What a great country

Even when the federal government oversteps it's bounds and passes law after law that we either disagree with or dislike, we still can rely on the states!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101213/ap_on_bi_ge/us_health_care_overhaul_virginia
Sometimes I think it would be nice to live someplace that is warm all year round. Sometimes I would be happy to move where I would never see snow again, or where there is less traffic, or where I can pursue my love of ATV riding with abandon. But then VA goes and elects the best Governor and Attorney general combo that we have ever had! Granted I was a huge fan of Gilmore when he wanted to repeal the car tax but that was just money. Now VA is standing up for freedom state wide.
Great- now traffic will get even worse since people who live in states that have no backbone will come here!
I also heard over the weekend that we are close to having 37 states get together to impose an amendment to require a balanced budget! Lets cross our fingers that the states have lost patience and will fix the out of control federal government!

YEAH STATES!

Top Gear America

So I have posted on previous occasions about my favorite show- Top Gear. Well the US has done what it always does. It stole this wonderful idea from the UK and has decided to produce it here with a US slant.
Here is some advice to the American version of Top Gear:
1) We have seen two episodes now- please stop explaining what is happening and who people are. Either we already know or we can figure it out based on context (those new to the show). I see way too many shows treat the US as if they are morons. This is not the case.
2) Stop trying to copy what the UK Top Gear does- create your own style especially for music with films, cinematography and most importantly interaction. You know what I mean! You are mimicking what Top Gear UK is in style, even in content- but it does not work with the personalities on the show. So find a style that best works with the personalities.
3) It would seem we have selected the hosts already not sure they are a good fit (We really should have seen some writers from C&D or Motortrend- such great wit and humor there). You are not interacting well together. It is contrived- let strife and disagreement happen naturally- stop trying to create it. As far as the audience can tell you just met and are new hosts together on the show- so why do you act as if you have these disagreements or mock fights?
4) I like your car choices for stories- more of this please
5) Make fun of the Stig- but please make them good jokes- and figure out a way to do it different from how the UK version does it.

Most important- all watchers of Top Gear wish they could be on the show- the reason why the UK version does so well is because the hosts translate the visceral experience to words that translate well to fans. You are not doing this- I feel no connection to you- or the car you describe. The only thing that came close thus far was the Evo down hill race- I felt like I saw real personality there. Switching from the contrived "Son of a (Blank)" when keys were tossed on the ground (lame) to later on- a real "SON OF A BITCH"

I will keep watching because it can only get better. Not to mention there is a ton of potential there!

Long Time no talk!?

Sorry for the time lapse. I was busy with so many other things in life that I had stopped posting. I was moved today to write again simply based on the new proposal to cut the MASSIVE deficit.
I guess cutting Social security, raising the age, taxing gas MORE and all the other great ideas have nothing to do with the TYPICAL left wing BS that takes place. EVERYONE on the right side saw this coming.
So lets review:
1) Obama takes office and starts spending- spending faster and more than any other president- only seconded by Bush.
2) He promises no tax increases on the lower or middle class
3) He spends so much that he does not know how to reduce the deficit so he decides to start cutting programs and things that people rely on.

WHAT THE HELL? Why would they not do some of the following:
CUT SPENDING
PULL OUT OF IRAQ FOR REAL- not to mention Afghanistan
Get rid of any and all ear marks.
Repeal the health care bill- it is obvious we cannot afford it now that we have to take money away from fixed income old people!

Instead of cutting programs or cutting anything associated with GOVERNMENT SPENDING (which is the root of the problem) we get a list of shit we either already pay for or already are taxed on that they want to INCREASE OR DECREASE depending on how best it can get them MORE DAMN MONEY.
YOU HAVE ENOUGH OF OUR DAMN MONEY!!!! Stop trying to get more and make due with what you have!

To be a dad

To be a dad is not being afraid to pick up your vomit soaked son in the middle of the night and rush him to the bathroom so he can hug the toilet and throw up more.
To be a dad is to get hit in the face with a pillow when you least expect it, just so your 3 year old will laugh.
To be a dad is to go that extra mile and get your 3 year old the band aid with Ernie on it, even when he has no boo boo.
To be a dad is to teach your son that the mouse trap can hurt- and NOT to touch it- then to show your son that same mouse trap day after day as if it is new just because he asks.
To be a dad is to show your son your pistol and to explain that is is never to be touched, EVER.
To be a dad is to run beside your son when he tears off down the street in his power wheel- preventing him from turning into traffic.
To be a dad is the best thing ever. To be a dad fills that gap in your life that you did not know existed.
To be a dad makes me happy.

oops

Well it would appear that sprinkler systems and large metal stakes to hold down a moonbounce do not get along. I am waiting for the damage as the poor guy walks around, digs around, futzes around with my sprinkler system to fix the damage that was caused by a mixture of things. Some my fault- others I am not so sure. Let see what the damage is (to my wallet).
I am sure I posted before about my hatred of grass- if not- news flash- GRASS IS STUPID.
We surround our houses with grass for what? So we have something to .....(just interrupted with the bill- $80- not horrible but a lot to pay for a stupid stake). Anyway- I forgot my rant.
Damn grass.
Have a nice weekend.

Good video

Since this came out of VA and it is so important to normal people I thought anyone should read this. It disagrees with what I always thought so since I learned something- maybe you will too!

Why no humor?

So it seems to me this entire blog thing is only any good if it is funny. No one wants to read crap that I bitch about. So I guess I am going to change direction and really only put amusing things up here so maybe people will read it.
What is up with wacked our phrases that I have to enter on websites so they can make sure I am not an automated response. Is it so bad on the internet that we have to challenge the brains of the humans we created it for? I just responded to my wife's block and I had to type in Itidm. WTF is Itidm? Well I will never know because it was WRONG! I had to then type in Pydtmf. I really have no idea what that is either but I did it right and I was given the privilege to post on her blog.
How is it it can be that hard for me to post but I get 150 spam emails a day?
I think Windows is a nice OS. Granted - it has issues but when it comes to functionality and ease of use I have to give the gold star to windows.
Linux and Unix are fine for stability- and even function- but NOT ease of use.
Mac- too closed for me- open up and sell just your OS Apple and I will give it a shot.
Why is it I have .3 acres and when my son rides his power wheel he will find the two piles of dog shit that exist on that .3 acres? Then why is it that dog shit sticks like glue to power wheel tires?
As I blog I am listening to a con call, responding to email, fixing files I broke and the TV is playing in the other room. Am I multi-tasking or am I just ADD?
I go with ADD based on the way this is flowing.
Is it offensive to gay people if I call something so obviously gay, gay in front of a gay? I think I met my gay word quota on that sentence.
Why can I not spell? I went through 12 years of school and then 5 years of college and I can spell no better than a 4th grader. Probably worse. I think I drank away that portion of my brain.
How mean is too mean to an asshole?
Oh well. That is enough for now. I promise to try and be funny in text. I have my challenges!

Ahhh Grilling

So I was talking to a friend and it turns out he is interested in learning how to grill. Grilling and barbecue are two different things. He asked if I had any or knew of any books to help him. I of course do have some I could loan him- and of course I will if he wants them. My issue is that I love grilling so much that I would prefer to show him what I have learned. For me it would be fun to either provide assistance in learning or to run a class from my house. From picking out the equipment needed all the way up to pork, beef, chicken, vegetables, starch and the use of aluminum foil. So all those that are close in proximity to me I would be happy to help either teach you at my house or come to your house and run several live demos. Of course the best way to learn is by doing. So if I am teaching you that means I do nothing by advise and step in if you ask me to.
I have spent the last 15 or so years perfecting my grilling techniques. I have my own preferences and bias but overall my results speak for themselves. I would be happy to pass those results on to you.
Benefits from grilling are:
1) Awesome tasting food
2) lower fat food in some instances (cook with less oil or fat for lubrication)
3) less clean up if you do things the true outdoors way
4) enjoyment of nature while cooking
5) easier to prepare larger quantities of food in less amounts of time
This is just to name a few. So- for those interested- lets set up some time and a course schedule and get started!

In the Minority- get used to it!

So it would seem that my way of thinking is truly and completely in the minority. I guess I am OK with it. For a long time it seemed as if America was truly conservative. It now seems that the country has changed direction. I have felt this way before. In college. I remember the Clinton years- where he acted like a true scumbag. Being a government major I was in classes where things had to be discussed. I remember being the ONLY person in the class to cry foul and disgust at the way Clinton acted. I remember people saying how he was just being persecuted by right wingers. I felt like I was trying to argue with idiots or crazy people. I now know that I was- and what a mistake it was. The simple fact is this. A majority of the population voted in a crazy left wing agenda. That must mean that he majority wants that sort of agenda. We cannot assume that since right wingers were in office for so long and did so much that the American public was right then and wrong now. Right and wrong are subjective in this case by the way. In short- the American public has no idea what it wants. We vote based on knee jerk emotion. Whoever can manipulate those emotions, wins. I doubt a large portion of the population agrees with what Obama is doing 100%. I think far less actually like the job he is doing. I guess I am blathering on that- true conservative thought has gone the way of the dinosaur. I now understand what it feels like to not have a voice. So I will no longer try and convince idealists that I am right (or that I think I am right). I will sit back and watch idealism try and fix the world. Realism can take a back seat for a while- lets see what trying to change the world gets us. So far it is 10% unemployment- and rising.
Strange how idealism gets us higher unemployment and not lower. I would really think that it would be the other way around- IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A JOB- HERE HAVE ONE. I guess that only works for people who want to work.
I wonder- if the world ever got "fixed" would we still have arguments about the right way to fix it? If there was no unemployment, people made good money and the stock market worked fine. If you could get a loan and there was no war. Could we be smart enough to look back and understand who made it utopia for us? I doubt it. We would find something else to argue about- because we are people and we like to argue. We would argue that there is too much good weather- we need more crappy weather. We would argue that our electric cars just do not have enough umpf to get up to 150mph on a race track. We would argue that with no war we have no innovation and with no innovation comes stagnation. We would argue that no one has time to relax because we are all too busy working. We would argue that we have gotten soft and are ripe for other countries in the world to take us over- until we got taken over. Then there would be no more arguing. Utopia cannot exist unless the entire world feels the same. Utopia could not even exist in the beginning with God involved- we spit in his face too. So does it make sense to try and get there? Why not- we have such short memories that we will forget we have utopia 5 minutes after we have it anyway.....

Socks- thats right- socks.

So what the hell is up with socks. I am a dude and I have sweaty feet. I am sorry to be blunt but by the end of the day my feet are swimming in man foot sweat. I am not happy about it- but at the very least they do not smell. It is simple hot foot syndrome. So last year I found a great shoe- Asics- gel shoes. They look like hell but they feel great. They also breath really well. So I can actually feel air moving through the shoe cooling my sweaty feet. So now what I have found is that my socks are the real problem. I cannot find simple low rise white athletic socks that will keep my feet cool. I bought expensive socks with my latest pair of shoes- nike socks. Well this was a massive mistake. The only thing worse than cheap white socks that make my feet sweat, are expensive white socks that make my feet sweat AND SMELL. Last night I was trying these Nike socks for the 4th time- after first wash. I took my socks off at the end of the day and I could not stand the smell of my own feet- if I could run away from them I would have. How the hell can I run away from my own feet?
So I have wasted good money on crappy nike wic comfort athletic socks. WORTHLESS.
Can someone please direct me to a pair of simple cotton socks that are thin enough to let my feet breath? Nothing too hard?
Maybe I just shop in the wrong places.....