Yes, he’s the President. That doesn’t mean you have to blindly obey him, or, worse, adopt his methods.

I am referring to a tempest in a teapot that has been brewing in the Dear Abby column of late. It started when a worried mother rightfully asked for advice from Abby about her “multi-tasking” teenage dauaghter and her newly acquired driver’s license.

First, some clarification: (1) I believe that if you are writing to Abby about how to handle your life, you have bigger issues than whatever you are writing to her about (Dear Abby: I can’t decide if asking a total stranger a common sense question will damage my reputation. What do you think?) (2) “Multi-tasking” is another way of saying “doing many things in a half-crap way” which is a wordy way of saying there is no such thing as multi-tasking. You can only do one thing at a time. You may have several things going on at the same time, but your attention and your actions are only concentrated on one thing at a time. (3) I read Dear Abby because it’s in the same section as the comics, and that’s what I read while sitting – well, let’s just say even THAT isn’t a true “multi-tasking” environment.

Anyway – the mother of the teenager figured there was nothing she could do about her daughter texting and talking on her cell phone while she was driving, and the grandmother was very harsh in her criticism of the mother’s parenting skills. Several readers wrote in, with the usual pablum about “If someone calls me while I”m driving, they know to leave a message…” and “Texting and driving is a danger to all on the road!” to which I say “DUH!!” And, to the mother, I say, take AWAY her cell phone, or her license, and tell her she can have it back when she grows up and realizes what the dangers are.

Obama rears his ugly head in the last letter published in the column today. A woman who works for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wrote in to report that Obama has asked that all government employees pledge to not drive while using tech devices. She then went on to say that the grandmother should report her daughter (the mother) to the authorities for child endangerment.

Now, I believe that if you are using your phone (talking or texting) while you are driving then you are a complete moron. Yes, I have answered the phone while driving – in order to tell TMBWitW that I would call her right back – but I do not initiate calls while driving. Having a three year old in the car is distraction enough, thank you.

The point I am leading to is the lady who works for the Obama administration is adopting his tactics of reporting your loved ones to the authorities. Hello? Anyone else think this is just a touch controlling? How about shades of Big Brother? First, we have the snitch line, now we are thinking we should report everyone around us to the authorities? Whatever happened to raising your own children IN THE WAY THEY SHOULD BE RAISED without government interference? Personal responsibility, anyone? Holding people accountable for their actions? Having control over your children is not only necessary, but imperative for their safety, and if at the age of sixteen your child isn’t aware of the dangers around her, then the child shouldn’t have a cell phone, much less an automobile, to further distract her from the world. It also sdoesn’t say much for you to be letting her continue to operate in a state of obliviousness.

I sure miss the days when people could straighten their own families out because everyone involved knew the difference between RIGHT and WRONG.

Chat ya later…

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!

New Corps – I am not slamming you or “dissing” you or anything like that. Tradition is that all Marines are jarheads. Live with it.

Fred – Happy Birthday to you AND the Corps. Figures, a crusty old leatherneck like you would have to share the birthday with our beloved Corps. It fits, you know?

I rent my domain name(s) from GoDaddy.com. I got an e-mail from Bob Parsons (another Marine, for those who weren’t aware) pointing to his annual Birthday Tribute: USMC 234the Birthday Tribute. Quite good. It’s even got my favorite quote about Marines in there, from Ronald Reagan.

Two more things, to all my fellow Marines, past, present, and future:

1. Ooh.

2. Rah.

Chat ya later…

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!

I know, I’ve used that title before. But really, I think I am. Let’s take a look at this week already, shall we?

Sunday was church – with all the activity that entails. Consider that I am a Deacon, I sing on the praise team and I help with communion, and you get an idea of how busy I stay just on Sunday. Sunday afternoon was spent trying to get some more configuring done on the new computer. Sunday evening I placed the third week’s worth of stuff on eBay for a friend – he’s selling off his life-long collection of models, collectibles, and excess HO scale railroad stuff. (by the way, the keyboard on this laptop is slightly difficult to get used to – couple that with my occasional bouts of dyslexia and my typing really slows down.) Sunday night, I finally got a chance to sit down and watch “Taking Chance” – which, if you haven’t done yet, you should. It was very well done, and Kevin Bacon really nailed his role.

Monday, besides being laundry and dishes day, I also revamped the railroad’s website – The Black Canyon Model Railroad Museum, Inc. I moved it off the cobbled-together site I had built and onto a WordPress platform. I like how it turned out, why don’t you swing over there and take a look? Let me know what you think.

Today I’ll be going over to my friend’s house to help box up, label, and ship the items that sold from last week. If you are interested in seeing what kind of stuff he collected over the years, take a look here.

Chat ya later…

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!

How about two? No charge for the extra one.

First – Saturday afternoon, after I got my cab, I headed for my usual stakeout spot, the Village Inn at I-17 and Northern. It is located at the confluence of four “zones” and away from where most of the cabbies hang out at Metro Center, so while I am in a hot zone, I have faster access to not only three nearby zones but about eight other zones up and down the freeway. My first call, after sitting no more than five minutes, was to pickup a passenger at the Residence Inn, just north of where I was on the frontage road. With 27th Avenue right next door, I used that to backtrack up the southbound frontage road and picked up the fare. It turned out to be two young ladies who were in town from Chicago visiting one of the girls’ family. Nice family, too – she had her own house, and that’s where they were headed. The house is at Warner and Higley in Gilbert – which, as it turns out, is a $78 meter. Not bad for a first run. On the way out there, the girls were chatting back and forth about the things that young Chicago girls chat back and forth about, and then one of them broke out a digital camera. They started critiquing the pictures they had taken of each other the previous evening. I thought maybe they were comparing shopping pictures, but it turned out they had taken pictures of each other wearing their new tans – and smiles. They thrust the camera into my face at one point, asking for my opinion, but I told them I was married, didn’t need to see them naked, and sure didn’t need that kind of distraction for the next twelve hours of my shift…

A few runs later, and I was dispatched to a house in Tempe. When I pulled up, the fare was working his way towards the curb with his walker. I jumped out and opened the door for him, took his walker and stowed it in the trunk, and jumped back into the driver’s seat. “Where to, sir?”

He gave me an address about five blocks away, and mentioned he was going to his son’s house for the evening. I asked him, politely, why his son hadn’t come to get him, and I was told in no uncertain terms that he was quite capable of getting around on his own, thank you very much.

Recognizing the attitude, I asked him which branch he had served in. He looked at me, and asked, “Marine?” I said yes sir, 80-84.

His eyes drifted out to about a thousand yards, and said “Third Marines, Second World War.”

“Iwo Jima?” I asked.

“Eventually,” he said.

When we pulled up at the address, I turned off the meter, retrieved his walker, and waited as he climbed out.

“How much do I owe you, son?”

“Nothing,” I said. “Any time a member of the Greatest Generation rides with me, the fare was already paid long before I was born.”

“Thank you, son. God bless you.”

“Thank YOU, sir.”

Chat ya later…

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!

No, I didn’t really get abducted by aliens for my sexiness and good looks.

I have, however, been dealing with slight depression (still no prospects for a full-time J O B) and today I have the additional duty of taking Bradley back to Friends 4 Life.

Who is Bradley, you ask? He’s a very sweet, almost two year old retriever mix that gets along great with everybody, and really loves cats – especially with a side of ranch dressing for dipping.

That part about liking cats? Yeah – that’s the problem. Since we have five, it’s not fair to them to keep them cooped up in their room when they are accustomed to having free reign of the entire house. Cat training Bradley is beyond our means right now. We had started to kennel train him, but he is already housebroken and what was thought to be separation anxiety is more likely confinement anxiety. We know this because he chewed up the plastic tray liner that came with the kennel, folded the aluminum replacement tray like a piece of paper, and then chewed the bottom panel of the kennel apart to get out. Yes, he “tunneled” out of the crate. It was a good sturdy wire one, too – it managed to keep Sara contained as long as we were training her, and she’s no lightweight.

So, long story longer, Bradley is going back to the wonderful folks at Friends 4 Life so he can get an even better home next time around.

TMBWitW is really torn up about this – she managed to get very, very attached to this boy very quickly. I think she still misses Logan more than I imagined. Don’t get me wrong – I still miss Logan terribly, and have even called Bradley “Logan” a few times – but I am a Marine, and Marines don’t show emotion unless the Flag is involved.

We are going to go back to the plan of loving the furkids we have and keeping the numbers at about half of what they are now, eventually.

Well, it’s almost time to get loaded up. I’ll let you know how well it goes.

UPDATE: pretty darn smoothly. Bradley was just happy to be going for a car ride, and when he got to the shelter he jumped right out and figured Erika knew where he belonged. I’m gonna miss him.

Chat ya later…

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!