tip of my right middle finger sure makes typing harder than it was. If only I had a super-powerful magnet that would just pull the splinter out, instead of having to dig around in there trying to get it…

    As promised, some “before” and “after” shots for you:

    East Wall

    East Wall Before

    East Wall After

    West Wall

    West Wall Before

    West Wall After

    Also showing are a couple of the young men from church helping out with the cleanup.

    Since it is Good Friday, TMBWitW is off work and we are going to spend the day together – as soon as she wakes up. MEG has been up and down a few times, and my sleep schedule is so whacked it’s not even funny. Tonight I’ll be driving a twelve hour shift – if anything amusing comes up, I will let you know.

    Chat ya later…

    cary friday

    Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

    1381 and a wake-up!

    More Windows

    April 9th, 2009 . by Cary

    This hard labor thing is taking some getting used to. Again. It’s been a while since I’ve done any framing, and the windows that I’m installing are not light – they measure 4×6 (feet, not inches!), double pane, and it takes the help of another person (in this case, Pastor Mike is helping) to set them in place.

    I started working on the West Wall first:

    West Wall exterior

    Step one was to frame the windows, using existing studs as the framework to stay within:

    West Wall interior

    As usual, once I got going I forgot the camera for a bit. After framing, the cut was made in the exterior:

    West Wall exterior cut

    This shot shows the framing that was done:

    West Wall interior cut

    You can see the window ready to be placed next to the cut.

    Since the exterior was already finished, I needed to cut through stucco and chicken wire, tar paper, and half-inch OSB (while not knowing where the nails and staples are). After experimentation, Pastor and I figured out that two cuts would be needed. The first cut with a diamond blade set for 1/2″ deep takes care of the stucco and wire; a second pass with a wood blade set at 1 1/4″ takes care of the OSB. The tar paper just gets eaten up in a combination of the first and second cuts. An unfortunate side effect is that the wood blade is pretty much ruined after one opening.

    At this point, the West wall has all four windows in it (I’ll post pictures later – I forgot the camera completely yesterday) and today I will be starting on the East wall. That is, provided I can get MEG up and moving.

    Chat ya later…

    cary

    Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

    1382 and a wake up! (less, if impeachment happens)

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