Draining day

That is to say a day putting in drain lines can be draining. I'm bushed. Except for a few details at the bottom of the lines this will finally do it for getting all the lines from the upper lot down the hill and out to the street. Yea.

About 80' of trench with one ea 6", 4" and 3" lines. Clock running on backhoe rental. Warm day. Throw in a bunch of angles and a couple of "Y's" to tie various lines together and it's good manly fun. Now where's the aspirin?

Receive No Contributions

Yes, the Stupid Party is still the Stupid Party. They're still backing RINO's over conservatives in primaries... Even Newt is endorsing the RINO in the NY-23rd Congressional District race. LINK

arrghhh

Thought maybe they'd bought a clue after all the TEA party action this year. Well, my money went direct to Doug Hoffman this morning. Makes it easy with a PayPal button.

In your face RINOs. "RNC" once again stands for "Receive No Contributions."

How to...?

Something Paw Paw wrote recently about deer hunting got me to recalling...

Question:
How do you get peanut off the roof of your mouth?

Answer:
You can lick it off. (nunghh, nughh, nuuggnggh -- nope)
You can blow it off. (huccch, huccch, huccch, spittle flying -- nope)
Or you can scraaaaaape it off with your finger. (yep -- eeewwww!!!)

Short, sweet and for my money and sensibilities still a great summer camp skit. They just don't write 'em that good any more. No?

Yeah, I know, I know. Humor me, will ya? Chalk it up to Monty Python poisoning at an early age.

PawPaw's House: Extreme Addiction

Joe y Jose

This parable is making the rounds. It's worth repeating here...

You have two families: "Joe Legal" and "Jose Illegal". Both families have two parents, two children, and live in California

Joe Legal works in construction, has a Social Security Number and makes $25.00 per hour with taxes deducted.

Jose Illegal also works in construction, has NO Social Security Number, and gets paid $1500 cash "under the table".

Ready? Now pay attention...

Joe Legal: $25.00 per hour x 40 hours = $1000.00 per week, or $52,000.00 per year. Now take 30% away for state and federal tax; Joe Legal now has $31,231.00.

Jose Illegal: $15.00 per hour x 40 hours = $600.00 per week, or $31,200.00 per year. Jose Illegal pays no taxes. Jose Illegal now has $31,200.00.

Joe Legal pays medical and dental insurance with limited coverage for his family at $600.00 per month, or $7,200.00 per year. Joe Legal now has $24,031.00.

Jose Illegal has full medical and dental coverage through the state and local clinics at a cost of $000 per year. Jose Illegal still has $31,200.00.

Joe Legal makes too much money and is not eligible for food stamps or welfare. Joe Legal pays $500.00 per month for food, or $6,000.00 per year. Joe Legal now has $18,031.00.

Jose Illegal has no documented income and is eligible for food stamps and welfare. Jose Illegal still has $31,200.00.

Joe Legal pays rent of $1,200.00 per month, or $14,400.00 per year. Joe Legal now has $9,631.00.

Jose Illegal receives a $500.00 per month federal rent subsidy. Jose Illegal pays $500.00 per month, or $6,000.00 per year. Jose Illegal still has $ 31,200.00.

Joe Legal pays $200.00 per month, or $2,400.00 for insurance. Joe Legal now has $7,231.00.

Jose Illegal says, "We don't need no stinkin' insurance!" and still has $31,200.00.

Joe Legal has to make his $7,231.00 stretch to pay utilities, gasoline, etc.

Jose Illegal has to make his $31,200.00 stretch to pay utilities, gasoline, and what he sends out of the country every month.

Joe Legal now works overtime on Saturdays or gets a part time job after work.

Jose Illegal has nights and weekends off to enjoy with his family.

Joe Legal's and Jose Illegal's children both attend the same school. Joe Legal pays for his children's lunches while Jose Illegal's children get a government sponsored lunch. Jose Illegal's children have an after school ESL program. Joe Legal's children go home.

Joe Legal and Jose Illegal both enjoy the same police and fire services, but Joe paid for them and Jose did not pay.

You tired? Me too.

This was fwd'd to me by a friend...

"I'm Tired" by Robert A. Hall


I'll be 63 soon. Except for one semester in college when jobs were
scarce, and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but
job-hunting every day, I've worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite
some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven't
called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I
didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am.
Given the economy, there's no retirement in sight, and I'm tired.
Very tired.


I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth around" to
people` who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the
government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and
give it to people too lazy or stupid to earn it.


I'm tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to "keep people
in their homes." Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I'm
willing to help. But if they bought mansions at three times the price
of our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let
the left-wing Congress-critters who passed Fannie and Freddie and
the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them with
their own money.


I'm tired of being told how bad America is by left-wing millionaires
like Michael Moore, George Soros, and Hollywood entertainers who live
in luxury because of the opportunities America offers. In thirty
years, if they get their way, the United States will have the economy
of Zimbabwe, the freedom of the press of China , the crime and
violence of Mexico, the tolerance for Christian people of Iran, and
the freedom of speech of Venezuela. Won't multiculturalism be
beautiful?


I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when
every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their
sisters, wives and daughters for their family "honor"; of Muslims
rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and
Jews because they aren't "believers"; of Muslims burning schools for
girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for
"adultery"; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all
in the name of Allah, because the Qur'an and Shari'a law tells them
to.


I believe "a man should be judged by the content of his character,
not by the color of his skin." I'm tired of being told that "race
doesn't matter" in the post-racial world of Obama, when it's all that
matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college admission and
graduation standards for minorities (harming them the most),
government contract set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of
violence and fatherless children that hurts minorities more than
anyone, and in the appointment of US Senators from Illinois.


I think it's very cool that we have a black president and that a
black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the
emancipation proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi
Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and
less arrogantly of an all-knowing government.


I'm tired of a news media that thinks Bush's fundraising and
inaugural expenses were obscene, but that think Obama's, at triple
the cost, were wonderful; that thinks Bush exercising daily was a
waste of presidential time, but Obama exercising is a great example
for the public to control weight and stress; that picked over every
line of Bush's military records, but never demanded that Kerry
release his; that slammed Palin, with two years as governor, for
being too inexperienced for VP, but touted Obama with three years as
senator as potentially the best president ever. Wonder why people are
dropping their subscriptions or switching to Fox News? Get a clue. I
didn't vote for Bush in 2000, but the media and Kerry drove me to his
camp in 2004.


I'm tired of being told that out of "tolerance for other cultures" we
must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and madrassa
Islamic schools to preach hate in America , while no American group
is allowed to fund a church, synagogue, or religious school in Saudi
Arabia to teach love and tolerance.


I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight
global` warming, which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I
live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to
our jobs. We also own a three-bedroom condo where our daughter and
granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore's,
and if you're greener than Gore, you're green enough.


I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must
help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a
giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white
powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off? I don't think
Gay people choose to be Gay, but I damn sure think druggies chose to
take drugs. And I'm tired of harassment from cool people treating me
like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana.


I'm tired of illegal aliens being called "undocumented workers,"
especially the ones who aren't working, but are living on welfare or
crime. What's next? Calling drug dealers, "Undocumented Pharmacists"?
And, no, I'm not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic, and
it's been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for
my religion. I'm willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic
person, who can speak English, doesn't have a criminal record and who
is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably
for three years in our military... Those are the citizens we need.


I'm tired of latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear
the` uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their
entitlement-handicapped kids near a recruiting station, trashing our
military. They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make
split-second decisions under life and death circumstances, and bad
mouth better people than themselves. Do bad things happen in war? You
bet. Do our troops sometimes misbehave? Sure. Does this compare with
the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty
years and still are? Not even close. So here's the deal. I'll let
myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped
on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let
themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims who tortured and
beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and
murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims
who ran the blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found
in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in
Indonesia, because the girls were Christian. Then we'll compare
notes. British and American soldiers are the only troops in history
that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from
in fear.


I'm tired of people telling me that their party has a corner on
virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption. Read the
papers; bums are bipartisan. And I'm tired of people telling me we
need bipartisanship. I live in Illinois , where the " Illinois
Combine" of Democrats has worked to loot the public for years. Not to
mention the tax cheats in Obama's cabinet as well.


I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers, and politicians
of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or
youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was
getting caught. I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich
or poor.


Speaking of poor, I'm tired of hearing people with air-conditioned
homes, color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans
didn't have that in 1970, but we didn't know we were "poor." The
poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep
the dollars flowing.


I'm real tired of people who don't take responsibility for their
lives and actions. I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or
discrimination, or big-whatever for their problems.


Yes, I'm damn tired. But I'm also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I'm
not going to have to see the world these people are making. I'm just
sorry for my granddaughter.



Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran who served five terms in
the Massachusetts State Senate.


All I can say is "Even so, come Lord Jesus."

Sunday Afternoon. Getting Stoned and Swinging Out.

Well in a manner of speaking.

While the Divine Miss M(egan) hosted a rehearsal of her 11th grade swing dance numbers for the big Homecoming Airband competition this week,...

It was breaking down a bit at this point as the testerone poisoning turned into horseplay. Gotta love Mel's body language as she waits for the boys to settle.
... I picked and fit stones for the new walkway to swinging sounds of Michael Buble.
Took a pic of the work in progress when the Chief Inspector showed up and created a work stoppage.

Leadership lessons

Moving beyond Nobel prizes and other tomfoolery, but still thinking about and praying for leaders (as instructed -- "that we may live godly and at peace"). These verses from Proverbs 25 in this morning's reading stuck with me...

4 Take away the dross from the silver,
And there comes out a vessel for the smith;
5 Take away the wicked before the king,
And his throne will be established in righteousness.

Leaves me praying for a house cleaning.
Whether it's in DC, Sacramento, Chicago or all of the above, I'd take any of it with thankfulness.
Whether initiated by the Executive, legislative inquiry, the AG or suits brought by we the people -- not matter.
Pray changes things: not the least of which is the one who prays.

Yeah, I could use some changing. Knuckleheads and crooks get me worked up and frustrated when they prosper and are allowed to persist in afflicting a people and nations with foolishness of Biblical proportions.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:6-7

Hope in God, not in man...

“Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise. Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.”- Proverbs 19:20-21