Super Bowl Commercials...

Many people are more interested in the Super Bowl commercials than they are in the game itself. Companies spend millions making the commercials and then millions more for the time slots available during the event. This year, rather than spend a million+ dollars having an ad agency create the commercial for Doritos, they decided to let normal people such as you and I create commercials, submit them, and then let the people vote on which one would be aired during the game:

Contest Here...

Of course the contest is closed, 5 finalists won $10,000 each and a trip to Super Bowl XLI... So not only did they save nearly a million dollars, but they likely have started the ad agencies secretly wondering how much longer they will be able to charge their million dollar plus fees to create the commercials not only for the Super Bowl, but for anything, when the public is more than willing to do it for a fraction of the cost...

Speaking of the Super Bowl, I RARELY watch the game, because frankly, I could care less... I realize I'm in the minority, but still have zero interest... My next door neighbor called me a few days ago and asked what I was doing Sunday, not thinking clearly, I said "Nothing really, why?" So now I guess I'm actually going to be watching the game next door... Joy, joy, joy!

Postsecret...

Another one from Postsecret; I just thought, "How true!"

What Was I Thinking???

Well, obviously I wasn't... Practically the moment I got home from work, Tanner INSISTED I put the drums together right away...

I wasn't aware SO much assembly was required...

There were literally about a gazillion pieces...

Tanner was THRILLED though once they were complete...

The drums are currently right across the hall from my office, so they'll be relocated to the top floor and the opposite end of the house FIRST thing tomorrow! As I'm typing now, the drums are banging and the electric guitar is blaring at what HAS to be the highest volume setting... I'm thinking of soundproofing a room now, and officially christening it the music room!! The relocating of the instruments, now that I think about it, which is hard at the moment, might be happening in a few minutes... :)

Music...

My kids LOVE music, and I am happy!! I do too...



We'll see how it works out, I'll help them in any way I can...

Busy...

I laugh when people tell me they are busy... I know some people are, but how about doing a little planning? So like I said, I just laugh...

For starters, if anyone is truly 'busy', they should have something going on... No? What are you 'busy' doing? I talk to people at work, and it's not because I have to, it's because I get people who insist on talking when I'm trying to get a freaking cup of coffee at work... They go on about how busy they are, and I politely listen, and then excuse myself as quickly as possible... Busy?? Whatever... I doubt there are many Americans who are busy...

Throw me an 'excuse' if you think you are... I have kids, I have a job, I spend more time remodeling my home than likely most Americans, so if you "THINK" you are busy, tell me why!

No one in America is 'busy'... Or very few I should say... The morons who tell me they are busy that have kids, which they should not by the way, astound me the most... MOST of them shouldn't be allowed to procreate, yet they do... If you can't handle your kids, and support them, then DON'T have them!!!

Whatever you do though, DON'T tell me you are busy!

Incompetence...

Or is it just stupidity? Possibly laziness or a drug induced stupor, hard to tell... I'm not often astounded by it, because I realize that the vast majority of Americans are complete morons, not just morons, but lazy, uneducated and frankly, most just don't give a shit. Today I was astounded though...

My kids are starting to express a huge interest in music, so I finally decided to break down and actually buy them some musical instruments. Chance and Taylor wanted electric guitars and Tanner wanted a drum set... Off to the music store I went today. I found a great deal on the electric guitars, but drums are expensive (who knew)... So I decided to get the guitars, but shop around more for the drums. I knew that my kids were waiting with GREAT anticipation to get these instruments, so I thought, I'll just get Tanner some drumsticks, and tell him I'm still looking for the drums so he would be okay with it... So at the back of the store, there were tons of drumsticks, and signs everywhere saying: 'pair of drumsticks - $1.99"... I grabbed a pair and headed to the checkout...

I get to the checkout, this kid with blond hair falling all over his face checks me out... He goes to scan the drumsticks, there is no barcode... He goes to look it up on the computer and tells me, "It's $4.99"... I say, "All the signs said $1.99"... He checks again and tells me, "Well, the computer still says it's $4.99, are you alright with that?"

After looking at him for several seconds in sheer disbelief, I responded, "No, I'm NOT 'alright with that' the signs all said $1.99"... That threw him into some parallel universe apparently...

It took nearly 20 minutes to complete the transaction... Mind boggling...

The kids were thrilled with the guitars though, and Tanner is expecting his drums tomorrow... :( I'll have to take a 'LONG' lunch tomorrow to go find him some...

Scientology...

I've often wondered why no one ever joked about this ridiculous concept, but then you even do the simplest of searches on it, and apparently the lawyers sue anyone who does... Well, if people can call the President a moron and spray paint the Capital steps, I'm sure my rights as a citizen of the USA allow me to call this space crap sheer lunacy... I guess though that some might start calling Tom Cruise Christ...

Article here...

He's risen to the 'top levels' and “Like Christ, he’s been criticised for his views. But future generations will realise he was right.” the article claims... It's so funny, you can hardly make it up... Speaking of the "levels"...

Site Here...

It's funny reading it, but do people REALLY believe it? Does Tom Cruise REALLY believe it? I find it hard to believe that anyone would, but they must... It is kind of interesting to read the various documents though, but then I think to myself: "Hmmm... People have an issue with Creation, but they don't have an issue with Xenu, various galaxies, thetans, etc???"

Wow!!

Hope Church 10/17

Seems like I had said earlier that I would send a DVD of the music at the church we are going to, I didn't (obviously), but I found a clip of some of it on YouTube, so here it is... The audio is MUCH better at the actual service though... :)

College...

So my oldest son, Chance, came up to me today and asked me: "Dad, why didn't you go to college?"... LOL! So I proceeded to tell him, "Well, son, I did go to college... Multiple times..."

Funny! Or at least I found it humorous! I actually DID go to college, I went to Pensacola Christian College in the beginning, and after a semester and a half, left... When I left, the dean actually came to the hotel room I had gone to and begged me to come back, I didn't. A few years later I decided to give it another go and went to Columbus State Community College and Ohio State, signed up for both, but then thought better of it after listening to a few of the professors. Then a few years later I signed up to go to the University of Tennessee, and actually went to a few classes, walked out of most of them because the professors were so ignorant. The funny thing is, I signed up to go to UT THREE times! Each time I walked out of each class thinking to myself, who ARE these fools!

So no, I never went to college, or at least never finished college, I went plenty of times. I think the vast majority of professors are there because it is a safe haven for their liberal rhetoric, and they simply try to brainwash the kids and push their left wing agenda... I also don't buy into the whole graduate from high school, go to college, get a job, work till you're 65 or 70, then retire and if you didn't save enough for retirement, the government will take care of you, but you might have to take a part time job at WalMart or McDonalds to make ends meet, but we don't care mentality...

I'm more of the opinion, find out what you like to do and then find a way to make a living doing it, to hell with college unless you need it (such as becoming a doctor, etc)... The VAST majority of people who WORK, HATE their jobs! That should be a HUGE clue. It's not though, for most... I see SO many people go through life, hating their JOBS, barely making it, and hating life... What is that? Find out what you like to do, and do it!

Trying to teach that mentality to kids, particularly my own, is difficult at best! We'll see how that works out. If they want to go to college, I'll send them, no doubt. I don't sit around and bitch about college at all, I hardly ever talk about it except when asked, and I was asked tonight. So I answered honestly...

Barbaro...

I'm sure that anyone who knows me, knows my love of horse racing... They put Barbaro down... What a shame. His owner must have been a fool! This horse was so great, are you kidding me?!? I watched this horse win the Kentucky Derby last year, and he ran away with it like no horse has done since Secretariat! I did learn something new today, in order for a horse to be able to race, it can't be born via insemination... I was watching Imus this morning at the Intrepid Center:

Link Here...

I was thinking, if the servicemen and women who have limbs missing, could they not do the same thing for a horse? Why would you put to death a horse who could command $100,000 stud fees? If not more? You figure 100 stud fees a year, that's 10 million dollars a year... I don't own the horse, so whatever... The horse was a Great horse though!!

Record Day!

I didn't realize so many people wanted to see a few blurry pics of ice skating... :)

Adam and Andrea's Party, Ice Skating...

We went to Adam and Andrea's party to celebrate their wedding yesterday, it was great! I failed to take my camera, but Petra and Timberly took plenty of pictures, so hopefully they will post some... It was a great party actually! At functions such as these, we normally stay about 20 minutes, we stayed for 5+ hours... I met tons of people on Adams side of the family who were very nice! I think Adams Dad and Stepmom are adding us to their Christmas party invite list - woohoo!!! They know how to entertain! I'm going to be looking for the pictures people in a few days! Congratulations again to Adam and Andrea!

I had promised that I would take the kids ice skating yesterday (forgot about the party :), so we took them today, along with Nate, who is a fixture at our house... His parents work a lot, but we don't mind, the kids have a blast playing together, and when you are dealing with kids, 3, 4, 5... It doesn't really matter... The more the better as far as I'm concerned! Here are a few pics, most of them didn't turn out, I guess I need to read the freaking manual that came with my camera... I hate it now, the pictures I took at my sister-in-laws wedding didn't turn out so hot either... :( I guess there is a reason there are so many freaking buttons on the thing...

Tanner posing for a picture...

Taylor and I, I spent the hour and a half guiding Taylor around the rink, she picked up on it pretty good though and so I think a few more visits and she'll be whizzing around with the guys...

Taylor taking a break, while I go around the rink and make sure the guys are okay...

Chance resting for a minute...

Towards the end, I was thinking to myself, "Hmm... I've not fallen yet"... About 10 minutes later Taylor managed to trip me up and I slammed down on the ice, I think my ass will be sore for a week... We had a good time though...

It's Official!!

I, Matthew B. Goodling, am formally announcing today that I do not intend to swim across the Pacific Ocean. Sound ridiculous? Well, no more ridiculous than Senator Kerry announcing that he was not going to seek the Presidency in 2008 (which he has absolutely ZERO chance of ever winning). Not sure if anyone else saw that stupid dog and pony show that Kerry, Kennedy and Reid gave on the floor of the Senate, it sounded like Kennedy and Reid were performing a eulogy, and someone needs to tell Mr. Flip-Floppy that he DID NOT get 50% of the vote, rather 50% of the people voted against George Bush... Wow! Amazing that he doesn't realize it. I'll guarantee you though that the powers that be in the Democratic party pulled that fool to the side and laid down the law: "You WILL not embarrass us again, particularly now that we have a shot at winning the White House, so drop out!"

The 'Plan"...

So you can't listen to hardly any news outlet, office gossip, blog, or anyone or thing else without hearing that President Bush's 'new plan' for Iraq is stupid, pathetic and destined for failure... I'm not saying that it's not, but did you see the Senate today?? Those SAME people who constantly blast the President, without I might add coming up with any sort of plan of their own to counter his, gushed, and oohed and aahed over General Petraeus - IT'S HIS PLAN!!! Just goes to show that the people who continually blast the President are in a word, MORONS! They have no plan of their own, yet they 'support the troops', but they trash the President and ANYTHING he does, no matter the consequences! Well, the President's 'new plan' for Iraq that they have been trashing since he brought it up, is actually the plan of General Petraeus... I'm sure that won't get a lot of MSM coverage though... General Petraeus actually told the President that he would not take the job without 'the plan'... Go figure, it is sad though that the vast majority of the outspoken Democrats actually DO want us to fail over there, no matter the consequences, they do it sheerly for political gain! To hell with the consequences! They somehow think that they will be able to pick up the pieces two years from now, after they have humiliated President Bush (which is many of their sole purposes, they don't give a damn about legislation that might help, or winning the war), Americans elected these morons though...

I'm wondering how long we will be split between Republicans and Democrats? It's almost as if we are forced to choose sides, and our country is nearly split 50 - 50... While I guess I am a registered Republican, I can't stand a lot of the things the idiotic 'base' does, nor a lot of the decisions they make, but I also can't stand the alternative, so I vote Republican... Can't we have more parties? Are we destined to just have the two? I know there are the Independants, the Libertarians, etc, but none have been able to stand up against the main two parties yet... Hopefully one will...

You can pretty much sum up the two main parties this way:

Republicans: individualists and pro big business

Democrats: somewhat, if not mostly socialist and want broad government intervention

In a word, polarized! There are very few people left in the middle, although I think the reason for that is because it's one or the other, you have to choose, and so people do. Of course a big part of it has to do with the fact that a lot of good people won't run for politics, because they don't want their entire family viciously slandered on the global stage, so they don't run. The American populace has become so 'dumbed down' most can't even think for themselves if they had to... Which has a lot to do I might add with the socialist mentality the Democrats want to subject everyone to... The Republicans spend money like drunken sailors and in the last six years they were in power were unable to get much accomplished... Of course if you put a fat slob in charge of the House, what do you expect? Can you name one thing you can remember about Denny Hastert other than the fact that you can recall that it looked like he was going to have a heart attack at any moment? I can't... I'm sure that might have something to do with him being at the Capital buffet more often than his office, but can't prove it... The bottom line is, we aren't going to be able to do shit as a country as long as we are split 50 - 50... Can't there be gray areas?? Take gay marriage, who freaking cares? The Republicans. Drilling in Anwar? The Democrats. I could obviously go on and on, picking on the Republicans and the Democrats, I would say that the person who wants to win the White House in 2008 should reach out genuinely to both sides, and I'll bet he/she wins in a landslide... We'll see...

Monsters...

Do they exist? I tucked my kids in not long ago, and I've noticed for a while that Chance and Tanner always have pillows and blankets shoved around where the bed meets the wall... I asked Chance tonight why... He did not immediately tell me until I told him the story when I was his age...

We used to have trundle beds, and I always was on the one that got pulled out, I used to always fear that 'monsters' would somehow come through the 'crack' so I would always put pillows and blankets there to stop them...

After I told Chance and Tanner that story, they thought it was cool, so they admitted that they were in fact doing the same thing...

Funny! Kids are so funny it's amazing!

The State of the Union...

Not sure if anyone watched it, I always do though... It's stunning to see how many of the Democrats didn't clap, stand or anything when President Bush called for victory in Iraq... These people want us to lose for those that don't already know it. Yes, I do realize Iraq is a MESS! It can't be undone though, let the man have his last chance to attempt to fix it, if that's possible. Don't however, just be against us winning for political reasons and because of your hatred of President Bush, because that is what is going on right now... It sickens me.

Here is a picture of someone who wants to be our President during the speech:


What about Pelosi? I couldn't hardly concentrate on the speech because she was blinking like once every 2 seconds... She did do one thing though, she proved that she is running a tight ship, if she clapped, the Dems did, if she stood, the Dems did...

These people though could give two shits about you and I, they only care about regaining power...

I was listening to Boortz today while I was eating lunch and reading the USA Today, and he claims that everyone should have an 'escape plan' if these fools manage to destroy this country... Get out of debt, become liquid, and get ready to move... I'm almost with him, not quite yet though... Luckily I owe no one anything other than my mortgage, which I am working on paying off, so hopefully if necessary, I'll be able to take advantage of the 'escape plan' if necessary...

These morons though who are destroying our country for hatred of Bush and power should be stopped, but have you looked around lately at the people who are voting? Most of the people who vote these days shouldn't even be allowed to vote I think! I think that if you have to rely on the government for ANYTHING, you should not be allowed to vote. Maybe I should start a grass roots movement...

Tagged...

So I've been tagged by Andrea... I guess I'm supposed to list 6 weird things about myself, well after thinking about it, I couldn't think of anything... :) So I asked around...

1. I refuse to eat leftovers of any kind, if it's not fresh, I don't want it!

2. If I never had to leave my house, I'm not sure I would.

3. I hate eating lunch with other people, I would much prefer to just eat by myself and read the paper or a magazine. (Of course anyone reading this, if I've ever had lunch with you, I did quite enjoy it that time!)

4. If I like a song, or songs, I'll listen to them over and over and over again until everyone around is quite tired of them, but I keep listening to them anyway. :)

5. I'm the most cynical person in the world likely, yet most people I interact with would have no idea.

6. I save all paperwork for some reason, I have no idea why, but if you wanted to see the electric bill from June 1997, a Home Depot receipt for the nails I bought in November 2001 or the movie stub for when I went to see 'Born on the Fourth of July' in Japan in 1990 I could produce them for you in about 10 minutes... :)

Whew... That's done, now I guess I'm supposed to tag other people? Okay: Titus and Brittany

Birth Control...

An interesting topic for married people who claim to believe in God and the Bible... I've never used any form of it myself and I'm not 100% sure where I stand on the issue exactly, the topic came up not long ago though in conversation and I realized that I had never really thought about it... There are many forms of birth control: abstinence; coitus interruptus (likely the oldest method other than abstinence); condoms; diaphrams; sponges; etc... Sterilization works as well, although it's not 100% effective, but nearly... I guess I would have to say it depends on the reason why people would want to use birth control, and there are many: don't want children; want a career; financial considerations; don't have time for children; and I guess any number of other reasons.

Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

So God said to be fruitful and multiply, I don't guess he really said when though... I think the story that most people against birth control use is the story of Er and Onan, if you are not familiar with the story, it's in Genesis 38. The gist of it is that Er's father (Judah) chose Tamar to be Er's wife, God slew Er because he was wicked, Judah told Onan to marry his brothers wife and 'raise up seed', Onan didn't want to because he knew it wouldn't be his, so he "spilled his seed on the ground", God slew him for it... In that instance, the coitus interruptus method of birth control was used, but out of reasons of selfishness, so it really doesn't condemn birth control in all instances, only in that one...

Genesis 33:5 And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant.

Psalms 127:3-5 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

Just two examples talking about children, but they are all throughout the Bible, yet it really doesn't say NOT to use birth control...

I guess my take on it would be, who are we to question God's plans and try to in our own human minds "plan" when we should have children? I would say people that do it are not very close to God in the slightest, matter of fact, I would go so far as to say that they likely don't have ANY sort of a relationship with God. If we are close to God, then God knows when and how we can have children, He certainly would never give us more to handle than we are able to, and if people do if for financial reasons, then that means they have ZERO faith that God will provide their needs! So yeah, now that I have thought about it, I would say that just because God doesn't condemn it like he does some other sins, it is just as big of a sin because we are showing a complete lack of faith and trust in God that He knows better what is best for our lives rather than we ourselves do! So I guess I would have to say that if God had wanted us to practice birth control ourselves, He would have installed yes or no switches on our penises...

Taxes and Politics...

Taxes: It's that time of year, I hear people already in my little sea of cubicles bitching about the 'dreaded chore' of doing their taxes... Whenever I hear all the morons bitch and moan about it, I always think to myself, "What's the big deal?"... I file taxes like everyone else does, but I just did mine and it took me about an hour and a half... I always wonder though as I finish my taxes "Why does it take everyone else so long?"... I can't answer that question though... Are they all morons? Idiots? Or what? I don't know. I guess if you don't have all the documents you need you could spend a while looking for them, other than that, I can't imagine why it would take very long or why it would cause stress... I have a bin tagged 'IRS' and all through the year, when I get documents that I know I'll need for filing taxes, into the bin it goes... Tonight, I emptied the bin onto my desk, and like I said, it took about an hour or so... I won't even get into the ones who have to file for extensions, unless they owe money, but if you owe money, maybe you should rethink your withholding... Or if you are self employed, perhaps pay your taxes quarterly as you should... Who knows, all I know is that I likely have just as many deductions, etc as anyone else, and it's NOT complicated...

Politics: 2008... First time in 70 years that it has been an open field, and they are lining up for it... This is also probably the first time the race to the White House has started so early, it should be interesting... I'm looking forward to it! There are so many people throwing their hats in the ring, it should be fun. You have the media treating Obama like a rock star, why I'm not sure. It forced Hillary to jump in though, which was earlier than she wanted I think, but she had to, otherwise we would have heard about Obama all weekend, by her throwing in, she stopped that somewhat. Most of the fools throwing their hats in the ring though have zero chance. I almost think that of the ones who have either setup exploratory committees (which means they are running) or announced their intentions to run that even have a chance are Hillary and McCain... Of those two, I wonder if McCain can even get the Republican vote, and I say Hillary just might win... There is a lot of time to go, more people to throw their hats in the ring, it will be a long fight, and we'll hear about it 24/7... When it comes down to actually voting, Americans might be so sick of the 24/7 coverage for nearly 2 years, they just might send Hillary to the White House... It will be interesting, that's for sure...

Home, Sweet Home...

Finally back! I am always SO glad to get back home after going anywhere... I'd never leave my house if I didn't have to... :) Of course the drive back was miserable, it was raining the entire way back, I didn't bother telling anyone as we were driving back that half the time I could barely see at all (even with the windshield wipers on high and the defogger on)... :) We made it though.

Once we got home and unpacked, I asked everyone what we wanted to do for dinner. Chance said he wanted another ribeye (he's going to have to get over those ribeye's :); so we went to Longhorn and had dinner...

Back to school and work tomorrow... Possibly some more interesting blogs... :)

Knoxville...

So we decided to take the kids out of school today and go ahead and drive to Knoxville... I guess we got here about 2:00, of course the first thing the kids did was drag me to the pool... We swam for a bit, then had to get ready to go eat... We picked up Betty (Carolyn's friend) and headed to Litton's for dinner, Cory (who came up Wednesday) met us there... If you ever do go to Knoxville, Litton's has the best ribeye I've ever eaten anywhere, and I've eaten at places all over the country... We had a great dinner and then decided to head to Mynatt's to see Alfred (they had a viewing today apparently), we got to the funeral home and saw him, it's amazing how different people look after they 'fix' you up for the funeral... The kids were a little sad, so I explained to them that Grandad told us before he passed on that he did not want us to mourn, that he was ready to go... They understood, but there is still time for mourning and saying goodbye, that's what humans do... So now we are back at the hotel, and the kids are jumping up and down ready to head back to the pool... Ughh! I mean, I don't mind swimming, but haven't we already been today?? What can you do? I guess I could say no, but that wouldn't be any fun for them... :) So off I go to the pool... I can't post any pics until I get back home because I forgot my cable to transfer the pics to my PC...

The State of the Union...

I hate to say it, but the foundation is crumbling and the 'chinks in the armor' are increasing at an alarming rate... I think what astounds me the most is that the vast majority of Americans are oblivious (lacking active conscious knowledge or awareness) of that little fact. I can't speak for the environment everyone who reads my blog runs around in, but I can speak for mine. I live in a fairly large city, I work at a major global conglomerate, I interact with a LOT of people on a daily basis, I read every major news publication every week, so I think I can speak with a little bit of knowledge on this subject... The vast majority of people have ZERO clue what is going on in the world, or even in our own Nation for that matter... Everyone is too busy trying to 'get ahead', 'climb the ladder', 'stay ahead of the Joneses', etc to even be aware of how our Republic is crumbling at its very foundation! It hasn't fallen yet, but it is only a matter of time. History people, it always repeats itself. I find it astounding how many people you interact with who know virtually nothing about history, and it astounds me yet again. I see our elected officials doing what they do, and it makes me wonder why we are still the Superpower we are, it won't last long, trust me... I see the President capitulating to the left on issues that I think he must think if he gives in, they will go along with him on other things... Ummm... Memo to President Bush, these people HATE you and they will stop at nothing to destroy you... Take the Iraq war, we can argue about whether or not it was wise, we can't undo it, they are against anything Bush wants to do there, call it vulture politics, to hell with whatever happens, we are against whatever Bush proposes, we'll swoop in and pick up the pieces AFTER we have seen him fail miserably... They DO NOT care about our troops or the average American... It's astounding to me, I'm sure the founding fathers would be aghast at the state of our union, I am as well...

Presidential Material...

This is almost a joke! Has anyone ever even seen this idiot answer pointed questions? Well, here you go, the 'candidate' the MSM is salivating about...



It's comical actually... People actually think this moron is Presidential material?? He almost makes Bush's speaking skills look pretty good...

Alfred C. Gose...

1928 - 2007

George S. Patton returns to IMUS

Pretty funny, or at least I thought so... :)

The Iraq 'Plan'...

So I thought the 'speech' was fairly lame myself... For starters, Maliki will likely never attempt to go up against Sadr, matter-of-fact, when we send in more troops, it wouldn't surprise me if Maliki actually tells Sadr where we are going and what we are going to be doing so that Sadr can tell his militia to clear the area prior to our arriving... 20,000 more troops? If we are really going to be serious about this, then send in 200,000 or 300,000... 20,000 will do nothing in my opinion...

“The situation in Iraq is unacceptable to the American people, and it is unacceptable to me"

Umm, it's been unacceptable to a growing number of Americans for quite some time now, and I think to send in 20,000 more troops now is too little too late... Either send in enough to do the job and replace the weak leader Maliki with someone who will actually stand up and disband the militia's, or just stop...

I'll Take Bush, Thanks...

Broken Vows...

Well, well, well... A week in office and the Dems have already broken two vows they made to the American public:

1. That they would work across the aisle in a bipartisan fashion (they pretty much broke this vow the first day by not allowing the Republicans to have any say so or debate on any of the legislation)

2. They claimed they would work 5 days a week, well, that lasted one week... Monday, January 8th, 2007 - 'The House is not in session.' (From 'The Weekly Leader')

Now here you have them thinking they can micromanage the war in Iraq... Are they that freaking clueless?? I guess so... No one, other than the President, can say how this war is run... About the only thing the House can do is cut off funding for the war...

Now I realize that the vast majority of Americans are so stupid and clueless, that come 2008, they won't ever remember that the Democrats broke two of their promises in the first week that they were in control of the House, but I can guarantee you that if they withhold funding from the troops, most, if not all Americans will not only remember it, but likely could send their little party packing... Who knows, we'll see... I personally hope they break every promise they made during the run up to the mid-term elections...

Imperial Life in the Emerald City...

Looks like an interesting read, I'm going to order it I think...

"This revealing account of the postwar administration of Iraq, by a former Baghdad bureau chief for the Washington Post, focusses on life in the Green Zone, the American enclave in central Baghdad."

I'll let you know what I think of it...

How About This Kid?

He is 14 years old, will be the youngest to ever cross the Atlantic alone...



He spent six and a half weeks at sea alone, how many would even allow their kids to do that? I say more should...

Back to school after 6 weeks crossing the Atlantic alone

His web site...

Should Be An Interesting Year...

It's going to start off with a bang when Congress begins their first session...

First 100 hours...

It will be interesting to see how that turns out... I guess we'll start seeing how that works out in two days...

Race to the White House

It has begun in earnest... I see Edwards has already coined the phrase "The McCain Doctrine"... I'm sure 2008 will still be in large part about the war in Iraq... How about the "leak" of the Giuliani 2008 'battle plans'?

Rudy's '08 battle plans

Are you kidding me? IS anyone gullible enough to think that wasn't planned? Oh yeah, I keep forgetting how stupid the vast majority of Americans are... I say it is one of his more brilliant plans if he intends to win the White House, go ahead and get everything out there now that you will be blasted for by conservatives:

his private sector business; disgraced former aide Bernard Kerik; his third wife, Judith Nathan Giuliani; "social issues," on which is he is more liberal than most Republicans, and his former wife Donna Hanover

So while some may believe the whole leak thing, I think it was about the only thing he could do... Get it out now, so no one is surprised later...

How about the Saddam hanging? The 'initial' report claimed that there was total silence... Then out comes the cell phone video footage which shows the EXACT opposite, the guards jeering him, Saddam telling them that they were not men, etc... If you haven't seen the footage, but read the 'initial' report, what actually happened is QUITE different than what the 'official' report said... I'm SURE that will help in the region...

Now you have that moron Pat Robertson claiming that God told him that in 2007 there would be another attack which would affect millions:

Robertson Predicts 'Mass Killing'

If I had to guess, I would say that God probably doesn't tell him much of anything, if anything at all... He probably turns more people against God than most so-called 'Christian leaders' that are around today... Oh yeah, God also told him that storms and a tsunami would crash into America's coast in 2006, when a tsunami didn't hit, Robertson said that last springs heavy rains and flooding 'partly' fulfilled that predicition... What a complete idiot, I'm AMAZED that anyone still supports this fraud!

New Years Day...

Hope everyone is having a good 2007 thus far... We did what we normally do, go hit the sales and get our wrapping paper, ornaments, gift boxes and bags, and other necessities for next Christmas at 20 cents on the dollar... :) Lots of stuff out there this year, I can't believe people pay full price for all that stuff when you can get it for 75 - 80% off in January...

We are home alone for like the second time in 9 years... Chance and Tanner spent the night at Nate's house (the kid you probably didn't recognize in the New Year photo I posted) and Taylor is spending the night at our new neighbors house with her new friend... Funny that we have only had one other 'night alone' in 9 years...

I don't normally fill these out, but did... "Which Superhero are you?" is the topic:

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 55% Hulk 50% The Flash 50% Iron Man 50% Batman 45% Wonder Woman 45% Supergirl 40% Robin 40% Green Lantern 40% Catwoman 30% Superman 20%

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

Happy New Year!!!

Of course it's not the New Year yet... I can't remember the last time I actually did stay up past midnight... I must be getting old... :)



Hope everyone has a GREAT New Year though!! I'm about to go to bed while most are just getting started!! :)

I hope they have a great time!!

Postsecret...

I know I've posted about this before, but I liked this one, because it is so true...



Postsecret site...

Hope everyone is having a Happy New Years Eve!!! I've been finishing projects today, but have stopped now... :) We don't really have any plans though, we'll crack open a bottle of champagne later, but I can't remember the last time we stayed up until midnight... :)

Father and Son Day...

So we decided to have a father and son day (it was supposed to be a mother and daughter day as well, but Taylor decided to go with our new neighbor somewhere, so they are going to do that later)... Chance, Tanner and I went to see the movie "Blood Diamond"... Excellent film... Kind of graphic in a way, but I do not think we should shield our children from issues that are going on in the world, I think most do, but I don't... I think you should let your children know what is going on, teach them about it, and then tell your children that they should thank the Almighty God each and every day that they live in the United States of America... Maybe that will raise up people who will actually try to protect our Great Nation, rather than raise up people who have no clue, don't care, or are simply not interested and who continually try to destroy it...

We had a good time though, then I took them to U.S. Play, which is a bowling alley/video game/fun place... That's what Chance and Tanner call it actually, 'The Fun Place'... :) So we had fun there, then got a bite to eat and headed back to the house...

We don't have big plans for New Years Eve, of course we never do... I can't even remember the last time I was still up at midnight on New Years Eve... We always have a little 'family' toast though, and try to do something constructive...

I do hope everyone has a great New Years Eve and a fabulous New Year, we intend to...

A Look At One Of Our Allies...

Stephen Colbert - Palau

Here's a look at one of our "allies" in the war on terror...

Global Warming...

I was going to have some lengthy expose on this topic, but then came across this little piece that Neil Boortz wrote on it, and I think it pretty much says what I was going to say:

"It looks like global warming is quickly moving to front and center as the big story right now. Magazines, newspapers, movies, television ... all full of specials on the grave threat to all mankind posed by the horrible global warming that is consuming our planet even as we speak. I read one column over the weekend warning the Wall Street financiers of New York City to become really involved in the global warming menace because, after all, their precious Wall Street will be under water within 40 years if they don't.

Since the media is relentlessly harping on the global warming theme, we're going to go ahead at the Boortz show and do our homework. We'll read as much as the available material as we can get our hands on, and will make sure that we get information from scientists who actually work in this field and who do not work for the government. Those of you who listen to the show know that I'm skeptical of this whole global warming frenzy .. but I'll try to keep an open mind here.
In the meantime ... here are just a few little factoids for you to play around with, factoids that cause me to doubt that whatever global warming we're experiencing can be blamed on the actions of man.

1. The sun is hotter. Period. This fact cannot be denied. The sun is going through a lengthy period of increased activity that causes it to radiate more heat into space. Is it really that hard to believe that a hotter sun would lead to a hotter earth?
2. Our polar ice caps are melting? Sure looks like it. But .. the polar ice caps on Mars are melting also. So, are we to believe that this is caused by man on the Earth but by the hotter sun on Mars?
3. And while we're talking about ice caps melting, it's worth noting that the ice pack in the heart of Antarctica is actually getting thicker!
4. Scientific data clearly shows that the Earth has undergone warming and cooling cycles for millions of years. Why, all of a sudden, does a warming cycle just have to be caused by the actions of man?
5. Scientists who work on government grants are more inclined to blame global warming on the actions of man than are scientists who do not depend on continued government (political) funding.
6. And just how much warmer has our atmosphere become in the last 100 years? One degree. That's it. Just one degree.
7. Many of the people who are so involved in promoting the man-made global warming theme are people who are also involved in anti-capitalist movements. So, what is their true goal? Do they want to solve the global warming problem, or do they want to cripple the capitalist systems they so hate?
8. The U.S. Senate snubbed the Kyoto treaty by a vote of 99-0. This was during the Clinton years! What did these 99 senators know about the Kyoto Accords that we don't know?
9. Speaking of the Kyoto accords, they would severely impact the U.S. economy, but would leave China absolutely alone! China has one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Since a huge number of Kyoto proponents can also be called anti-American, could this cause you to wonder what the true goal of Kyoto is?
10. And just how many years ago was it that these very same scientists were warming us about the earth getting cooler?"

So that little piece saved me from writing it, now I just have to comment on it and add my own two cents... :)

I think all of the "global warming" fanatics are just that, fanatical, raving lunatics who hate capitalism so much, that they intend to use the whole "global warming" platform to destroy our country... We can start with Al Gore, this nut is SO pissed that Georgie "stole" the election, he has nothing else to do... According to this psycho, we have 9 years and 31 days left before the earth is a frying pan...

"The urge to save humanity is almost always only a false-face for the urge to rule it."
~ H.L. Mencken

The very idea that man could bring about climate change is so ludicrous you can hardly make it up... It's pretty simple really, the cyclical nature of the sun brings about cooler periods and warmer periods... We have VERY little data to sift through as it is, we have recorded temperatures since what? 1850? What about the supposed 'Medieval Warm Period' from 800-1300 AD? I think that most of the people who are 'Global Warming" fanatic psychos have an agenda...

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." ~ H. L. Mencken

There is virtually ZERO 'proof' that anything we do or have done has caused this whole 'Global Warming' thing... These idiot "scientists" and activists who promote the whole thing are just that, complete and utter idiots! The so-called "scientists" can't even figure out whether or not eggs are good or bad for us, salt, milk, fat, on and on it goes, these morons change their mind every few years about whether or not these things are good or bad for us, and most of the time they all agree... They can't even figure out whether or not eggs are good or bad for us and they have SO much data to sift through on that topic, and everyone is just going to blindly follow these fools when they have virtually NO data about what causes "Global Warming"???

I'll stick with the cyclical nature of the Sun...

What?

What do you want to hear about? Global warming? Iraq? The economy? Do you want me just to post family pictures? Of course I'll continue to post whatever I want, but I have something to say about all of those things... :) How about the stupidity of some Americans:

$200 Bill...

I know that happened a while ago, but still... I think I would be more interested in doing something with the moron who accepted it and gave change than the one who passed it off... Wow!

I think that the American people are becoming so stupid that there is little hope that we will remain a Superpower for much longer, I give it 20 years... When I went to lunch today, the computers were down and the people had to manually calculate my bill, it took 10 minutes... Stunning... I had a coupon over the weekend to buy a pack of cigarettes and get one free (yes, I still smoke), and the clerk fussed over it for 5 minutes, then said that will be 19 cents... I tried to explain to the clerk that it was 'buy one, get one', but she was so dumbfounded, I finally just gave her 19 cents... Was that wrong?? Who knows... I can't believe how stupid the average American has become, but it will surely be our downfall, of that, you can be certain...

Will...

Do you have a will? Did you know that 70% of Americans die without one? I know it's Christmas, but I'm sitting here listening to the Vince Gill album my wife bought me for Christmas, and I was thinking for some reason, who would I want to tend to my children if I died tomorrow... Well, I don't have a will, and that really got my brain cranking... So I decided to make a will. I have one now, thanks to the Internet! Whew! There are some people in my family who I would NOT want to raise my children! I DID ask, but went ahead and presumed they would say yes. I could NOT imagine my children being raised by some of my family... So thankfully that is done, I hope! :)

Merry Christmas Continued...

I'm not sure why it won't let me post more than 4 photos at once... :)

Cory and Jessica...

Joshua came over as well....

Carolyn got what she wanted as well!!

Merry Christmas All!!

I trust everyone had a fabulous day! We had a wonderful day, I woke up early thinking the kids would beat me to the punch, they didn't... :) I made coffee, started a fire, got ready, and they still were not up... Finally Taylor got up and I told her to go wake the boys up... So once everyone was up, we all emptied our stockings and then decided to tear into the presents... After we had opened a few presents, Uncle Joshua knocked on the door bearing gifts of his own... So we continued on with Joshua... Once all the gifts had been opened, we had as Chance calls it 'our Christmas feast'... It's kind of funny, because during the meal, Chance said, "This is just like Thanksgiving, I love it!"... He cracks me up with some of his comments... Later Cory and Jessica arrived with yet more gifts, so there was more eating, gifts, and socializing... A fabulous day was had by all... Here are a few pics of our day:

Tanner had a great day!

Taylor did as well!!

Chance has been wanting a watch for a while, he finally got one.... :)

Joshua got this for Carolyn and I... We loved it! It was great having Joshua over to celebrate Christmas!

The Stockings Were Hung...

By the chimney with care... Last step completed!! Taylor had told me before she went to sleep that she was going to sneak and see what we had put in her stocking, but they are all passed out, I'm sure I should go to bed though, because morning will come early!!

Christmas Eve...

I LOVE Christmas Eve... The kids are SO excited and it is a great time of year! We went to the service tonight at our church and my children were able to have their first communion, it was kind of funny, because I was trying to explain to them what was going on while the pastor was talking... Chance was worried about what he was supposed to do, I finally told him, just watch what everyone else is doing and do that... The way the church we are going to does communion, is they break bread, then everyone comes forward and takes a piece of the bread, dips it in the 'wine' and eats it... It all went smoothly, I explained to them what it was symbolic of, but I think I'll need to review that with them tomorrow when I tell them the Christmas Story before we open presents...

We always let the kids open a present on Christmas Eve, so here they are with the present they have chosen to open....

Tanner tearing into his present...

Taylor tearing into hers, Chance looking on... The picture I took of Chance opening his present was way too blurry... :)

Table is ready for, as Chance calls it, our Christmas Feast! He cracks me up...

I trust everyone is having a GREAT Christmas! Best wishes to all!! Merry Christmas!!!

The Curtains Cont'd...

Like I commented earlier, I'm not sure why I chose to actually start a new project two days before Christmas, but I hated those curtains so much, I did... :)

Yeah, I know, most people on Christmas Eve are busy doing other things... :) Not me however, I'm trying to get those two windows done.. I started back on them right after we got back from the Christmas Eve church service this evening...

Finally done, however, the middle piece that I did not think I needed, it turns out I do! :( Oh well, can't pick it up until Tuesday... Yes, I do realize that the curtains do not match the couch... That was also intentional, I HATE those couches... So now we have to get some to match the curtains... :) Carolyn insisted btw on being the one who had the honors of throwing the old curtains and rods in the garbage... I'm not sure why we EVER bought them in the first place... :)

Curtains...

If anyone saw those curtains I had up in a previous blog where I had a picture of our Christmas tree... I hated those curtains, so today I decided to do something about it... I tore them all down, went and bought replacements, and have spent all day getting ready to replace trim, etc... I'll post pics later... So I have pretty much spent all day painting trim, getting curtains etc (in between responding to Marci's ridiculous comments on a previous blog)... So hopefully I'll have them done tomorrow, we'll see... I think I'll have them done though... :) Hope everyone is having a very Merry Christmas season, we are!

Blogging...

There were so many things I was going to blog about tonight... Yet here I am, sitting here listening to 'Take it Easy' by Delbert McClinton again, I LOVE that song! I just put the kids to bed, plus the one who is sleeping over, Taylor is sleeping over at our new neighbors house with her new friend Sarah... I saw an article about how Atlanta is the 4th worst commute in the country, and that's the route I take every day, so I can vouch for that, it sucks... The Duke case irritates me, the DA I think just does not want to be made out to be a loser, and he is trying to save his career... Here's a memo for him: "You lost, get over it, the media is going to crucify you, have a nice life doing something else"... People scrambling to get their "Christmas" stuff done, it kills me... There was a poll on MSNBC detailing how many were done, etc... Everyone should do what we do... We buy ALL of our paper, lights, decorations, tape, etc in January for 10 cents on the dollar, and many times a lot less... We start buying gifts also in January, so when December rolls around all we have to do is ship, buy for the kids, and plan dinner... We're done btw, so all we have to do now is get ready for the, as Chance calls it, "The Christmas Feast"... He is so funny... That was something else I was going to blog about, I guess all parents reach the point where their kids are past the 'kids meal' menu when you go out to eat... I've reached that point... Ugghh! We all went out to Longhorn this evening, the kids all wanted what I was having, which just happened to be a ribeye... So I guess the days of the kids meals are over for me... I bought them all one, but learned a lesson, lets start off with 'splitting' an adult meal... NONE of them ate more than half of the meal (we had taken Nate who is spending the night)... So the next few times, it will be a ribeye and an extra plate... Live and learn... :) Hope everyone who is still scampering around trying to buy crap is getting it done... I'm going to listen to "Take it Easy" again... :) Merry Christmas to All!!!

A Different Perspective...

I think that if you really want to get a sense of what's going on in Iraq, you really can't listen to any of the news outlets, I don't think any of them report it very accurately... I did find a few interesting blogs though by Iraqi's...

IraqI RockeR...

This guy's "Ten Things I Hate and Twelve I Love About America" is kind of interesting...

24 Steps to Liberty...

There are actually quite a few Iraqi's who have blogs, it has been interesting to read some of their views on the war and on America...

Great Song!

Delbert McClinton - I've Got Dreams to Remember...

Check it out! You can listen to a 30 second bit of it on iTunes... :)

Family Yearbooks...

We had this idea for a gift for my wifes father about creating a book of photos, we ended up liking it so much, that we are going to do it every year... It was our first one, so it's a little crude, but now we are going to do one every year... We ended up sending them to a lot of people, and we of course ordered enough so our kids can each have one when they get older... It's kind of like a 'family yearbook', therefore the title to this post... :) Everyone we have heard from who has received it has loved it... If you want to check it out, here is the link...

Goodling Family Yearbook 2006...

Technology, you have to love it... :) I'm sure that in a year or so, we'll all be able to do this on our home PC's...

Christmas...

I LOVE this season!! The kids are SO excited you can't hardly make it up... Of course we always wrap presents and put them under the tree because the kids a few years ago saw me wrapping presents and wanted to know what was up, so they all know I am Santa and that Jesus is the REAL reason for the season... I find myself getting excited about waking up on Christmas morning and telling my children the story of Christmas and then sharing gifts... Quite exciting, particularly if you have children... I don't normally like shopping, but today I spent nearly 3 hours at the mall, which is a place I avoid like the plague, today it was exciting though... I hope that everyone is having a joyous holiday!! I also hope that everyone remembers the REAL reason that we celebrate this holiday!! Merry Christmas to all!!!

Pictures...

Most of the people who read my blog will not know these people (from Boyd's side of the family), but I am posting them for my siblings... I wouldn't have recognized these people if I had passed them on the street, but they are my uncles, aunts and a cousin... I still would like to know why we never interacted with these people growing up, but I guess I'll never know the answer to that little question...

This is Uncle Tom and Aunt Esther with one of their sons, Terry. I do actually know Tom and Esther, only because they made a point to get to know us. They went out of their way to come to our wedding, they have come to our house before, and now we e-mail... Very nice people... Funny thing about Terry is that when we first moved to Atlanta, Terry lived in the same subdivision that we lived in, yet we never knew it... We found out after we moved (Aunt Esther told me the other day that when she realized that we lived there, she went and knocked on the door, but we had already moved to the home we currently live in). I have been in contact with Terry recently via e-mail though, and another ironic thing is he does the same thing I do... Small world...

Uncle Ray and Aunt Tressa... They are the Uncle and Aunt I know the LEAST about... I didn't even know Ray's name, and had to ask Aunt Esther what it was sadly... Other than that, I know nothing about them, I hope to learn more about them in the future...

Uncle Paul and Aunt Marie... I do remember them from years and years ago, but I've not seen them in probably 25 years... I know they have three sons, I do remember being at their home as a boy, other than that, I know nothing about them... I hope that changes... It will...

It's funny about relatives, we have so many, yet so many of us rarely if ever interact... Seems a little bizzarre to me... I'm just now catching up though, so hopefully that changes... :)

Dave Ramsey...

Not sure if anyone has heard of this guy, but seems like he gives sound financial advice and is a Christian. He recently took over for the guy I used to listen to on my way home from work (which I didn't care for)... Anyway, I bought a book from him yesterday and you can check out his Total Money Makeover for free for 30 days if you want to:

Link Here...

Coupon Code: 30DGIFT

His site is here if you want to check it out as well, that Identity Theft insurance he talks about looks like something to have in this day and age...

daveramsey.com

The Day After Christmas...

Is likely the day a huge number of people in America dread the most... Why you may ask? Because it's stunning the statistics you see on how many run up credit card debt or tap into home equity to 'finance' their gift buying... I read this one article titled: 'Christmas debt is hard to avoid'... It's also stunning the number of people who run up so much debt that it takes until May and for some right up until the next Christmas to pay off the debt... Here's a novel idea, how about not going into debt at all? If I didn't have money to buy Christmas presents, then I'd either make something or do something for them, all the while making sure everyone understood the actual reason for the season! Too many don't though, and it's stunning...

The Devil Wears Prada...

I don't watch movies often, but I do like Merryl Streep... I stopped at Krogers today and they had a machine there where you could rent a movie for a $1... So I rented the movie, 'The Devil Wears Prada', only because it had Merryl Streep in it.. What an excellent movie... It's a classic example of the situation that tore my family apart... Greed! I'm sure everyone has read about Goldman Sachs, and that the average person who works there made over $622K last year... Great! What they don't tell you is that these people literally work 24/7 and their family lives are usually either non-existent or are destroyed because they literally 'marry' their work! Money does not make people happy, never has... I'm not sure why people think that money WILL make them happy. I would rather live with my family in a trailer park than work 24/7 and disregard my family and have millions of dollars and live in a penthouse... Some obviously would rather the penthouse... People that would rather the penthouse over family nauseate me and make me sick to my stomach... I would encourage everyone to watch the movie and tell me what they think... There are some in my own family who prefer the cash and the destruction of the family...

Falwell on Imus...

May not be for everyone... :)

Jerry Fallwell Appears On Imus

You know...

I was going to blog about this ridiculous article on MSNBC.com about how some people decided that if every African male was curcumcised it would help the AIDS epidemic in that country, but changed my mind... Are they nuts?? It's about behaviour, not circumcision... You read some of the comments, and it's like "Wow!"... Circumcision is not necessary, it's behaviour... That's probably enough said on that topic, if the people who live in Africa continue to have the types of sexual behaviour that they do, HIV will be an issue... Circumcising all the males in Africa will not help... I wonder how much of our tax dollars went to that study...

I wonder why I even blog anymore... No one else does... I know, I deleted my own blog at one time, I'm not sure now why I started it back... Sure, people are 'busy' for the holidays... When people say they are busy though, are you too busy to spend a few minutes?? If you are that busy, you need help... Not just help, but a program of some sort to help you get control of your life... I could not imagine being "too busy" to take 5 minutes to type a few lines... If I'm ever 'that busy', someone shoot me...

I have a lot going on too, yet I have plenty of time to take a few minutes here and there... If anyone is SO busy that they cannot take the time to type a few lines, they likely need to rethink their lives and priorities... Amazing...

I had a lot more to say, but just got called, so think about it....

An Early Christmas Present Perhaps??

Story here:

South Dakota Senator Hospitalized

He's a Democrat, so if he dies or resigns then the Republicans have control of the Senate again... Well, the Governor, who gets to name his replacement, is a Republican, so I guess it really depends on him... I'll bet he is a VERY popular guy right now... His phone has been ringing off the hook I'm sure... If he is only incapacitated though, then he could be bed ridden and useless, but he does not have to resign, there have been several Senators in our history who have been incapacitated and they did not resign... I would LOVE to be a fly on the wall in the rooms two people are currently in: Pelosi and Reid... :) This will be an interesting story to follow...

Merry Christmas!!!

How about the people that use Xmas? Huh?? I see people use it who claim to believe that Jesus is the reason we celebrate this holiday... It nauseates me... I don't care if you are marking boxes to store, addressing cards, whatever, to use Xmas is appalling to me... Yet many do... This whole thing with saying Holiday, Winter, whatever... I don't get it... It's a Federal holiday! My cousin has a good post about it:
Have Yourself a Neutered Little Holiday

Speaking of Music...

Not that anyone was... :) A must have album is: "Kickin' Out The Footlights...Again" by Merle Haggard and George Jones... Of course I'm sure it's not for everyone... I don't like all of the songs, but I like most of them... Most people wonder why I listen to classic country artists, not sure... I think though that most people who I turn on to it like it though. I guess I like it because I've lived most of the scenarios in most of the songs... So I guess it has been my life... I love it though, and it is a hell of an album... :)

Pigeon Forge...

We spent yesterday afternoon and all day today at Pigeon Forge. The kids of course LOVE it there! Carolyn and Betty hit the Outlet Malls there and the kids and I went off to do other things as we were not interested in shopping... :)

There is a new helicopter museum in Pigeon Forge, the kids wanted to ride this simulated helicopter machine. Tanner was in the driver's seat, but the guy told him he could pass control to Chance if he wanted to. So the guy explained all the controls, told them they could go upside down, sideways, whatever... Then he pointed to that red button between them and said, "Now if you get sick to your stomach, or get scared and want out, just hit that red button and the ride will stop." Then he closed the hatch and started the ride. A few seconds after the ride started, Tanner managed to turn the thing upside down, the guy looked at me and said, "Someone hit the red button." So the ride stopped, and it had been Chance. The guy I guess felt guilty that I had spent $20 for 3 seconds and offered to take the boys with himself at the controls, they refused. Or rather, Chance said, "No way man." I then tried to talk them into going up in a real helicopter, but they would not have any of it... :)

The kids 'had' to go to the NASCAR rides/shop/entertainment thing... We did not stay long though because no one was there and Tanner was starting to not feel well...

All of the kids wanted to ride the race cars, but Chance was the only one who was tall enough to ride, I could have taken one of them with me, but that would have meant leaving one of the kids by themselves... Something I would never do, particularly in this day and age... So Chance rode by himself... We did all get to ride the bumper cars, but I took no pics of that...

So that is essentially how we spent our day in Pigeon Forge, we did end up going shopping a little as well, because Carolyn and Betty were still shopping after all the things we did... I bought me a new Bible at one of the stores, they are like 50% cheaper at the outlet store there than what they are here... I had a new Sidney Sheldon book I was going to read, but Betty wanted something to read last night, so I gave it to her as she loves Sidney Sheldon, so I bought myself another one because I still want to read it... :) I'm glad to be home though, the kids have school tomorrow, Carolyn has school tomorrow, so I am home alone as I do not have to go back to work until Wednesday, maybe I'll go check out that new Mel Gibson film... Hmmm.... I wonder when the last time I went to a movie by myself was? Years ago I guess... We only go to about 1 or 2 movies a year as it is... Hope everyone is having a great Christmas season thus far!!

We're Back!!!

You know, I don't mind going out of town periodically, but I am always SO glad to get back home!! Amazingly enough, I did not take that many pictures, even though I had two digital cameras with me and a video camera... Never thought to snap a picture until it was too late, I did take a few though... Mainly of the kids in the cabin we rented in Pigeon Forge...

At the wedding Rex and Penny (Uncle and Aunt) gave the kids their Christmas presents, so that's the first thing they wanted to do when we got to our cabin in Pigeon Forge... In case you are wondering who that other person is, it is Betty, and old friend of Carolyn's from when she worked at UT, she's almost a part of the family, the kids love her to death, she went with us to Pigeon Forge (obviously)...

Kids in front of the fireplace...

Taylor decided she wanted to play Monopoly by herself... I'm not sure how you do that, but she sure had fun doing it... :)

The boys of course brought their game system, and set it up in their 'bedroom' right after we opened the presents...

A Few Pics...

Here are a few pictures from the wedding today, in case you haven't read any of the previous posts, my sister-in-law got married today in Knoxville, TN...

All of the kids on my wife's side of the family...

Us, obviously, during the 'photos' after the wedding...

All of my wife's siblings and their families...

Cory, Chance, Tanner and Taylor...

You Know...

I've only been in this town since about 5:30 and I'm ready to go home... I don't like staying in hotels unless my company is paying for them and they are expensive and cater to your every need... No, this one doesn't... The phone doesn't work, not that I need one, I've got a cell phone, but still... The pool and the spa have 30 times as much chlorine as needed, well, maybe not, judging from some of the people I've seen in the lobby, so scratch that complaint... I hate this town... I can't believe I used to live here... Tis life I suppose. The wedding is tomorrow at 4, what to do till then? The kids want to go swimming, I'm sure they'll talk me into it, luckily I brought a Sidney Sheldon book I haven't read because it's way too much chlorine for me... They do have free Internet access, so that makes me happy... So who knows what tomorrow will be like, we'll see... :)

Hiatus...

Well, I'm headed to Knoxville tomorrow for my wife's sisters wedding... Then we are going to take the kids to the tourist trap, I mean Pigeon Forge... So I may or may not blog... Depends on the Internet connection where I am... Unlike most, I take my computer with me everywhere I go, and yes, I do have the occassional few minutes to check in and blog and comment... :) It only takes a few minutes... So maybe you'll hear from me, maybe not... If I never find an Internet connection, I'll be back Tuesday...

The Iraq Study Group...

What?? There isn't a member among them who know anything about warfare... You might as well call it the Jim Baker Opinion... I'll admit that in the beginning, the war seemed like the thing to do, but so did EVERYONE else in the world... That's a little fact that most people overlook!! We ALL saw all the evidence, MOST of the world agreed that it was the thing to do, yeah, I know, years later when it's a failure everyone forgets that, but whatever, it is what it is, and it's a mess...

It boils down to the people, the Iraqi people obviously have no desire to band together and fight these people... This would NEVER happen in America, we might have our differences, but we would, I believe, band together and fight no matter what! The Iraqis don't seem to want to. Well, there is the problem... I say stop spending money on trying to figure out how to get these worthless people who will not stand up for themselves out of the mess they are in... They would not be in this mess if they would just stand up for themselves... We've given them the chance, I say we give them an ultimatum...

You have 60 days to stand up for yourselves, bottom line, we will not allow Iran to take over your country. If within 60 days they have done nothing and the violence continues:

Let Saddam Hussein out of jail, buy him a new suit, apologize for his sons, and tell him, you are in charge again, get control of these barbarians by any means necessary. You have our full support, there is only one condition, you don't allow Iran to influence you and you allow us to have a base in your country so we can deal with Iran and Syria if we have to... Problem solved...

Toast...

You know... The average American is so stupid, you can hardly make it up... Does everyone think that we will continue to be a Superpower?? Does anyone study history?? History always repeats itself... I get about 30 publications a week (thanks to Sky Miles) and the media is SO biased, they have no interest apparently other than to destroy America... The average American though is so wrapped up in their personal lives, they could give a damn about the big picture... Does everyone think that we will sit here and be the Superpower forever?? EVERY country in the world wants to knock us off that pedestal, they WILL succeed! When will everyone in this country wake up though, when it happens?? Maybe, maybe not... Idiots... I detest stupid people... "Let's just go about our lives, everything will be fine"... That mentality makes me ill... I doubt that George Washington or any of the other founding fathers had that mentality... "We're busy, and we can't be bothered"... That IS the mentality of the average American though... How much longer? I used to think I gave it 20 or 30 years, but now I'm thinking 5, maybe... Does anyone remember Rome?? Oh yeah, I forgot, everyone is too stupid to study history... Mind Boggling...

Race to the White House...

You know... A lot of people jumping in the ring, but I think the Dems have it, we'll see... Name one Republican who can win it... I almost think that Hillary will take it... Who can beat her? How about this scenario: Hillary/Obama? They win for sure. Romney? The Republican base doesn't like it that he is such a devout Morman. Guliani? The Republican base hates the fact that he is okay with abortion and gays. McCain? The Republican base doesn't like him. I say the Republican base are a bunch of idiots! We saw that in the 2006 election... They are so freaking stupid, they would rather hand over control of the House and Senate than cave on a few issues... We're not talking about Salvation here, we are talking about control of our Country!!! We need a new party! What to do?? It almost reminds me of sitting in a Baptist church meeting, to hell with the consequences, most of the people are too damn stubborn to do anything because of conflict... Welcome to America... Amazing!

Is It Just Me??

Carolyn's sister is getting married on December 9th, so we're obviously headed to Knoxville... Of course the boys have outgrown their dress clothes they wore for Easter, so off we went to buy everyone new outfits for the wedding... I decided to buy myself a new pair of dress pants as well... Didn't work out... We have been to every store around, including all the stores at the mall, and no one has a pair of black dress pants size 30 x 32... After a while I just went to someone in the men's department and said any 30 x 32? "Umm, no, but you can look around and try to find one if you want, when we get pants in there is usually only one or two in that size" is always the reply... Ugghh! So I guess I'll go to the mall by my work tomorrow (I hate going to the mall)... So I've spent two days looking for a pair of pants, and still don't have any... :( Of course I can always go to the Men's Warehouse, but I HATE paying $100 for a pair of pants that fit, but it has been necessary in the past... Hopefully there will be a pair at the mall near my work tomorrow...

Music...

Funny... The different tastes everyone has in music... I LOVE music, most people I meet though think what I listen to is ridiculous... Of course I think the same of what they listen to... :) I've never personally met anyone who had the same taste in music that I do... My wife HATES the music I listen to. I listen to Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Gene Watson, John Conlee, Mickey Gilley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Dwight Yoakam, Vince Gill, etc... I think my wife's issue is I listen to the same stuff over and over and over... :) Whatever, I like it, I'm listening to it now. I have zero interest in any of the music out today. I like my music, leave me alone is what I say... :) I love Jerry Lee Lewis's new album, my favorite is "Couple More Years"... I LOVE that song...

Jerry Lee Lewis

Secrets...

I wasn't aware that anyone had any these days... Of course I'm referring to the whole "There was a boy named Matthew" thing... I thought everyone knew about that ongoing episode, but I was wrong... I know these people though, so I guess I should not have been surprised. 'Sweep everything under the rug, wait a bit, and all will be well' was and is I guess the mentality, but that was then, this is now... That is no longer the case...

Boyd's sister called me today and we had a long talk, she said she had talked to him and was talking about me, yet he never indicated that anything was wrong. She however told me that she could tell that something was amiss... I told her the entire story in detail. Why do people want to pretend that there is nothing wrong when there is? That's my question. It's ludicrous.

I was just talking to my stepson Cory about this same thing. We were talking about how people hold grudges, have hatred, etc... I told him my philosophy. My mentality is this, never go to bed with hatred, grudges, etc on your mind. It will destroy your life. Say what you have to say, no matter what it is, then get on with your life. I haven't always taken that approach, but the times I didn't, it caused issues. These days, that is the only approach I take. I say what's on my mind, if you don't like it, I don't care. I think everyone should take that approach...

I do hope that those people get over the whole "If we just don't talk about it for a few months, everyone will forget it mentality"... That was then, this is now...