Ah yes! The promise of money for all!

In a very perverse sense, I'm looking forward to four more years of fiscal insanity under the Obama Administration. I'm so very curious to see if he tries to blame the country's problems in 2013 on the 'previous administration' (huh?).

I also pray that Reid and Pelosi both get re-elected. Why who can ever forget Nancey's triumphant walk on that day with that big old gavel in her hands when the Democrats forced that Healthcare Bill down our collective throats. Honestly, that whole deal was better than a soap opera and one has got to wonder what shenanigans will be in the works for 2013??

Perhaps this wild and zany group will tackle the 'Carbon Credits Tax' where, according to Obama, your energy bills will "necessarily skyrocket". Gosh dang it! Just think of what these people could do to our country with four more years to work with! Why, shucks, I'll bet we won't even recognize the place...

Charlie’s Steak and Eggs!

It seems an axiom of living that those things in life which can harm you the most also attract you the most. Charlie’s steak and eggs platter is kinda like that! A mouth watering steak cooked just the way I like it along with hash browns, toast and sunny side up eggs up are what’s for breakfast in my book! Never mind the sky high cholesterol in this meal, I figure that eating this on occasion ain’t gonna git me no more faster than all that other stuff that’s out to do me in!

Side Notes:

Ali - hate to see you go! Good luck at your new job! Glad to see you're going back to school too!

It's crunch time America!

Don't get me wrong. I like President Obama and I know in his heart he is doing what he thinks is best for our Country! However, his record does not reflect the direction I think most Americans want to go. So perhaps it's time we craft ourselves a fresh start. That doesn't mean I want to see this country go to just one party, it means I want to see some people (on both sides of the isle) removed in favor of replacing them with forward thinking men and women whose first and foremost priority will be adherence to the Constitution and who have a great desire to work, not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans.

Secondly, I would like us all to get started on the real work that lies ahead; returning solvency and prosperity to the greatest Free Country in the World!

Weeding time comeith!

Any one who has had a garden understands the need to keep an eye on it. Let your attention wander for even a small amount of time and gosh darn it the bed is full of weeds! If you're like most people, weeding is perhaps one of the most unfaltering aspects of growing stuff to eat.

It came to me that running and growing a Republic is much the same thing. The big difference being that not only has this 'bed' become weed infested, but the life of all those little vegetables is literally being choked to death not only by the number of weeds (government employees) but by all those little tendrils (regulations) that have wrapped themselves around every leaf (business) whose job it is to grow a plant big enough to produce fruit (profits).

Not only is that bad enough, but there are so many weeds present that their insidious little roots are taxing the very vitality of the soil. Very little energy (money) is left to feed the vegetable plants and before you know it, the whole thing becomes a total bust. The garden is still there, the weeds remain, but the gardener has departed for the shed to get a rototiller – Yep, it's time to do some serious weeding....Come November, let's kick some weed butt!

Working in Obama's World!

It’s 2012 and you suddenly find yourself out of work! Through the grace of God, you had a good job and have been able to keep your head above water up until now. Then, out of the blue, Obamanomics fully kicked in and most of the full time job markets in and around your hometown pretty much dried up. What to do?

The good news is that there is work to be found! The bad news? The jobs are almost exclusively part time, the pay is at minimum wage (7.50 per hour) and oftentimes you're going to have to hoof it a long distance (in my case 45 miles) to get to a place that will hire your sorry ass sacking groceries.

OK, no problem – time to crank up that old computer and spreadsheet everything out. Here’s an income (see tables at right) model for someone like me who; 1) drives a 17 mpg gas guzzler, 2) will accept a minimum wage part time job sacking groceries, 3) will commute 90 miles round trip for the privilege of sacking said groceries and 4) elects not to brown bag it if forced to drive some distance ( a man has to have some self pride)! The first model pertains to part and full time work if I can somehow find work in my town of Forsyth Mo. The second table pertains to the same scenario, but now I'm commuting 45 miles one way to Springfield. Wow!

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In the first instance, I'm working in town and eating my lunch at home. In working either part or full time, I'm bagging a 'net amount' that's close to six bucks an hour. Be still my capitalistic heart!

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In the second case, while commuting to the nearest large city, I find that my lifestyle will have to be altered somewhat. At part time, I'd be losing about $7 per hour while at full the bleeding would go down to only a loss of eight cents for every hour worked. (Now that’s what I call a bright and socialistic fulfilling future)!

Moral of this story? None. Just hope the Obama Nanny State will tax the hell out of the rich and give you some of it! All so you can adjust to the 'new normal' in these here United States and eat... Trickle on down baby!

End Times: A novel in the making?

I had an idea for a novel that would explore the concept of how a simple chain of events could end up with Earth experiencing both a nuclear and volcanic winter at the same time! The story would center around a character by the name of Cliff Roberts; an aging professor at Berkley California who specializes in sudden and abrupt climate change along with the factors that can cause it. Soon he finds himself the in the center of a maelstrom of events that will lead humanity on a path to destruction and, just possibly, salvation. Please feel free to read on…

Prologue

It was springtime and Cliff Roberts had himself a busy schedule on tap. While forty years of living a hectic lifestyle as senior professor of climate change in Berkley California had done little good for his face, inside he was still energized and intellectually razor sharp - He had to be or his students would run over him like a Mac truck.

As he sat himself down to a plate of eggs (bad for the heart), toast and milk, he looked up briefly at an old tube type TV stuffed into a remote corner of the kitchen. The words ‘asteroid strike’ had caught his attention and for a moment his breakfast was forgotten.

[This just in from NASA...Apparently, a small asteroid has struck the US in the vicinity of Yellowstone Park. Details remain sketchy as the area of impact has been cordoned off by emergency services…. stay tuned to this channel folks for unfolding events as they happen…]

“Well, I’ll be! Cliff spoke aloud to the toaster as though it could hear him. It did not. “How bad could it have been? That media guy had used the word small had he not?” The toaster remained stoically mute. Cliff decided to refocus his attention on his breakfast and then get ready for work.

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Eleven hundred miles to the northwest of Cliff’s home, in the area of Yellowstone Park, a scene out of Dante’s Inferno was rapidly unfolding. While the ‘asteroid’ had turned out to be just a large meteorite measuring less than two hundred feet across, it had landed almost directly over the immense magma dome under Lake Yellowstone. Now a small fissure that had been created by the impact was rapidly expanding, and in doing so, was opening the doors to hell on earth – and super volcanic eruption was now only hours away. No one on planet, not Cliff, the President or anyone else for that matter earth had any idea of how such a seemingly minor impact was going to set the stage for a series of events that would end in the near extinction of mankind and most surprisingly, their salvation.

Critique: Celeste Deluxe Pizza for one!

At only a buck and a quarter, I thought what the heck. I’d give this ‘deluxe’ pizza creation by Celeste a go. I mean what could I lose by trying? At only 370 calories, this pizza for one should go nicely with a tosses salad and maybe a glass of milk; the perfect combo to enjoy while watching a late night football game. The only real negative that I could find when inspecting the nutritional panel was the 980 milligrams of salt (41% of the recommended daily allowance) that you also get when chow down – to me large amounts of salt are always an admission by the manufacturer that their product tastes pretty bad. Lots of salt almost always makes up for that…almost.

Pizza was even smaller than I thought!

The directions were very simple; preheat your oven to 400F with a cookie sheet on a middle rack, remove the pizza from the box and unwrap the plastic then place the aforementioned pizza on the cookie sheet and cook for about 14 minutes. (Yeah, there’s microwave instructions on the box too, but anyone who has ever nuked a pizza knows what a bad experience that can be)!

…OK, so at the last minute I decided to go with the microwave after all. (I mean, who wants to wait for 15 minutes when 3 is much better)! After the nuking, I used my handy dandy pizza cutting wheel to cut it into cute little sections and then proceeded to chow on down.

Two quick thoughts. This meal went down fast. I had finished the entire pizza in under a minute! Was it good. I dunno. Everything happened too fast to tell. But, at 370 calories I guess I made my tummy happy and will plan to order a few backups for those evenings when a quick pizza fix is all I need! Score this one an 8 and make sure to buy two next time!