The Rainier and Colder the Better...

Hopefully it pours down rain tomorrow and is cold all day long... Statistics show that Democrats do not like to venture to the polls in inclement weather...



Statistics that have a track record, like the one above, I can live with... These polls however are a different story... So many are within the margin of error and I am beginning to question the 'correctness' of them anyway, we'll see how that works out...

Oh, and if you are planning to vote Democrat you no longer even have to go to the polls. The Democratic National Convention this year has rolled out a new program where they will be sending mobile polls to your place of residence... They will give you a ballot and allow you to then vote in the safety and comfort of your home... It sounds like a pretty sweet deal, I hope the Republicans soon follow suit... The best part is you don't have to even notify anyone, they will just show up... This year, since it's the first year, they will also be giving out $50 gift cards to the store of your choice... Sweet deal! So I'll be slogging to the polls in the rain, and if you are planning to vote Democrat you don't even have to leave your house??? I hope the Republicans catch up with the superior Democrats by the 2008 election...

Republicans Are Out...

That's what anyone would think anyway reading the headlines: NYT "G.O.P. Glum as It Struggles to Hold Congress" and Newsweek "GOP Looking for a Lifeboat" are just two of the many... Republicans give up on House, focus on trying to maintain the Senate, on and on it goes...

I would offer though, that many of the polls I look at are within the margin of error... Does that not mean it's a tossup?? Why yes, it does! How scientific are polls these days anyway? Over half of the people I know do not even have land lines anymore, they only have cell phones, so they are never polled, yet they all vote. I would dare say many people under say 35 only have cell phones these days, so they all are not included in any of the polling, so is the polling data even relevant? I've saved a lot of these polls coming down the backstretch and I'll compare them to the actual results and we'll see just how correct the polls were in general.

I think there are basically three crowds of people though that will be voting:

1.) People who hate Bush so much that they are voting Democrat and could care less what the consequences would be (or idiots as I call them)
2.) People who love Bush and will vote Republican no matter what
3.) People (like myself) who disagree with how the Republicans have used their power over the past six years, but realize what a disaster it would be for the Democrats to take control

I do think there will be a high turnout for this midterm election, it will be interesting to see how high it is...

One thing that does irritate me, is the "phone calls" from candidates and you answer the phone and its: "Hi, this is Bob, I'm running for whatever, I would really appreciate your vote." Huh?? Don't call me at night just so I can listen to a recorded message... I actually started to put together a list of the people who did call me, I've had 12 so far, and was going to vote for whoever was running against them... Then I scrapped that idea because I'm voting all Republican because I think the Democrats winning anything would be disastrous... We'll see what happens, I'll be glued to the TV Tuesday evening and all day Wednesday... (I'm taking the day off Wednesday just so I can watch the potential circus unfold)...

42%...

There is that number yet again, confirming what some of us have known all along... According to a recent Harris Poll, 42% of Americans are not completely sure whether or not there is a God...

Which could explain I guess why nearly half of Americans vote Democratic... If people are not sure there is even a God, then it would explain why they could care less about some of the issues pointed out by Daniel's recent post: Vote Nov. 7 & Vote RED!

It's astounding reading some people's opinions on the topic of whether or not there is a God, but this one takes the cake I think: There is no God...

Unconditional Love...

That's what God gives us... That's what I give my children... I heard President Bush talk with Sean Hannity about that, and I thought, my parents gave me 'conditional love'... I prefer unconditional love myself... That is what I will give my children, no matter what, unconditional love...

Zero Tolerance...

So normally we would be out right now going from house to house, getting candy... We decided not to this year because we now feel that it is the Devil's holiday and we as people who believe in God and His Holy Word should not only not participate, but we should shun the holiday altogether. My kids still tonight feel the same way:


So they decided to play with cars and trucks instead! I commend my children for listening to me read them the evidence as to why we should not participate in the holiday in any way, shape or form, but for also not succumbing to the worldly vision and hounding me about why they cannot dress up and participate like all the other kids... It was actually their decision not to btw...

They are as I write this having a great time upstairs playing. Luckily no one has knocked on the door requesting candy, because I'm not sure what I would have done. We did not buy candy to pass out, I guess I would have done what my kids have done and told them that it is the Devil's holiday, and we don't think we as believers in God should participate... Then maybe I would ask if anyone had any questions... Maybe have the chance to witness.

I Love This Guy...

Not only is Senator Kerry stupid enough to insult our troops in harms way a week before the election, but he then goes on a tirade in a hastily called press conference and not only inserts a shoe in his mouth, but both shoes and a dozen other things... Thank you Senator Kerry!!

I'll bet you money that right now, Theresa is beating him about the head telling him to keep his mouth shut... Here is a man who thinks that he has a shot at 2008? Laughable!

This train has left the station... The politics have been nasty. The main stream media has done everything in their power to ensure a Democratic win. It's all about the hatred of President Bush by these wackos, and I can't believe that they stand on the threshold of regaining power... Are people that stupid? Yes, they are!

Luckily the junior Senator from Massachusetts is an idiot! Not saying that it will sway the election, but it will drive out some of the Republican base that prior to his idiotic rants would have stayed home!

A Democratic congressman said this: "I guess Kerry wasn't content blowing 2004, now he wants to blow 2006, too."

I hope that is what happens...

The Devil's Holiday...

That's what my kids call it... After we had decided to not participate in any way, shape or form, I had wondered how my kids would react as it drew nearer... Actually I'm amazed that I've not had a call from the school or an attorney yet, as my kids go to school and tell their friends that it is the Devil's holiday, and they ask them why they participate... I just called them all down to my office, and we had a little talk, because I know that tomorrow they will get it from all sides... They are unanimous still, they do not want to participate in "the Devil's holiday"! Kudos to them! So we will just hang out at home, I'm sure I'll tell them some stories, the Judgement Seat of Christ came up this evening while we were talking, maybe I'll tell them that one...

Organization...

So up to the attic I went in search of all of my photos... I can't find them!!! I found a few, of course there are dozens of boxes up there that have not been opened since we moved in, all with rather cryptic scrawlings on them: kitchen, living room, contents from sideboard, contents from hall closet, etc, etc... Who knows what was in the sideboard or the hall closet almost six years ago??? So now I have a new chore, organize the attic... Ack!! (that was for you again Andrea :)

I did manage to find two photos though of when Andrea lived with me in Columbus, OH... The photos are of Matthew's 1st birthday party...

Andrea and Matthew

Timberly, Andrea, Timothy and Matthew

Now I am on a mission to find the rest of my photos... I'll let you know how that works out! I've got so many, and it irritates me that I can't find them!!

Congratulations though to Adam and Andrea!!! I wish I could have found more photos to post...

Mr & Mrs Adam and Andrea Van Meter

Okay, I shamelessly stole this off of Andrea's blog... I wish them a long and happy life!!!

The Van Meter reception is January 27th, not sure where yet, but I guess Andrea Van Meter (I like the sound of that :) will let us know!!

Here's a fact some may not know, Timberly, Andrea and I used to live together in a townhouse in Columbus, OH... Timberly used to work in the mornings, so I would watch Andrea during the day while Timberly was at work... Using the term 'watch' loosely of course... :) I'll dig up some pics and post them later... I think they are in the attic... So I would drag Andrea around town with me while I ran errands, etc.... Of course I did not literally 'drag' her, but she obviously had to come with me... I remember one Christmas, I did not even decorate until a few days before Christmas, then I started feeling guilty and luckily a friend of mine, not sure if Andrea remembers or not, but Brock's mom owned a company that decorated people's houses for Christmas, so he came over and we all put a tree up and decorated the place... Memories... Funny!

Congratulations to the newlyweds!!!

Christ Like...

So how many people do you know who are? How many people do you know who strive to act as Christ did? Christians... They almost nauseate me to tell you the truth... I'll admit that I have not regularly attended church for over 22 years... Every church I ever went to though, people got so worked up over the most ridiculous of issues... I've attended a LOT of them though, so I CAN speak from experience, and not just one church... I'd list the churches, but it's not my intention to 'create divide', just awareness of the issue...

I was listening to Bill Maher on The O'Reilly Factor, Bill had him on after CBS would not let him talk about religion on the Katie Couric 'Free Speech Segment' that she does... (No wonder she is so far down in the ratings) Maher declined to participate though when he realized that it wouldn't actually be 'free speech'... Bill O'Reilly however, did let him have free speech... (Side note: people who detest O'Reilly are morons, he allows everyone to speak freely on his show, the main stream media however does not, the people who are the most pissed off are the ones who are just now realizing that they no longer have a 'lock' on telling all of Americans what the 'news' is, and they can no longer spin it the way they want... ANYONE you hear screaming about O'Reilly, or any of the other people on cable news shows that don't censor or spin the news to the liberal left leaning, are likely people who hate America and want the news spun to their benefit)

Back to Maher though, you can go read the transcript on Fox News if you want, but Bill Maher said this, "Jesus as a philosopher is wonderful. There's no greater role model, in my view, than Jesus Christ. It's just a shame that most of the people who follow him and call themselves Christians act nothing like him."

Could not agree with him more, and I agree with very little Maher has to say... So called 'Christians' give Jesus Christ a bad name... I've never met a person who claimed to be a Christian that gave Jesus a 'good' name... 'Christians' pick and choose issues to believe in, I call it selective sinning... If 'Christians' disagree, they just ignore it, it's nauseating...

What these so called 'Christians' do not realize is how much influence they have on so many people... I disagree with virtually everything Maher has to say or do, but I get from his comments that if he actually saw a Christian who was trying to be Christ like, he likely could be turned to Christ... It's sad really how many people claim to be 'Christians', yet are likely not... I'll bet there will be many surprised people when we all stand at the Judgement Seat of Christ, and God says, 'I never knew you'...

Web 1.0 vs. Web 2.0...

So, you think you know the difference between the two? Go ahead and take a stab at it... I was trying to explain it to someone today, and gave up...

I'll clue you in later, unless someone gets it right! :)

A Fence - Huh???

So we are going to build a 700 mile fence on the Southern border? Ummm... Isn't the border 1,951 miles long? So what is the purpose of the fence then? Of course the bill (or law now) provides no money to actually build the fence, so that means it will likely never even get built, no? Kind of reminds me of a cartoon I saw a few days ago...

Eureka!!!

We finally have not only proof, but a solid number! According to a recent Gallup poll, 42% of Americans are absolute, utter morons... So at least we now not only have proof, but we have a number to start from... 42% of Americans are so insanely stupid, they think that President George W. Bush himself (with help from the vast right wing of the Republican party) is the reason that the price of gas has gone down in recent weeks...

Can you even make this up?? Not on a good day!

So now you can take the other 56%, and it goes slowly up in varying degrees of stupidity from there... "Huh?" you might say, "What about the other 2%?"... Well the other 2% includes myself and the very miniscule amount of other people whom I don't consider to be morons...

Technorati, etc...

So I spent a week trying to get Technorati to actually say when my blog was updated, rather than 'Updated 352 days ago'... Of course I didn't literally spend the whole week doing that, but did attempt a few times each day... Anyway, I FINALLY got it working...

I've realized that I have not kept up with some of the Internet technologies like I would have liked to, and now I'm paying for it... I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I love new technology... Of course working in IT, I guess that's a good thing, it would suck if I didn't like it...

Just simple things though, that you would think I would know by now, I don't... :( I can barely even make changes to my blog, although I'm starting to just experiment more, I need to start another blog for nothing more than to just try different things out... Luckily I'm a quick learner, you meet some people who can still barely even turn their computers on and create a simple spreadsheet or other Office document, and it's like, "You know, maybe you should persue something else..."

Another topic that has always interested me is the markets... Not just stocks, but futures, commodities, hedge funds, all of it! I used to daytrade a few years ago when that was the 'thing' to do, and have decided to start paying more attention to that interest of mine, although I'll trade on paper this time first... :) I did start a blog about it... Should be easy to find... :)

I do subscribe to a few investing magazines (I use my Delta SkyMiles :) but the last subscription I had to Barron's, I never even looked at a single issue of it... I guess I'm just too used to getting my info online... By the time Barron's land's at the end of the driveway, as far as I'm concerned it's old news... We'll see how the whole investing thing goes again... Should be fun anyway! :)

Privacy??

Are there people who still think it exists?? Try this site out:

Abika...

Trace e-mails back to their source, run background checks, IM names and even chats in some cases, anything you have ever bought online, etc, etc, etc...

Not so fast to the "that's why I don't go online" person... Trust me, they know just as much about you... Ever used a credit card? Do you have a bank account? Social Security number? Birth certificate? Court records of any kind? Then they know about you as well...

The only way to have privacy in this day and age is to "go off the grid"... People who have not already realized that are past the point of no return... :)

Brilliant or Stupid?

I'm leaning on the side of brilliant currently... I read about him in the USA Today this morning on my way to work (yes, I read the paper every day from front to back during my brutal commute to the office :)...

His blog here...

USA Today article...

Just from browsing a little through his blog it seems that he very likely will not only get out of the situation he is in, but will likely profit from it as well...

Tick-tock, tick-tock...

Just as in the past several elections, it's going to be a very small percentage of the voters that actually determine the election results...



Kind of a disturbing thought though to think that Pelosi could possibly be third in line to the Presidency... It's also kind of interesting how they try to keep her out of the spotlight as much as possible, if the average American knew what kind of a person she is, they would likely all run to the polls and vote the opposite...

The Heretic...

Walking across a bridge one day, one man saw another man standing on the edge, about to jump off.

So the first man ran over and said, "Stop! Don't do it!"

"Why shouldn't I?" the second man said.

The first man said, "Well, there's so much to live for!"

"Like what?" the suicidal man said said.

"Well, are you religious or atheist?"

"Religious."

"Me too! Are you Christian or Buddhist?"

"Christian."

"Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?"

"Protestant."

"Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?"

"Baptist!"

"Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?

"Baptist Church of God!"

"Me too! Are you Original Baptist Church of God or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?"

"Reformed Baptist Church of God!"

"Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915?"

"Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915!"

The first man said "Die, heretic scum!" and pushed him off.

Honest Mistake...

Hillary Clinton and her driver were cruising along a country road one evening when an old cow loomed in front of the car. The driver tried to avoid it but couldn't - the old cow was killed.

Hillary told her driver to go up to the farmhouse and explain to the owners what happened. She stayed in the car making phone calls to lobbyists.

About an hour later, the driver staggered back to the car with his clothes in disarray. He was holding a half empty bottle of expensive wine in one hand, an expensive Cuban cigar in the other and was smiling happily, smeared with lipstick.

"What happened?" asked Hillary.

"Well," the driver replied, "the farmer gave me the cigar, his wife gave me the wine, and their beautiful twin daughters both flowered me with kisses."

"My God, what did you tell them?" asked Hillary.

The driver replied: "I said, I'm Hillary Clinton's driver, and I just killed the old cow."

Ack...

That was for you Andrea... :) I really needed to go to work early tomorrow, and had stated that on Daniel's blog... One of my kids though has come down with a fever, so that went out the window... My wife is going to school now and has a test tomorrow, so I don't even have to go to work now... So I guess I'm home alone with Taylor tomorrow... The only reason I even posted this is because I hear all these people I work with talking about "I can't do that because I have a meeting" or "I don't know that I'll make it because I have to work"... With me, it's family first, all of the rest after... Taylor is sick with a fever, the rest can wait, period...If anyone doesn't like it, fire me...