Pretty Cool Version of Taps

My wife sent this to me. I am not sure where it was filmed at, or who the girl is, but it is a very cool rendition of "Taps." Check it out.

Snail Mail going bye bye?

I read this story about the United States Postal Service's financial woes and started really paying attention to the mail I receive. And it is true, I get very little "important" mail via the post office anymore. Most of my bills come electronically (and I pay them electronically as well,) and I don't write letters (not that I did much of that anyway since no one except my immediate family could read my chicken scratch) anymore since I used email exclusively.

Faced with a $6 billion (yeah with a "B") deficit, the USPS is using a hiring freeze, early retirements, consolidating routes and even considering dropping Saturday delivery to try and bridge the gap.

Unfortunately, I do not see this situation getting any better for the Postal Service. I have no intention of changing the way I receive and pay bills, and I highly doubt I will ever write a "letter" again. The telegraph replaced the pony express, the telephone replaced (umm not sure, but I am sure it replaced something!) and the car replaced the stage coach driver.

Adapt or die...

Texting While Driving is Dangerous?

Wow, it took a study (undoubtedly financed by my tax dollars) at Virgina Tech to determine if texting while driving is dangerous.

Umm, yep.

But so is talking on the phone, fiddling with the radio, stuffing a quarter pounder in your mouth, curling your hair (seen it!) or any number of things that distract you while driving. This includes talking to your significant other and yelling at your kids; "don't make me stop this car and beat your ..." (at least he was practicing safe driving techniques and was going to pull over to correct the error of my ways!)

I could have told them that and saved the taxpayers a ton of money...

Bikini Bandit

My first thought when I read "Bikini Bandit" was "wonder if she is hot" (hey, I am guy) but then I clicked on the link and saw her picture.

Nope.

Congressional Approval Rating

The latest polls indicate that 60% of Americans disapprove of Congress' performance. 60%? Why so low a number? I would have thought the number would have been higher, maybe around oh, I don't know, say 100%. The biggest drop came among Democrats and Independents, the very same group that elected the mental midgets (no offense to the vertically challenged among us) we are currently saddled with.

But more importantly, who are these 40 percenters? Where do they live at? I want to go visit them and see if I can get some of the obviously good drugs they are on.

New Home Sales Rise

Hey, this is cool and everything but I don't see where employment is growing as well. All this tells me is that the housing prices have returned to the point where everyone can afford them. As much as I hate to see the market value of my house, (omg) falling prices do help to ensure that everyone can partake in the "American Dream" of owning your own home.

Just a thought.

First "Published" Writing

I just had my first "published" article. Check it out if you get a chance at:

Public Officials and Corruption

Thanks,

Obama's (Sort Of) Apology

Well, I guess Obama has rethought his comment about calling the actions of the cop "stupid." Of course, he has not really apologized, which tells me that he stills thinks the action was "wrong." And I guarantee that the ONLY reason Obama is half-ass saying he was wrong in his choice of words is to avoid the bad publicity he is getting.

I love how he is (and everyone else) still states that the incident is about "race." Last time I checked, it was about law and order. The cop had every right in the world to do what he did, had old Prof No-Job obeyed the cop, none of this would have been an issue.

Good old Obama: backing another worthless jack ass (anyone remember Rev Wright, the same guy who said God DAMN America and was Obama's spiritual advisor) until it becomes a politically untenable position.

Your first instinct is usually your truest response and Obama's response should tell us all what kind of man he truly is.

Obama's "Stupid" Comment

Can you believe Obama's comment about the arrest of the Harvard professor? He said the police acted "stupidly" while admitting he "doesn't know all the facts" about the arrest. Umm, let me see as*hole, the cops received a report of a breaking and entering, and the jackass refused to show ID to the police until the cops arrested him. Updated: He was arrested for disorderly conduct.

Then the "I can't get a job in the real world with my worthless degree so I teach African studies at Harvard" professor claims racial profiling because they arrested him. How about you take your keys with you next time, stupid ass, and it won't be an issue, huh?

And shame on Obama for not backing the police who were doing their jobs. Oh, and by the way, do you think the fact that Obama and no-job are friends has anything to do with Obama's comment?

Of course not, I am sure he is just looking out for his fellow man...

And one other fact Obama should have checked on before making his own stupid comment. The cop who arrested Mr. No-Job is racial profiling expert, who taught the course at the academy and was handpicked by his former police commissioner (who is black) for the that job.

Official Fired For Being Married To Porn Star

I mean, what kind of crap is this? This guy is living every red-blooded male's fantasy, and he gets fired for it? It is not like she was a drug dealer, crackhead, liar, thief, etc. She is a friggin' porn star for crying out loud! Maybe it is not as great as being a religious figure like a Rabbi (oh, wait the FBI just busted a couple of rabbis in NJ for corruption) or something!

At least she is making a honest living, and he is giving hope to every old dude like myself!

Obama's Health Care Plan

There are some legitimate reasons for discussing universal health care for the citizens of the US, but can we fix the freakin' economy first, Prez? Anyone who has a job is half-worried they are going to lose it, and anyone who does not have a job is too busy scrambling to find one to think about UHC for the rest of the country.

Plus, it will undoubtedly add to our tax burden which should give anyone pause before jumping on the bandwagon. In addition, I always get worried when politicians try to ram anything down our throats before we have a chance to openly discuss (think Patriot Act) it. Makes me think the slippery SOBs are working their hidden agendas... And lets face it, there are ALWAYS hidden agendas.

So it is nice to see that Congress is pushing back on Obama's plan. Get the economy pumping again, then we will be in a much better mood to discuss such sweeping changes.

Another Job Opening

Sweet, another job opportunity just opened up! This dude is going to quarterback for Las Vegas instead of the Bills. True, I gotta QB in Buffalo, but it could be worse, I could be QBing for the Lions! I spent some time in Buffalo and it ain't that bad. Kind of like Detroit with a worse hockey team and no baseball team. However, the wings at the Anchor Bar (the original home of the Buffalo wings) rock!

And I love the last line of the article "and if...doesn't play well, then he ... ends up sitting at home, unemployed." If that is true, can someone PLEASE tell me why the Lions players are not collecting unemployment???

Obama's Jeans

Man, I thought I was the only one who thought he looked like a dork when he was throwing out the first pitch before the All Star game. Guess not, huh?

A Tale of Two Car Manufactures

As I have mentioned before, I am not a Japanese car basher, and I have a hard time determining an "American" car, so reading that Toyota is no longer profitable in North America is not a good sign. There is a Toyota Tech Center in Ann Arbor, MI, a stone's throw from Detroit, which employs Michigan residents, as well as manufacturing sites and dealerships throughout the US all giving employment to Americans so their financial troubles will hit home. Hopefully, Toyota will not pull out of their North American operations. Not only will this be an economic hit for the various communities, but a public relations nightmare for Toyota.

On the other hand, it is nice to see Ford has top billing in quality, beating out both their cross-town rivals and Toyota, Honda, BMW, etc. Nice work, now see if you can capitalize on it, would ya?

At least my Ford stock may be worth something after all....

Some Good News

A group of leading economists state that the recession is easing, but not over. I guess that is great news if you happen to live in the other 49 other states in the US, but somehow I do not see it "easing" in good old Detroit for quite some time.

Plus, my Tigers dropped 3 straight to the Yankees so it still sucks living here!

However, I will believe the recession is easing when I see it....

Job Opening!

Well, I read where Paula Abdul may not come back to American Idol. She is "hurt" and "angry" so she may just up and quit. With the current unemployment situation, I don't think the producers will have any problem filling her position! In fact, I am contemplating throwing my resume their way. I will work for half her pay and still make out quite nicely!

Unfortunately, I have never seen the show (honestly!) so I will have to watch the reruns to figure out what I am supposed to do. However, it can not be that hard since they have actors and musicians doing the job now, so I should have no problem with the job requirements...

The Kindle and Amazon

I don't know if any of you had any intention of buying a Kindle, the e-book reader from Amazon. I have read quite a bit, both pro and con, about the device. The cost is pretty high, about $300, and you still have to pay for the books, albeit at a lower cost so I guess eventually it would pay for itself.

I had decided that I was not going to buy one, for a couple of reasons; 1) Cost. $300 buys me a lot of paperbacks. 2) It is a fragile electronic device, and tossing it into my laptop bag or luggage like I do a "real" book would scare me to death. Finally, 3) there is a lot to be said for falling asleep with a paperback and not worrying if it falls off my chest!.

However, there are some good reasons to buy one (storing 1500 books on one device, and wirelessly streaming your new purchases to the Kindle is kinda cool.

Now, however, there may be a far more important reason to not buy the Kindle: Amazon deleted legitimately purchased copies of several books because the publisher decided that they did not want to publish electronic versions of the book! Like the author of the article says, he never has to worry about a bookstore coming to his house to take back copies of books he bought. Granted, Amazon refunded the money, but how pissed would you be if you were half-way through the book???

Sorry, I guess I will stay "old-school" when it comes to my reading...

Great Unemployment Article

If you get a chance, read this article on white-collar unemployment in Michigan. The woman in the article's experiences eerily echo my own. The only difference is she had an inkling that her job was on the chopping block, and I had absolutely no idea mine was.

In fact, I was on the phone at 6:30 in the evening with the recruiter I worked with, finalizing the offer details on the person I was hiring for my Louisiana position. I was let go the next morning with next to nothing in severance, and no vacation pay since my last day was right before Christmas! Nice, huh?

But, I am one of the fortunate ones. I have some breathing room, and after my 70th (or so) resume sent out (with almost no responses, but what do you expect I live in Michigan,) I have decided to change course and work on my own.

I will let you know how my decision turns out. If it sucks, you will know because DTE will shut off my electricity and I will no longer be able to update my blog...

Escaping the cubicle?

Hey, what gives? Collecting unemployment is NOT one of the career choices on this list!

I smell a conspiracy...

Another Funny Video

In the spirit of political correctness (and anyone who knows me knows how PC I am [not]) I almost decided to not post this video that I received from a friend. But then I thought, "what the heck, it is pretty funny."

Enjoy

And The Hits Just Keeping Coming Part II

Gosh, is this hard to believe or not (j/k)? Obama states that unemployment is likely to keep increasing.

I wonder if this is what he meant when he talked about "change?" Yep, the unemployment rate keeps changing (up!) and the deficit has hit a new high, and will double by the fall.

Man, I can not WAIT for another four years to see what "change" we are going to be in for...

Oops!

You know the old saying, 'never bring a knife to a gun fight?" Here is a new twist: Never bring a toy gun to rob a gas station You might just get your butt handed to you!

My New Career Choice?

This is not a bad idea! I have been approached (as most of us have) by panhandlers and depending on my mood, the time of day, the lunar cycle, etc I may give them some money. Although honestly, I am much more inclined to give money to the street musicians, since they are providing some moments of entertainment. I have a bunch of shirts and ties gathering dust, so I may as well put them to good use!

Just kidding, the Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I won't find myself in this predicament anytime soon. I have watched shows on TV where they interview the homeless and yes, some did it to themselves with alcohol or drugs, but sometimes life just hits a person particularly hard (abuse, unanticipated death of a loved one, etc) and they have a very hard time dealing with it. So they move out, lose their job, whatever, and end up as just another statistic.

I guess not all of them use the money to buy alcohol or drugs, huh?

The USA is not Number 1 (thank goodness)

Hey, it is nice to see after all of the years of being called "Ugly Americans" that we are not the rudest tourists, not by far. That dubious honor goes to the French. Of course the way the the French Expedia Marketing Director explains it ("the French...we're lucky enough to have a country which is magnificent in terms of landscape and culture') does little to help their cause!

Oh, well at least we can take some comfort in that!

Michael Jackson's Children

I hate to see any child lose their parents, but I am not sure if you can consider Michael Jackson a model parent. I read where his daughter said that "she loved him so much" and that is cool, but I wonder if she would have felt the same if she was the child good old Dad hung out the window.

Probably not.

I don't care what anyone says about him, he was way too bizarre to be treated as a demi-god

Body Mass Index (BMI)

So, I read on NPR's web site the top 10 reasons why the formula used to determine a person's BMI is crap. I used the formula and found out I am overweight, and with just a slight nudge could fall into the obese category. This is where I throw the penalty flag, 15 yards for excessive BS!

This formula is similar to the formula (neck/waist measurement bounced against your height) that was used to determine body fat while I was in the Navy, which was another crock of "you know what." If you had a big fat neck and a big fat waist, you had a better chance of "beating" the system then someone who had a small neck and mid-size waist. Since your body fat was tied to your promotion opportunity, you can see how this can have an impact on someone's life. Every time I had to have my body fat measured, I thanked the Good Lord that I was "blessed" with good genes and did not have to go to the extremes that I saw others go through in order to meet the criteria.

If life was not hard enough as it is, now anyone who uses this method to determine how good a shape they are could really start to feel bad about themselves.

Yeah, I would have to agree with NPR'sr reasoning. Time to move on

And The Hits Just Keep On Coming!

I am not the first to notice (duh!) but this state continues to go to hell in a hand basket. I am really starting to wonder at what point to I give my now worthless house back to the mortgage company and take my chances elsewhere.

I know that things are tough all over, but it is going to take YEARS before Michigan recovers to some degree, although I honestly doubt it will ever regain what "glory" it had when I was growing up. We always said Michigan was a pretty good place to live. The weather was not as cold as Minnesota, North Dakota, etc and not as hot in the summer as the deep South. You could make a pretty good living with nothing more then a third grade education (I am not saying that the workers are dumb, just merely stating that there was no requirement for "higher education" to work the line) working in the auto plants, but that is a thing of the past.

I read somewhere that the majority of the people leaving the state are the college educated, well-rounded types who have had enough and left. Just the skill set the state will need when/if the recovery happens and the economy does diversify as it needs to if the state is ever to get back on track. The US auto industry is shrinking (I don't think it will ever die out despite GM and Chrysler's inability to turn a profit) but it will never recover to its 1970s/80s market share so the state will need people with other abilities to propel it into the future.

I left years ago, but came back when my wife needed to take care of her sick Mother. The state has changed, and not for the better. I gotta wonder when it will be my time to walk...

Good News/Bad News

This is a Good News/Bad News kinda thing. Glad to see the price of gas (should) drop, but it sucks 'cause the economy is still in the tank...

Baby Boomer's Anthem

I recevied this video from my sister and thought it was pretty funny (for those of us that can relate!) so I decided to post it here. Enjoy!

Duh!

Wow, what a DUH! British spy chief's cover blown on Facebook Though I am suprised that this does not happen more often then it does! I guess there are some things you CAN NOT trust your spouse with....

Another Worthless Public Offical Take 2

Man, does the Governor of South Carolina sound like an idiot, or what? Numerous encounters with women while he was out of the country on trips to "blow off steam," until he finally has a full blown affair. Oh, and he states that he visited her only "once" on the public's dime, and NOW (after he admits the affair) says that he will reimburse the taxpayers for their generosity. Gosh, thanks Guv for being such a stand up guy!

I know my last few postings have been about this b.s. but it just keeps coming to light so I keep commenting about it.

Oh, and I love how every politician that gets busted has a "come to Jesus" (always in public so we can see how sincere they are) meeting where they state how holy they are now, and God has forgiven them and we should also.

Umm, no. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

My best part of the story? Where this jackass keeps asking his wife to visit his mistress! I freakin' love how incredibly stupid this guy truly is. I don't know of any wife who would agree to meet the girl her husband has been sleeping with.

Why, oh why, do we keep electing such trash to public office?