Replacement Truck

2 1/2 weeks ago my 2003 F250 long bed diesel truck was stolen. After a week of searching for the certain truck, I found a 2006 crew cab short bed F250. A bit of an upgrade, but passengers will welcome the roomy back seat. With the same size diesel engine as the old truck, it should have trouble pulling our 30' fifth wheel.
One thing, I always knew, but it never hit home until my truck was stolen...insurance company DO NOT really lose money. Maybe a little here and there, but then they screw the next person.
From now on, I will use (not only) an alarm, but also "Lo Jack" and a "Club" to stop the thief. If I was there at the time, I may have used a baseball bat too.

44th Presidential Inauguration

Today, I watched a man, who I have admired be sworn in as president of the United States. This man was not from wealth, he was not a man from privilege, he was a man from blue collar workers, an "Average Joe" who worked his way up to become a Senator of Illinois. But the biggest huddle was, he is black. A black President...our FIRST black President.
Yes I am registered as a Democrat, and yes, I voted for the man, but so did a lot of other people. Why? Because he gave us reasons he was the best candidate available. Now we have to watch to see if we were right. I hope he puts his color in the proper perspective, and other do the same. Moreover, I hope some idiot does not attempt to kill him because of his color.
Barack Obama promised a lot of things, and I will be first in line to see if he can make those promises come true. Of course, I know no President can do it by himself. We as the citizens of the USA, have to do our part too. We have to believe in our democratic system and our commerce system. We have to be pro-active in our country, not just stand and watch. We have to influence, we have to invest, we have to spend, and we have to believe in our country.
Yeah, our President is Black. Color does not matter, our country matters. He is just a man who believes this country can pull itself up and regain the status it once had. His skin color does NOT matter. Your belief does. Remember...UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL. God Bless the President, our country, our troops, and our future.

Arizona Cards go to Super Bowl?

I'll be the first to admit, I was never a big fan of our local football team...or the family that owns it. Then, this year, the Cards start playing SO well. It surprised everyone. Vegas had them as the low dog, writers cut them, but yet the stands were always full. Arizona has never had a football team to support until over 10 years ago when the Cards came to town.
The Cards were initially called the Phoenix Cards, but soon changed the name after getting a lot of public hassling about the state support for the team. The rented the stadium at Arizona State University in Tempe for about 8 years until the Bidwell family convinced the City of Glendale to build one. The late post war housing developer, John F. Long, donated the land, and the aluminum clad, roll-out field, convertible top stadium became the site for the 2008 Super Bowl.
Now the team is finally get the respect they have earned and deserve, including mine. Quarterback Kurt Warner and some of the best receivers I have ever seen, have marched down the field more times than I can count against the nye-sayers.
I wish the Cards the best against the tough Steelers. Every football fans will be watching the one-time wonders to see if they really are a top shelf team, or just a flight of fancy.

Where is my truck?

Tuesday evening, I drove to a meeting with my friends, a few FDNY Retirees. After the meeting, I went into the parking lot and looked for my truck...it was not there...it had been stolen.
After reporting the incident to the Police, the next day I started contacting insurance company, changing the garage door openers codes, compiling all my receipts for accessories for the claim, and recalling all the junk I hauled around in the glove-box, under the seat, in the console etc. What a pack rat I am!
Victims are the ones who lose. I lost all my "stuff", I lose money 'cause I now have to buy another truck, and all the accessories, while the theft drives around in my nice truck.

Another year? Or will it be a replay of 2008?

The year 2008 was not, what I call, the financial highlight of the decade. Or, maybe it was. Stock market doing a nose dive, bailouts, housing industry coming to a dead stop, oil prices soaring, automotive sales dying and so on. What a year for investor and speculators. Some of us lost while others profited. We sort of brought this on ourselves. We panicked. Soon after the media announced the economy was going south, we all stopped spending, which snowballed into lay-offs and shutdowns. Of course spending by the Fed, like all we had to do is print more, did not help. And to top the pile of S??? ... we have a new president, which some don't trust, and the other think he has a magic pill for this mess. Let me be the first to tell you, he does not. But I believe he WILL try to clean up the mess the previous administration left. And don't try to tell me they didn't. I really like Republicans, I hang around with some nice mules.
We ALL have to pitch in and help this country pull itself from our financial stumble, regain respect in other countries and get back to being a good place to live. Not that it isn't now.
How you ask? Let's start with spending. Spend it if you have it. Of course save, but don't hold back unless you have to. Spending makes the economy go around. Now is the time to invest. Stocks are down, and you can do well when the market comes back. I think that will be in the summer of 2009. Green is big, recycling, organic grocery stores, metals, Internet companies in Asia, and even funeral homes are doing well now. Invest folks!
Finally, invest in your family. Save for your children's education. Put it away while you can. The cost of a good education is soaring fast. Even Community Colleges.
2009 is going to be a very interesting year to watch. I wish you all a VERY Happy New Year anda very profittable one. Buy that new car and go for a ride on cheap gas, while it lasts. HA! HA! HA!