Join WHAT?

Believe me, I am into modern technology.I have a couple computers (and have since '83), we both have cell phones, plus digital this and that. We both e-mail and use the cell phones, plus our land line, but ... Twitter, and FaceBook, and MySpace, and WHAT? HEADTIME? I don't get it. How much time do we all need to talk to friends and relatives?
I do not condemn anyone for posting their life in front of the whole world, but do not ask me to.
A couple years ago, while doing some work at a high school, I asked a kid who was between classes and talking on her cell phone, "WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO?" She replied, "MY FRIEND OVER THERE", as she pointed to another girl across the school yard. I am sorry, but that is pure lazy. Teachers have trouble with kids passing answers to tests by texting to each other. Classes are interrupted by ringing phones and people cause auto wrecks due to eating and texting while driving.
Now to my original point. More people are losing their identities because thieves steal it from sites like FaceBook, Twitter and MySpace. More people are stalked, scammed and been taken advantage of. In some cases, it has lead to an injury or fatal ending. If you don't believe me, read the June 2009 issue of AARP Bulletin with the story titled "FALSE FRIENDS".
This all may sound very grim and nothing but negativity, but it's meant as a caution. It is probably because one of the above happened to someone I know, and it was not pretty.
One last word...if you use these communication sites, always use extreme caution and be aware you have exposed yourself to everyone who is on the internet, not just your friends and family members. Be careful out there, and e-mail me when you get off the phone.

Don't argue, CHECK YOUR FACTS!

In the past, I have been referred to as a Liberal, and/or a Left-wing Democrat. I AM registered as a Democrat, but, I consider myself as a middle-of-the-road Democrat. There are some topics I agree with Democrats, and some I agree with Republicans. I DO NOT consider myself as hard-line in either party. I vote for the best person (in my point of view), and I come to that decision according to their platform and views that meet with mine. This is like most people, I believe.
Lately, some of my Republican friends, and relatives, have sent me their highly bias views in the form of forwarded articles. I don’t condemn them for their views, just that they don’t do the research before the open their mouths, or forward something. Just because a person is Republican or Democrat, does NOT mean they are ALWAYS right. Our first President did not have any affiliation with either party, so he was a non-party President. From there, the parties changed in believes and names.Now, I can not speak for all the Presidents in our history, so to save time, I am going to talk about the Presidents in my lifetime (1946 until the present). And if you really want to check; these facts are from www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/presidents of the united states.
In my life, there have been five Republicans and six Democrats. Both parties have their good and bad points in their term. In general, Republicans have been generous to big business, and Democrats have been generous to labor. More wars, or conflicts, have arisen during a Republican terms, and more peacemaking and human rights movements have come about during a Democratic terms. The deficit has grown bigger and faster during Republican terms, and been (generally) balanced or reduced during a Democratic term. Democrats have served more multiple terms than Republicans. Assassinations (or attempts) have taken place during both parties’ terms. Both parties have been embarrassed by impeachments. The Korean War spanned three Presidents. The Vietnam War spanned three Presidents. The conflicts have spanned six Presidents, but few American lives were lost in the Middle East until both Bush Presidents were in office. More than 5,000 service men/women were killed invading countries that posed NO harm to the. Both parties have raided Social Security and somewhat reformed Medicare, and done a poor job in both cases. We have more homeless today than in the Great Depression of the ‘30s. The deficit is the highest than ANY time in our history. There are thousand upon thousands of home foreclosed because the FED said lend,LEND, LEND to people who could not afford the mortgage. Both parties have had their blunders, mis-management episodes, and poor decision making. Like some of my friends and relatives, they are bullheaded, stubborn, and open their mouths before they check the TRUE facts. They listen to bias talk radio, bias news networks or bias newspapers, and take that as gospel. They believe the party in control is out to get them, and plotting to take their right away from them because some dummy on the radio says so.
No matter what you preference is...check your facts first, and then, recheck them.
And lastly, keep your opinions to yourself. I invite and enjoy a good debate, but DO NOT push it on me! I am old and stubborn too.

The Media did it

Just listen! Do you hear it? SWINE FLU, ILLEGALS, POOR ECONOMY, PIRATES, PRESIDENT OBAMA'S FIRST 100 DAYS. If you did not recognize it...it's negativity. The media feeds on our response to negativity. We panic and that beings on more negativity. How about telling people about the positives in the news. The people who saw a robbery being committed so they joined together and caught the guy before he could run away. Or, the little 4 year old boy who called 9-1-1 cause his Mom was having a breathing problem. Or, the little girl who organized the making of care packages for the troops in Iraq. These are positives, and we need more of them broadcasted to us INSTEAD OF all the negatives. I do not mean hide the negatives, but, do not blow them so far out of shape they over shadow the good things. We all know there is plenty of bad to go around. But there is always a lot of good going on that we do not hear about.
Let's take the most popular topic today, the SWINE FLU. O-M-G! It's an epidemic, right? The last epidemic was in 1918 and thousands died. So far, the world has seen one person die from the present Swine Flu. Typically, there are 250,000 to 500,000 die each year from the flu, no matter which of the four strains. This flu was thought to have come from Mexico. The government is on this "illegals" thing about Mexico. So naturally Mexico is at fault. Do your homework...most of the world's pigs are grown in the US and most recent strains of the Swine Flu originated in the US.
Now to the economy. Have you watched the Stock Market lately? It's going up, slowly, but up. Many small towns have reported an increase in business profits. We hit bottom folks and now we're going upward. Spend it if you got it. And if you don't want to, put it in the bank for others to borrow upon.
Listen folks, President Obama is not a magician. He can not make the economy better in a day, and neither can the Congress or Senate, but they are trying hard. We elected these people to do their things. If you do not like what they are doing, then vote them out next term, but don't sit there and complain, help them. Be financially responsible and support the economy.
We are a GREAT country, maybe the greatest (but let's be humble). The American people are strong and always come up with a way the survive the hard times. We will this time too. I have seen third world countries and we have NOTHING to complain about.
Think positive, DO the positives, TALK positive and pass it forward.
One last thing...turn the news off. If it's something you need to hear, eventually, you'll hear about it.

Trip into American history

Thousand upon thousands visit Washington DC each year. Not only US citizens but people from all over the world. They not only want to see the history within the numerous museums, but the place that makes decisions which mold the world politics.
Washington DC is just another big city, but yet it's not. There is NO unemployment because of the abundance of new government jobs that magically pop up all the time. And this ain't new with this adminstration.
Besides the hundreds of students on class trips, tourists in tour buses, there were thousands of dark colored three-piece suits carrying briefcases everywhere. I wondered what they were doing... lobbyists, businessmen or maybe SPIES!
It was not my first time to DC. It was my first trip to Mount Vernon and Williamsburg. Away from the majority of tourists, we enjoyed relaxing strolls along the same paths George Washington walked, pondering an infant country's newly acquired freedom. But nothing hit me as hard as the words of Thomas Jefferson inside his memorial. These were men FAR ahead of their time. If they could only see the USA today. What would they think?

This week

Our oldest Grandchild, Nicole, turned 6 years old recently. (They grow up SO fast) Each time I see her, I can see her maturing a little by little. Nicole is an extremely active child, both physically and mentally, and she's hard to keep up with, but SO much fun.
Nicole is really into Hannah Montana and everything Hannah Montana, so naturally the birthday party was in that theme. After a grilled menu was consumed, the gift paper was ripped off to expose a pile of Hannah theme accessories.
Phoenix has a world renowned Desert Botanical Gardens, which (DAH!) features desert plants. This Spring, the gardens teamed up with the great glass artist, Dale Chihuly, in an exhibit mingling his blown glass pieces with cactus. Now, to you folks not living in the Southwest may not really appreciate the beauty of those thorny plants. But like most plants, the thorns are to protect themselves from creatures, whether it may be two or four legged. The blown glass put a different slant on the general desert appearence and added more color.
Nancy and I are off to Washington D.C. for a week. More when we get back. ;-))))

I am TIRED of bailouts!

I saw an re-run interview with our President the other day on the Jay Leno show. (I have no problem with our President appearing on a late night show, some do.) Anyway, he said (in so many words) "If a toaster blows up in your face, there is a law that will protect you, or cover you for that. BUT, if you lose your life savings to a hedge fund account, you lose!" That pissed me off. People bust their butts all their life to save so they can retire and live comfortably through their 'GOLDEN YEARS', and some rotten S.O.B. feels he's better, or above the law, and manipulates the market so he can retire with mega-millions of OUR life savings. Meanwhile, retirees have to go back to work so they can eat Bologna instead of Ham. That is strictly BS!
Nancy and I had dinner with a banker friend, and he told us, the U.S. has 1300 banks. Most countries have 3, and they do fine. So let the bank who are so screwed up, and want bail-outs, fold. Who cares? We don't need them. The sound banks will carry the rest of us just fine. Imagine, three banks for the whole country. Germany, Holland, and Great Britain...THREE BANKS in the entire country! He also discussed mortgages. The government gives $50K credit to first-time owners. Why not everyone? Sure would make the economy grow. There are a lot of second and third time buyers who could use the $50K incentive for their dream home. Especially if they have cash from a previous home to swing the loan. My hometown of Cave Creek is the highest foreclosure area in Maricopa county, which is the largest county in AZ. And, one of the highest in the US.
After a fabulous week on the market, folks are seeing a little relief, but there is still a long road to haul before we reach the level we were at 3 years ago. Don't give up hope, we WILL get there...and DON'T touch your savings yet!

Camping at Roosevelt Lake

It was Spring Break, temperatures were getting warmer, and we just had the itch to smell a campfire with friends and family.
Roosevelt Lake is east of Phoenix, and probably the largest in Arizona. Backwater from it's namesake dam, the desert oasis is great location for boating, fishing, camping, and Kayaking. About 20 of us arrived on Friday and stayed through Sunday, after hiking, 4-wheeling, Kayaking and just sitting around the campfire, making S'mores and chatting.