Teaching to the minority......not really cool!

Since this whole BC/BCE issue has been going on, I have been getting involved with many conversations on religion. This supposedly taboo topic, at parties and work, is always a great conversation....and or debate.

One of the issues I brought up the other day is the teaching of Evolution and ignoring Creationism in our public schools.

Based on these few assumptions, I make the claim that we actually teach a minority point of view in our school systems.

Assumption 1:

Most people in the US, and around the world for that matter, believe in a "god". We did a little Googling on the topic and found that over 75% believe in God and another 15% did not know and the rest did not believe there as any sort of a supreme being.

Assumption 2:
When teaching evolution....God never comes into the picture. We came from the big bang....we were monkeys...we dropped the tail and started using cell phones and drinking Starbucks...OK I am being sarcastic.

Assumption 3:
Most if not all science making claims about a big bang...evelution...what happened millions of years ago....are all guesses. They may be very good guesses...but they are still guesses. Funny thing about science and theories...they change,,,ie the world is really not flat.

If you can bite off on these assumptions, then you will agree that we teach to the minority when ignoring creationism and only teach evolution.

Evolution is an atheist slant on how the world came to be. Realize most people of God believe in Evolution....of course with a little help!! With less then 10% of the population believing that there was not any supreme being "helping" the world start, we are truly catering to their beliefs.

Merry Christmas

To all of you that celebrate Christmas, I wish and pray you have a blessed Christmas. Let's remember to keep Christ in Christmas!

For all of you that do not, have a great day today and enjoy the time off with your family!

Approval needed??????....not cool!

We conduct our business banking with Commerce Bank. Overall the bank does a good job technically. They make very few,if any, errors and their statements are always on time.

Is this what banking is all about though? I say not. Commerce has a lot of crazy rules that make it hard to do business with them. In their defense....Commerce is one of the few large regional banks that thumbed their noses at the TARP monies. So although they drive you crazy....your money is safe!

Anyway, not all their rules even make sense.

Last week we needed to move $100,000 into Commerce bank. The monies came from another bank so it was a bank check that I had to deposit. Bank Checks are like cash.

So I go up to the cashier and ask her to deposit the entire check into the account. An account that has been open for 15 years. An account that has more then the deposited check amount. All of our e-commerce business runs through this account.

She looks at the check and asks me to wait. I ask her why and she tells me that she needs approval for this amount! Approval....to take money? Really? She smiles an embarrassed smile and goes off to the manager.

5 minutes later I see the manager furiously clicking away on his keys....I finally catch the tellers attention and ask her what's the delay? She tells me that the manager is out to lunch and they are calling other branches to see if their manager can approve their bank taking 100 grand from a customer.

After 10 minutes, they finally have someone approve my deposit.

I have never seen such order prevention in my life!

Let's start the bitchin.....cool!

Always great to start the day with a great big rant.

Let's start with Starbucks. Far be it for me to tell one of the most successful coffee companies how to increase their productivity....but come on.

I am not a big Starbucks customer. First, I do not like coffee....and second, they normally do not have normal black tea. It's always that fruity tea. I must admit however, they have corrected that issue and offer some excellent tea....finally.

Ok, So Shelby and I visit our local store after Church a few weeks ago. I had a meeting regarding the BCE issue with a few of my fellow rabble rousers. Since we went to early mass, we thought we would treat ourselves with breakfast at the meeting.

I get in, what I would call a very short line.....1 person. (By the time I finally get my order there are now 6 people behind me)

I think they may have run over to Columbia to get the beans for the guy in front of me.

So while we wait in the infamous DMV short line, one of the 6 employees figures that it wold be a good idea if he helps. He asks what I would like.....

Dummy me, I say a small hot chocolate....wait ...He needs to stop and correct me..."Do you mean Tall" Do they really not know what small is?

"yes yes...if it's a small" Then to a Large hot tea.....Grande he interrupts? I wanted to slap him. Yeah Yeah Grande whatever. I also ask him for a crumb cake and a apple fritter thing.....Oh no he cannot take that part of the order....he waves me off to the Girl taking the longest coffee order in the world.

So the guy in front of me gets his 1 cup of coffee and It's finally my turn. I tell her that I have already ordered my drinks, when I try to tell her what I ordered, she turns away and yells over to Grande Boy....he then explains what I ordered. I guess they thought I would lie or something. So I pay and get my pastries and tea. I then stand around for another 5 minutes....of course waiting for Shelby's "Tall" hot chocolate.
Finally, I ask.....where is the HC?

With the look that I am a complete idiot......it's on the other end f the counter waiting for me! I am such an idiot...I should of known that....right!

Talk about order prevention and slowing down what should be a pretty simple process....

GREAT SONG.....so cool!

I was just sent this song. The person is one of the supporters of the BCE vs BC movement here in the heartland.

If this does not make your chest constrict and your eyes well up.....

Isn't Ironic..........cool!....soooo Cool!

If you have not heard, our President was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Let me clarify that he did not earn the prize....they gave it to him for what he would do. (Now that's another blog)

Anyway.....so he flies the jet over to Oslo and mingles with all his European fans. He then has to explain to them how war does not really fly in the face of peace.

If you have not heard the speech you can catch most of it on the news. I heard clips and he was of course apologizing for the US...our mistakes. He did, however, give the US kudos for our role in the worlds safety over the past few decades.

There was little applause ,and in fact, the loudest was when he basically prostated himself to his liberal buddies.

How he must of choked on his words.....a man who wins the Nobel Peace Prize...For his future efforts....and what did the guy do??????

Send 30,000 more troops!

Isn't ironic

Wow...it's December 10th......not cool!

When you have blogging on your To Do list....that's pathetic. At my age there should not be that much on the list! This work stuff is really taking a toll on my afternoon naps.

Well, sorry for the sabbatical!

I have 4 topics that I will be blogging about in the next 4 days....(we will see)

The pathetic productivity at Starbucks

The Pathetic Customer service from Dell

A crazy bank teller story

and lastly....

The Ironic situation Obama is in.

Obama being satirized on SNL...Finally.....cool!

In the past month or so SNL has done a pretty tough spoof on President Obama.

If you have not seen it......sit back and watch




Very Funny....very scary....a tiny bit raunchy

The issue is ....it took the main stream media...including SNL almost a year before they start smacking back the president. It's only fair....every President has been spoofed by SNL. I guess the mother ship (NBC) could not keep the lid on the issue any longer.

Let's remember......SNL is comedy......WTG SNL

Kitchen Faucet.....Kohler is cool!

OK.....I finally got all the parts....and guess what? Yup, I didn't order enough....I called Kohler back and without question they sent me the right ones. These, they had in stock and I received them very quickly. Everyone I dealt with at Kohler was not only nice....but competent.

Now to the normal incompetency that is rampant in my do it myself self life.....

Surprise! I am ready to get my plumber's license.....the faucet was fixed with in 30 minutes.....and.......it still works!

Flashing Lights .....not cool!

I am not sure when this practice started but it drives me CRAZY. Bus drivers who crack open the door to get the flashers going a mile before they stop to pick up kids.....

Every week I pass a school bus and almost every time they are picking kids up in the morning. The flashers are on.....and what do I do? I stop! Then the bus goes zooming by me and stops 1/4 mile down the road. I have stopped a few hundred feet before the bus passes me at times...

Hey Bus drivers....safety first,....but remember the boy who cried wolf. By putting your flashers on 1/2 mile before the stop drivers start to believe they can go through your moving flashing lights..... a dangerous situation.

Levis's $21 bucks....very cool!

There are a lot of crazy deals and sites on the Internet. http://www.woot.com/ is probably one of the most recognizable "deal of the day" site. Yesterday I visited http://www.fatwallet.com/ This site is a deal aggregator. Vendors send them their daily deal and they post links.

Yesterday they had a great deal. Levi jeans 40% off. Sorry I am late on the deal for you, I wanted to just highlight a site that may get you some deals this CommonEraMas season.

Here is a good example....until Nov 16th you can get 25% off your purchase from Lands End and free shupping... Link here to see the special

You need to check these aggregator sites daily and act quickly.

Good Shopping!

Casting a liberal vote....cool!

Over the past few months Shelby and her 8th grade class got heavily involved in a community issue. They have taken up the cause to have smoking banned from all public places including PRIVATE businesses. in Wildwood Missouri.

They spent a ton of time researching the project. They were in fact invited to the Capitol to present the project. The teacher took it one more step further and had them present it to the town council to see if they could get the ban implemented. Shelby spoke twice in front of the council. I was very proud of her......although I totally disagreed with her stance.

The government should really not be telling private businesses that they cannot have a legal act, such as smoking, in their establishments,. The real rub is in bars and restaurants. People say it's not fair to non smokers that they have to smell smoke while eating.

Now....first things first....I hate smoke...I have hated it since my dad made us close the windows due to the cold....then he turned up the heat...then he would smoke like a chimney while driving.... to this day I get "car" sick every time I am in the back seat of a car.

I do however think that if you don't like it.....don't go to the restaurant. If it's such a bad business decision....the market will take care of it and people will not go to that establishment....OK you get the issue....

So Wildwood did nothing...they shelved it....mainly due to the fact that the entire county had a vote later in the year to pass a county wide ban. This would allow them to get out of making the tough decision.

Last month......I voted for the ban....against my own views....I told Shelby she deserved to vote and I would give her my vote. They won with 64% of the voters banning smoke!

I never once publicly went against Shelby's view....although we argued each time we went to the meetings.

So I took a liberal step....not my first and not my last....but surely unusual.

Personal Attacks...not so cool?

Wow coming from me....Mr. Soapbox himself? I barely could type the title without slapping myself.

Over the past 3 weeks I have been busy getting off the soapbox and actually fighting the good fight. As I posted earlier, The B.C.E. versus B.C. petition is up and running. We now have over 650 signatures in just the past 3 1/2 weeks.

For me this has been a bit of a social experiment. Most that know me would be surprised that I am fighting this religious fight so openly. We Northeast Catholics barley speak of our faith....but since moving to the Midwest, I have learned that many not only speak about it....but speak up for it.

Here is the link to the petition to refresh you on the issue:
Petition

In the past two days I have been called a right wing propagandist and Ignorant.

One came through an email.... a pretty nasty email by the way....and the next was a posting on the School District Blog. Yup...we got them on their heels at the district. The dog has awaken....and they thought it necessary to start their political ass covering.

Here is the Post....great reading:
Rockwood Post

As anyone who really knows me...I could really care less what others think. I run my life trying to do well by my family, my friends, my community and not lastly my church.

So let them personally attack us.......The silent majority will overcome!

Chris is cool!

My little saint turned 12 yesterday. Happy Birthday buddy.

I think Chris had one of his best birthday weekends....

We had a birthday soak late last week
He then has a bunch of his buddies over on Halloween for a birthday party
He goes out trick or treating
He helps with Denise's Haunted House
Has a couple of buddies stay over
He selects PF Changs for his Birthday dinner
and last and most importantly....he gets a hampster

He was very happy and thanked me for breaking down on the pet issue.

He is a funny kid....period

Shoe laces.....cool!

When was the last time you bought shoe laces? If the answer is like forever....then you are like me. I thought about why we do not buy shoe laces anymore.....

The shoes wear out before the laces....(you cheap skate, buy some good shoes)
You do not wear the shoes enough to put any wear on them ( think Imelda Marcos )


Anyway, I have a pretty expensive pair of casual shoes. I love these shoes...I hated buying them...they cost a ton, but they are well worth it. However, I just had to buy shoe laces. The laces became frayed and need to be replaced.

The funny thing is.....when I went to Walgreen's they had a very slim section of shoe laces. This got me thinking about how lonely that shoe lace sales guy is these days.


The worst part about the whole scenario....I had to take one lace out at a time to make sure I put them back in the same way. I felt like a 2 year old.....what a dope.

Another last time.....not cool!

There is a poem floating around out there that lists all the "last " times you do things as a parent. The last time you pick up your little person with their out stretched arms, the last time your baby falls asleep on your chest while you both take an afternoon nap or maybe the last time your teenager wants to give you a kiss in public. So many of these slip by without parents noticing they were the last time. We reminisce and talk about these and all wish we could turn back the clock.



I had a "last" time on Saturday and fully acknowledged and fully enjoyed it. Chris turned 12 Sunday. Last week while he was preparing to set up his Halloween strategy, he asked me if I was coming with him again. Of course I jumped on that, knowing that this was probably the last time my boy would want me to tag along.....turned out one of his buddies was not allowed to be without a parent. So Chris told him that I would go. He explained that I was a "warrior" Over the years, Chris and Shelby have been the first to go and the last to come home from Trick or Treating. So he knew that I would stay out as long as he wanted.



It was great watching Chris and his buddies run from house to house.....



A great "Last"

Thanks Chris

"One nation under God" .....seems cool to me!

"One nation under God" is that not from the pledge of Allegiance?

I guess Home Depot wants to start this battle!

Check out how Home Depot fired an employee for wearing a button that stated "One nation under God"

Being a private business, Home Depot, has every right to tell their employees what to wear. This kid had been wearing the button for over a year.....

This probably was not the best time to be anti-American or anti-God. The tide is turning back to traditional values. There is a groundswell......

Home Depot got most of business when I was in the valley. Lowes is right next door. Lowes.....not that you have earned my business, but Home Depot....you lost it.

Chesterfield Penn Station Subs....cool

Try giving away your product.....That is what Penn Station Subs is doing in Chesterfield. They have been having "get a free sub" day for the past few months. Every couple of weeks or so....there are signs around the valley proclaiming the free sub.

A couple of things.....
As I blogged earlier..... Blog on Penn Station I love Penn Station Subs.

The owner must really have confidence in his product....he should, they're great.

They also have done the promotion right!

They are staffed properly, no long lines or long waits even though there is not a chair in the place that is available. The manager/owner is taking the orders....big smile and guess what? my favorite, calls everybody by name if he knows it. I have eaten there about 20 times over the past 12 months...Hey Pete! Makes ya feel good and puts you in a great mood. He now has his employees on board....the young guy who handed me my sandwich......Here ya go Pete....of course it's written on the receipt, but he took the time to read it and then thank me.

This guy knows how to run a business!

Great Sandwich, Great service....love the free stuff....but I go there anyway. I hope his promotion works.

The Faucet Saga......a month...not cool!

Spoke to the faucet people....they told me that I was still under warranty....cool....that I did not have to pay for the 20-30 dollars of parts....even cooler....I love free stuff.....BUT

The parts are on backorder and they will not be available for a month.

This is more an issue for Denise....no easily accessible kitchen faucet until Thanksgiving!

Reminds me of another Thanksgiving with the Granite idiots!

The Rant put into action.....cool

You may remember my rant regarding the B.C.E versus B.C.
Well I am finally actually doing more then just ranting. A friend that brought the issue to my attention called me last week to try to enlist me in helping her get a petition signed. I readily agreed and so we now have a petition circulating through the Rockwood School District.

Our Petition

Thanks to Mary for getting me off the soap box and into the action.

The Faucet saga starts.....not cool!

One of the gremlins broke the kitchen faucet. Of course it takes two days for me to swing into action. I can't believe that this faucet does not have one marking on it regarding it's manufacturer. I am sure that they do it on purpose so you cannot find them when the thing breaks. Well the handle falls off.... no a screw didn't just come loose. In fact it looks like a part may of taken a suicide trip down the faucet. The thing does not even come close to fitting back on.

So I first go to my trusty Internet to start to look around. I thought it was a Moen. I look through the website with no luck. I then think that going to Home Depot and Lowes would be a good idea. So I leave my warm house to trudge up to the valley to visit my favorite stores..

BTW...is there a reason why Home Depot built a store right next to Lowes?....I mean right next to the place...ridicoulus....that's for nother rant.

Sounds like a dumb idea right....the faucet is a few years old and they probably don't sell the same models right? right......BUTTTTT I see a Kohler display and think....hmmmm could be a Kohler. So my trip was not a waste. It turns out it's a Kohler product. I found it on their website. It says there is a lifetime warranty.....thus the start of the posting. I will be interested in how their company responds to my dilemma. I sent them an email this evening .....we will see.

I'm an idiot story.....cool!

It's been awhile since I have blogged on an "I'm an Idiot" story. Not that many instances have not happened over the past few months....ask Denise!

Let's start with a great recipe.......Shelby and I went to the Wildwood BBQ cookoff and had some really good stuff. We stole this recipe from The Iron Barely booth.

Take jalapeño peppers and cut them in half. Scrape out the seeds and the ridges. Remember to scrape out the ridges...this is where all the heat of the pepper is. Fill the halves with cream cheeses. Then take a third of a pieces of bacon and wrap it around the middle. Skewer the pepper through the bacon...4-5 peppers per skewer. Put these on the grill for 20 minutes.....

Cold beer and these peppers....can't get any better.

Oh yeah...the "I'm an idiot" part.....so I get these guys all prepared....with help from my idiot friend Brad.....We then fire up the grill...and wow it seems like the grill is really hot...hotter then usual. Wow it's really hot....Brad can you put these things on the grill my hands feel like they are burning....


No kidding you idiot!......the grill was not any hotter...my hands were burning from all the jalapeño juice....I learned that you need to wear gloves when you make this dish. I spent the next few hours soaking my paws in ice water.

Idiot!

Birthdays are cool!

This week has been a miserable week here in Missouri. The Cards lost....the Tigers lost...the Rams lost...the Blues lost...and it has been raining and cold all week.

One big bright spot was the gleam in Shelby's eyes when she got her new Fish. Yup....I broke down and allowed a pet....Kevin has joined our family under the best circumstances....Shelby's 14th birthday!

Yup...Shelby...shelb...the shelbster....mel....(Mel?) melby moore...shelby lou..Shelby Melby..this kid has more knicknames then any kid should ever have. She answers to them all with never a concern that a new one gets added, what seems to be everyday.

Happy Birthday....actually Shelby's bday was on Monday.....oh now don't go thinking I forgot....I was to busy making sure the princess was taken care of.

First things first....she hates the bus, so dad needs to take her in by car. Next up....she wants a subway sandwich delivered to her school for lunch ( this has now become a yearly tradition....do it once and you are committed!) Then it was on to Petsmart to adopt Kevin....

Then be home early that day to have dinner and give presents to the birthday girl. (Shelby had PSR and had to leave the house by 6:15.)

She deserves every bit of spoiling on her day!

as I always tell her

YOU'RE THE BEST!

Home is where the heart is..........: Have you called the school lately?

This came from my sisters blog....it gave me a laugh!


Home is where the heart is..........: Have you called the school lately?#links#links

Shared via AddThis

This is not even a participation trophy....not cool!

God Forbid we ever hurt our children's ego by telling them they came in second.....right? We are in the age of the participation trophy. Every parent that has children has these idiotic trophies in their house. The kids get one even when they don't win one game.

Well last night the Nobel Knuckleheads went a step further. They awarded President Obama the Nobel Peace Prize after serving less then a year as President.

Nominations took place just 2 weeks after he became President. This is just silliness.

It takes the award and puts it in the category below participation trophies. Now you don't even need to be part of the team.....just say you will be on the team and tell them what they want to hear!

BTW the award is actually selected by 5-6 people. 5-6 Europeans that love their new President....oops I mean our President.

Let's screw the old ponzi swcheme for the new one....not cool!

Wake up Baby Boomers......you have been filling the coffers of one of the greatest ponzi schemes for the past 30 years. Paying your taxes like good dubies.....in hope that social security and Medicare would be there when you needed it. The Government has been perpetrating the "Madoff" scheme and we all know that SS and Medicare are hurting financially.

So now what do we hear.......The new news is that the new big Obamacare spending bill will actually reduce the budget. That always works in my house....come on Denise, lets spend more and we will actually owe less.....idiots

So how can they tell you this.....read carefully sheep....they are now going to get there by tax increases and 400 billion cut out of MEDICARE. So let's further de-fund the ponzi scheme and take from the people who have paid into this nightmare plan for decades....and then lets give it to the uninsured. Redistribution baby....


Hope you all enjoy cat food.

Can CNN be any more Bias?....not cool

I am sure the Wolfster did not do a segment on Sarah Palin spoof on SNL. They probably did not "fact" check the whole "I can see Alaska from my front porch thing"....or the thousands of times George W was the butt of the jokes....but the first time SNL goes out on the "I don't fully back Obama limb"....then here comes CNN to make sure we all know that SNL is just comedy.

What idiots.

SNL.......this was funny....as was the Sara Palin and George Bush stuff. Keep true to your heritage.

Rockets over Iran....not so cool!

One more slap to the "global love fest" Iran thumbs their nose at the rest of the world and fires test missiles over the weekend.

Mr Obama should sit back and not say a word....right? Isn't he the guy that last week told the UN that no country should be the "super power"....let's continue to diminish our countries role in the world.

Well here ya go.....President Obama...we are the super power...we are the big dog on the porch. Guess what? No one likes the big dog. We need to stop apologizing for our past success and move forward to make sure that if anyone steps in our yard....we bite them.

Sanchez and the Jets 3-0....not so cool for us!

As we again have Marc "injury prone" Bulger going to the side lines....and the resurrected Boller coming to the pocket....I think we all will second guess that number one draft pick. We picked OT Jason Smith....over Mark Sanchez. Look out over the NFL and there are not that many great quarterbacks. Guys that make a difference, guys that lead a team. We don't have one and we desperately need one. Time will tell if my initial concerns will come true.

We should of picked the "golden" boy and gambled that he would of lead our team to victory.

When your new bride cheats....it's not cool!

That is the way President Obama must feel right now..........really his new buddies, the Iranians, were actually building nuclear technologies when we said there should be no world superpowers?

So here you have it. Iran gets caught red handed in building an additional nuclear facility and Obama now must step in front of the press and tell them that's a no no......

This right atfer Obama's speech at th UN. If you have not seen the speech....do so
Here is a part 1 of the speech. Once on You Tube you can keep clicking to see the entire speech.


It's long but the scary highlights were the fact that he believes that no country should have the power to influence or control other nations. The man is a globalist. He wants to be king of the world.

He is a great speaker, you really need to review in detail and read between the lines to understand his very scary view of America's future.

The worst part was his comment regarding the his view that there should be no superpower in the world. How does he think he has this pulpit....we are the superpower....or should I say we were. He is weakening our country and trying to be friends with nations that hate us and what we stand for.

Wake up America

The afgan squeez....not cool!

Bob Woodward was at it again! His "leaked" article is one that all should read.

I am sure the Administration was not to happy with this type of information being leaked to the press. The inner circle thoughts of our military leaders is not in my mind, made for public consumption.

I don't care what side of the political nonsense is running the Government......we should not be telling everyone the ins and outs of our strategy on the Afgan war.

Now that we know though.......President Obama...who absolutely stated that the war in Afghanistan was where the focus of the US should be..... during not only his campaign, but his first few months of office....is in a tough spot.

The left would prefer the US to roll over and waive the white flag....These are the same idiots that think we can win the war on terror....I'm not sure how...but they say they want to do it!

Keep this info in the back of your mind.....Obama has some interesting months ahead of him in regards to Afghanistan.

Obama Double Talk....not cool!

First they have wrote a health care bill that contained no rules to stop illegal aliens from receiving health benefits under the 1,000 page manifesto......then someone actually read the bill and hammered the administration and congress about allowing illegals to get health insurance.....then President Obama states ...."Illegal aliens will not receive health benefits under his plan......


yeah right

"President Obama said this week that his health care plan won't cover illegal immigrants, but argued that's all the more reason to legalize them and ensure they eventually do get coverage"

Read my proof

Bush was also for amnesty ......

There is no way we will ship theses 12 million criminals back....yes I said criminals....they are breaking the law. Just remember how North Korea handled the same situation when two American journalists were "illegally in their country....they threw them in jail.

I am not saying that we should throw them in jail....but a free welcome card to the US is not in order. This is a topic for another day.

My point today was to show that Mr. Obama wants to cover them.....remember it's our patriotic duty! Ha Ha !

This guy is on the wrong track and we need to prepare to throw out the bums the next election and balance the power in Washington. We are stuck with the President for awhile....but each of you need to vote to send a fiscal conservative to Congress.

BC versus BCE....not cool!

Do you even know what BCE is? I didn't until a few days ago.



Let's start with.....my two oldest did not know of the BCE wave that is hitting our schools....my 8th grader had definitely heard about it.....and my 6th grader could of taught the subject.



Most people understand that BC stands for Before Christ.....most think AD is after death, although it really stands for "Anno Domini" in Latin or "the year of the Lord" in English.



BCE stands for "Before Common Era" The schools are replacing BC with BCE. Chris told me of an hour long discussion in history class regarding the terminology and how it is more appropriate to use the BCE term.



Are you kidding me???? They are trying to take the word Christ out of our language. Yes...I am exaggerating at this point....but they would if they could. Who in the world sat around and decided that BC needs to be changed....so it can become more appropriate?



Maybe it is being lead by our so called Christian president?....oh yeah...no this is the same "Christian " that felt it necessary to have an official party at the White House for Ramadan...here is the proof ....but did not feel the necessity to have any ceremony for the National Day of Prayer.... here is my proof

He and his cronies ....I'm sorry.... Czars are not only running this country into the ground financially, they are disassembling the foundation that this country was built on.

His radical friends, theories and actions are opening the door to all the people who believe that this country should be a European state.

Wake up America and call your schools!

Tennis shot of the year?

Check this shot out.....amazing. OK I am back and I going to try to blog everday this week.

So I start with an easy blog....just a video to start your week.

Obama is bad news to Christians....not cool!

We may be all worried about the socialist overtures of this president, but do not let the little things go unnoticed. This guy is working at break neck speed to unravel our country. He has to, his approval rating is sinking like a brick in a pool. As more and more people hear about, not only his plans but, his actions....they are starting to wake up to the fact that he does not represent main streams attitudes about family, religion, liberty and the fact that our country is GREAT.

Twitter Posting.....very cool!

My partner John sent me this twitter posting. It's extremely funny. Here is this 28 year old guy.....living with his dad.....and just tweeting what the old guy says...

Take a look.

Twitter Post

a few things...this is not for the kids....there is a lot of potty mouth...the old guy swears like a sailor...but for adults...it's very funny

He also has just 21 tweets....that's nothing and he already had 145,000 followers. Good writing.....people read!

Bro turns 50....not so cool!

Today my brother Tim turns 50.....50!!! where has the time gone? I am the last sibling in the 40's HA HA you old farts!

Anyway, Happy Birthday Tim!

My brother and I have always had a good relationship. He is a great guy. You will never hear a bad thing said about my bro. I have a lot of fond memories....and maybe not so found memories (ha ha)

I will just list a few....

camping and meeting all the kids in campground!
Never really hitting me in a fight....where as I was the little brother who would throw knives.
Half Gallon, Half Pint, GY....Good Year....
scaring the crap out of each other on a daily basis
Free Wild Turkey
CCSU visits
The Van
Daytona, Fort Lauderdale, Bermuda....Bermuda...Dark and Stormies...gettem up gettem up gettem up....Robin Hood Pub
Standing up for each other at our weddings...standing up for one of my princesses..
Scaring the daylights out of me in St Louis
Michigan Football

The list is endless.....

I wish you a Happy Birthday Tim-

God Bless.

Pete

Keep the kids close.....cool!

My senior has asked to have an outdoor movie night tonight. Her Literature class had to read Sea Biscuit over the summer and they thought it would be fun to get together and watch The Biscuit. Last year Chris and I made an outdoor movie screen.....before you go and call us the Rockafoleys like one of my buddys does....We made it out of a king size sheet, two plumbing conduits, a couple of pieces of rebar, some gromuts and rope. Total cost, under $20! We borrow a projector from www.showmecables.com (blatant plug)and there ya go!

The quality is actually pretty amazing.....anyway....

It has always been our dream to have the place where kids feel comfortable and have fun. They won't be here for long, so a good Friday for us is watching these kids enjoy themselves, laugh and watch the "Biscuit".

What a talent.....very cool

Check out this little guy.....he is amazing.

First Day at School again.......Cool!

This is the first year that I did not follow the bus to school. Denise even seemed a bit sad not to see me sprint to my car after we kissed our little people before they ran up the bus steps.

Chris joined his sister at middle school this year. No more elementary kids....so no more following the bus. I don't think Chris would appreciate it anymore....he proudly wore his Lancer football jersey and set off to his new school.

Of course Taylor and Jessica had to get a ride into school today.....they could not be seen on the yellow train of shame!

All in all, it was probably the least emotional off to school day we have ever had....boy are we getting old!

Study hard little people!

An American Revolution......cool?

Take a peak at this article from the American Thinker. It will take you 5 minutes to read. The main point concerns the amount of concessions we, the American people, have made in the past 10 months in regards to OUR government taking control of private institutions.
Revolution by Herbet Meyer.

A perfect day.......very cool

10,000 Maniacs sang:

These are the days
These are days you'll remember
Never before and never since, I promise
Will the whole world be warm as this
And as you feel it,
You'll know it's true
That you are blessed and lucky

A great song and time for me to reflect on a terrific day yesterday.

A rare day here ....all the girls are floating this weekend with the Girl Scouts....now before you say, that's what was great....no not at all. It did change my house to the "man cave" for the weekend however.

The weather....95 degrees with a nice warm breeze.......Bright blue sky

My son's first tackle football game at 7:45
Got up early and cooked him up a man breakfast....lots of bacon, eggs and toast!
The game was a scrimmage of all the Jr Lancers from 6th grade to High School attended. They had the little guys stretch out with the big guys. 200-250 players all lined up grunting and shouting and getting revved up....it was .....manly.

Then we decide to go ice sledding.....yup....Chris, his buddy Gavin and I went to a County park and slid down hills on blocks of ice. We were so filthy at the ned we needed to change for the ride home....Excellent Time!

The park was about an hour a way.....GREAT ride....we had the weather, the top down, great tunes....and of course 25 cent slushies.....both ways!!.(.the Cards had scored at least 6 runs the day before).

We get home and break out the man dinner. Denise had given me Omaha Steaks for my birthday....so Chris and I cooked up two filet migons with bacon wraps, potato slices and sweet potato slices....onions and red peppers on the grill. We broke out the little dining tables and ate in front of the big screen. The flick.....we rented "The Bridge on the river Kwai" This was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid....It still was great and Chris loved it.

Topped off the evening with an intermission to Silkys......

Didn't hit the rack until 11pm....

could it get any better?

great day.....Thanks Chris!

Very scary prediction.......not so cool

This speech was given by Ronald Reagan back in 1961. LISTEN to this! It will take a few minutes but it's worth it.

It's amazing how insightful Reagan was....no wonder he became president.

BTW....I was not at the time a Reagan fan and did not vote for him!

Summertime is just cool........

My clan has had a very busy summer this year.

Our big event was a family cruise....and I mean family! My in-laws hosted 16 of us on a 9 day Caribbean cruise. Absolutely top shelf and I was able to play hoop everyday "on the boat"

If you have never been on a cruise....well Royal Caribbean is one of the best. The customer service on a cruise is simply heads and shoulders to any hotel I have ever stayed at.

The kids loved their freedom, and the adults loved the food! I was little weary of the rocking, but I did not feel sea sick at any time. It was an outstanding time to spend with Denise's side of the family. Thanks Mom and Dad!

We then spent a week in CT with my side of the family. We went to a family reunion...Yeah Fried Dough!, We went to a family wedding. We had a BBQ at my brothers, we pulled together a small reunion of college friends...visited with some of our oldest and closest friends....busy week.

Jessica spent a week in Washington with HOBY....then we were all finally back together in St Louis.

We have had two "Dive-ins" this year. It's when we have a bbq.....swim a bit and then host an outdoor movie. Last year Chris and I built a screen out of a bed sheet, rope and plumbing conduit...it works great and it only cost me $20.

Chris has started Tackle Football!! I will post some video and pictures when I get them!
Jess and Taylor will be starting soccer next week. Shelby has decided to not play this year and plans to join the play at school.

Denise has now become a full time volunteer at the HS......at least it seems that way!

And I am back happily selling cables....

more later....I promise!

How have ya been?, havn't seen you in a while?....not cool!

As Dave Mason sings....How have ya been?, havn't seen you in a while?


I have again fallen off the train of blogging. I am a little overwhelmed with the amount of information that is hitting me in the face each day. Am I watching too much Fox network and listening to too much right wing radio? I don't know....I am addicted. The political landscape is very scary. I could list 10 things that I could rip on...

I really strongly recommend that you watch Fox at night. Catch O'Rielly, Hannity, Gretta or Beck. There is a lot of information that each of us need to know.

On a personal note we have a bunch of great stuff happening at our ranch along with a bunch of great stuff that has happened in the past few months.

So I will start with the personal stuff and ramp back up to my rants!

The Blues......very cool

If you like the Blues or as Chris and I call it...Tubbing music.....then jump in the tub, grab an ice cold beer and watch this little kid get it done.

So I Lied......cool however!

I said I would only blog once on the "stupidly" issue....but this was too funny not to post. Thanks to the Twister for his submission!

Man up Mr. President....not cool

Being aware of the mountain of press this issue has already gotten.....I will blog only once on this issue.

The whole Stupidity comment:

For any of you living under a rock....here is the original clip


then he goes on to "apologize????????


So we are going to have beers at the White House? Really....Doesn't Obama have enough on his plate.

He made a mistake....He should of just manned up and apologized. Instead he cannot just do that...He tells us it is a teaching moment and have a beer.

He can apologize for The United States all over the world....amazing when he is absolutely in the wrong......he cannot just say sorry and move on.


Man Up!

More Common Sense.....cool!

I am totally against the government running more of our health care. I do believe that we need to have the programs we do have, as discussed in my earlier post. These are the safety nets that compassionate people believe in. It's unfortunate that the government cannot even get these programs correct.

The country cannot afford to pay for everybody's health care on the backs of the 10-15% of the population that actually pay most of the federal income tax. They are going to have to tax everyone....or cut services so bad that we will be going to Canada for their crappy benefits. If we want a safety net....fix and expand the ones we have.

With that being said....The one issue we do not have in this country is catastrophic health care insurance. It's not the 1-2k of expenses that may come up in a year that financially crush people. It's the 50-500k once in a lifetime issue that puts them in the poor house. We should add catastrophic health care.....let's say with a 3-5k deductible. This way, people who may not have the best plan, or may not have insurance do not get crushed when the worst happens.

This would help the middle class....the majority of the United States. Clean up and get Medicaid and Medicare right! That is the safety net. Add catastrophic health care...I am not sure how....but it has to be easier then starting a whole new program.

The Common Sense needs to begin.....cool!

The discussion of Heath care has to first begin with some clarifications.

First things first...we already have at least three programs for health care in the country that the government runs....Medicare, Medicaid and health care for veterans.

Medicaid is the United States health program for eligible individuals and families with low incomes and resources.

Medicare is a social insurance program administered by the United States government, providing health insurance coverage to people who are aged 65 and over, or who meet other special criteria.

And I believe we have all seen the horror stories on 60 minutes regarding the VA.

I am not aware of the financial issues of the VA, But both Medicaid and Medicare are in trouble financially. By the definitions, I would think that we have health care covered. Old people...special needs people and poor people are all covered.

It's a fact that these program do not work financially....both programs do not have the money to run in the future.

The question is? are these good programs?....if they are...then fund them correctly and we are done....if the real reason for this trillion dollar boondoggle is truly to help that 49 million un-insured, then these programs should do the trick.

If the programs do not run effectively....fix them first.....show us Big Government that you can fix what you have before you start a new, and what could be, an overlapping program.

Common Sense Government.....cool!

After my two and a half week hiatus I am back to start tpo promote Common Sense Government.

Health care is the new hot topic. We have moved from taking over the financial and car industries to the take over of the health care industries. The 1,000 page bill that is rolling through congress right now is bad for the US. We need to all stop this boondoggle before it bankrupts the country.

Obama and the crew tell us it's all about the un-insured....the 49 million Americans that cannot get insurance....oh wait....maybe "cannot get" is not the right wording...the number is now in play. I have heard the count may be as low as 11 million when you take out people who make enough money but choose to have the big screen instead of insurance.....take out the illegal aliens...that's right they are counting them too.....or should I call them the soon to be new citizens....and next thing you know the number is 11 million. Sounds like a lot... 4.4% of the population. Is the tail wagging the dog on this issue?

Anyway....if it's only about them, then why the 1.5 trillion dollars of more debt? That's close to 300k per person to fix the issue.....I think that math is right....my calculator does not do well with trillions.

In my next blog, I will explain my "common sense" thoughts to this issue

Quiznos Dudes....cool

We have a Quiznos down the street from the office. Over the years I have been there a few times. Almost every time was a bad experience. The owner...I think...was never there. There were always a bunch of young punks running the store....into the ground. The place closed...(which is almost impossible in the valley of the franchise) then reopened. As I earlier blogged, I was sucked into the advertising for the new Torpedo and Sammies. They were GREAT!

That has not changed,...in fact I love the Turkey Pesto Torpedo! The reason for the short rant today is the trio of guys that are at our quiznos. 1st....they are the same three guys every time I have been in there....(about 3-4 times in the past few months) 2nd....they either have great memories are know how to fake making you feel like they know just who you are. 3rd they are having some fun making sandwiches and working with the customers. All of this lends itself to a great experience.

I love great service....Quiznos Chesterfield has it.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford is an idiot...not cool

Everyday gets worse for this idiot. OK you had an affair....so you screwed over your wife who has dedicated her life to you....and also your 4 sons. Nice way to teach your sons to be good men. But enough already....shut up...you are making it worse. It seems everyday he has to bear his soul to the media.....this time he not only coughs up that he saw the women more then just the two times that he claimed....but that he has also has crossed the line a few more times throughout his marriage.

Today I read this garbage...."This was a whole lot more than a simple affair, this was a love story," Sanford said. "A forbidden one, a tragic one, but a love story at the end of the day." Why don't you just kick your wife in the face.
I am just so tired of reading about this wimp.

What an idiot.

Patriot Video.....cool

Take a look at this video......

They always come in three....not cool!

Michael Jackson....By now everyone has heard the news. Famous deaths always come in threes.....that's and old wives's tale....but it did happen this week!

Interesting coverage of this issue....

My first exposure was on talk radio....no surprise there. My buddy Frank Opinion from KTRS had an interesting spin on his death. He said he knew that there would be hours upon hours of coverage of this issue and that people would be saying what a great guy he was...what a great loss to the world. Boy was he right! But what he went onto explain was his thought about Jacko. He said good riddens...the guy was a pedophile and if he wasn't rich....he would be behind bars. He went on a mini rant on how....yes the guy was a talent....15 years ago....but today there was no big loss.

Frank also believes that OJ is guilty. Both of these guys were acquitted of all criminal charges. So should we remember them as guilty? I am not sure.

I think the WSJ had the best opening line.
"While he led a controversial life, there is no doubt about his talent and impact on the music industry."

I am not going soft on criminal behavior, I just have to live in our justice system.

Ed Mcmahon and Farrah die this week....not cool

Who at my age and my gender did not have this poster....if you didn't....then I hope you enjoyed Brokeback Mountain.

2 major "stars" fell silent this week. I was never a hue Johnny and Ed fan, but if you read anything about the man....he was just that ...a good person.

Charlies Angels....what a show....I was a lone wolf in my crowd at the time. Guys either loved Farrah or they loved Jaclyn Smith...me...I was a Kate Jackson fan.

Good memories, God bless them both!

Jessica's nose....I guess it's cool!

For close to 11 years Jessica has not breathed through her nostrils. She broke her nose as a little "clumsy" kid and in addition has a deviated septum......whatever that is. She was finally old enough to have the operation to fix the break and clean out the septum???

She has been living.....and I mean living on my couch. When Jessica tells you she is bored of TV....you know she has watched a lot of TV. She has been a real trooper about this. They told Denise that it may take 6 months to a year for the entire swelling to finally be gone. I cannot wait to see her on the soccer field this fall and seeing how much faster this very fast kid is now that she can breathe!


Except for the bunchy shorts issue.....all has been pretty good.

Daddy Daughter night.....cool

Denise and my two oldest are to the Muny tonight. I gave Denise season passess to this venue for the summer. Every couple of weeks or so she and one or two of the girls go and see a play.

In addition....my new part time job is at summer camp. Chris is at Boy scout camp this week. Between the math, scouts, getting him ready for football....he started sucking up all of my free time....thus his new title.

Anyway....That leaves me and the Shelbster for the night. Always a great time to get one on one with one of the brood. And a night with Shelb is always a treat.

Off to Genghis grill for dinner with all the girls and then Shelby and I will find something to do!

Info overload....not cool!

It is almost impossible to keep up with what is going on politically these days. There are a couple of issues that make it worse then normal.
The main stream press albeit, most local newspapers and network news is in Obama's camp. I don't mind that they love him....but let's tell the news. On the other hand you have right wing radio....Rush, Savage, Beck, Ingrahm....and many more. They do a good job of pointing out what is going on that you may not know about....

Take for example one of the biggest issues...the Chrysler Chapter 11. It passed today on account of Obama's pressure on the courts to uphold his arrangement. Does not sound bad until you dig into the details. When someone goes into bankruptcy, secured creditors get in line first. Unsecured creditors get what's left over. This is how it always works....people who invest in businesses....loan to businesses....and buy businesses depend on this rule of law. Obama put the secured creditors at the back of the line...giving control to unsecured creditors and one of his European buddies Fiat. There will be huge ramifications in the financial markets to come based on his agenda.

Back to info overload.....so without hearing too much of this on mainstream news....and the talking heads of Right wing radio harping on it....two things happen. I have to go then and look for deeper information to confirm the radio guys. It takes more time....and there are not just a few issues. Obama is working at such a fast pace....he needs to! In less the 18 months the economy will still be in the toilet....unemployment will be over 10%....and people will again want change....he may lose some of his power in the house as the result of mid term elections.

Anyway....wow what a ramble....So much to keep up with, let alone try to formulate a coherent paragraph....not that my blog even closely resembles coherent literature!

Off to Outbacks for Taylor's 17Th birthday dinner.

Too much customer service?....I guess it can't be "not" cool!

I flew out to Philly last week on business. I flew in at 1, rented a car, had a meeting at 3 and was gone the next morning at 10 am. As most of you know...I hate poor customer service. So I ask you....can there be too much customer service?

I rented a car from Enterprise off of Yahoo travel. It's fast, you can compare rates and my history of checking around has taught me that the rates are usually the best you can get. It took less the 10 minutes to rent the car.

I show up at Enterprise and the counter person comes around the desk, shakes my hand, welcomes me to Enterprise. All very nice....but I am in a hurry. She gives me the run down on the gas and insurance things that I always waive. chats me up about St Louis and my flight. 5-10 minutes and we are done. I figure great give me the keys and point me in the direction of the car. The usual gig....oh no...Miss friendly comes back around the counter and leads me outside. She asks me to wait and then brings the car around front for me. She then has me do am outside inspection of the vehicle getting to agree that the only issue is the scrapes on the back bumper. ...I am now getting a little antsy and want to get out of there.....

I fill out some more paperwork and I am on my way. It really was a good experience. But I really didn't need the extra attention. If it was pouring...then that would of been really cool, but it was a great day out. Can you over customer service people to the point of being a little annoying? Am I just a grumpy-pants as my daughters sometimes call me? Not sure, but with all that effort I was not wow'd

Maybe she just though I was hot.....guess not, they treat all their customers that way!

Knaves and Knights....hard ...but cool

Chris is taking this braniac math course this summer. No bragging or anything....the little dude is a math whiz....anyway, so he gets his first 27 problems and they are all variations of this:


A very special island is inhabited only by knights and knaves. Knights always tell the truth, and knaves always lie. You meet three inhabitants: Zippy, Ted and Bob. Zippy claims, `Bob and I are both knights.' Ted tells you, `Of Bob and I, exactly one is a knight.' Bob says, `Ted could claim that I am a knight.'
So who is a knight and who is a knave?

And by the middle of the questions...they add in an additional issue that these people could be normal or not normal.....they can either lie or not lie

Then 3/4 of the way through they add another twist.... in that they can also be werewolves.

If you are wondering what the answer is....Chris will need to post the answer!

This took some serious concentration..and with help from Chris I figured most of them out!!!!

Phone Cord Detangler.....so cool!

I cannot tell you the amount of times that I have pulled the phone off my desk when I answer it. Hello....oh wait a minute....crash ...crash..Hello? of sorry about that....all this when you try desperately to untangle the phone cord so your face is not 3 inches from the desk.

So we started selling these little phone detanglers
They are really awesome.

Last month we sold out of them and the next thing I know one of the guys in the warehouse comes by and "steals" my personal detangler off my phone....anything for customer service I suppose.

Now I am back to the 3 inch leash....gotta run back to the warehouse and grab me one of these!

Reverse Tithing.....cool!

If you have not seen this article........


Bay Community Church in Malbis, Ala., gave away $50,000 to its parishioners.

Instead of asking its members for donations, the trustees of Bay Community doled out cash. Each of the church's 2,000 congregants walked away with an envelope containing between $20 to $100.

But there's a catch; the cash is not for them.

Along with various amounts of cash, the envelopes contained instructions to "turn around and bless someone."

"The instructions were simple, you can't give it back to the church and you can't spend it on you and your family," Associate Senior Pastor Trey Taylor told WALA-TV. Taylor masterminded the plan to spread goodness and cash during tough economic times.

Here is a link to the entire story

Some basic information:
The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, a sexual orientation law and public policy think tank, estimates that there are 8.8 million gay, lesbian, and bisexual persons in the U.S There are roughly 304,000,000 people in the US. That means this group represents about 2.8% of the population.


Today New Hampshire joined other states in Gay Marriage. Here is a cut from yahoo news.....
The law will take effect in January, exactly two years after the state legalized civil unions. New Hampshire joins Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, Vermont and Iowa in recognizing same-sex marriages, though opponents hope to overturn Maine's law with a public vote.

This is not a discussion on whether it should be legal....I will leave that for another day.... my thought is why on earth is this issue on the front page of the paper EVERY single day. This is issue effect less then 3% of the population. With the coverage this gets....you would think it effected 97% of the population. If the press would just spend equal amounts of time in relation to population on other items.....guess what?....there would be no room in the papers or the news broadcast....this is a very small majority in the United States. Agree with them or not......I am tired of listening to it.

Obama is being a hypocrite.....not cool!

So the president wants a night out with the wife.......sound normal to me.

So off to NYC to see a Broadway show! Again, nothing I have not done when I lived in CT. Then again I did not just come off the lecture circuit telling the Big Three's executives that they were basically Pigs....how dare they fly to Washington on their private jets. Oh wait....He could understand that it was probably the mot efficient way to get them there....but it was timing boys....how dare you be so elitist when your companies are in a financial mess. He had everyone including his personal press up in arms.

With that said.....3 Gulf Streams to not only to carry the president, but the press....(God forbid they are not by his side like a good lap dog)THREE private jets....so he and his wife can fly from Washington to NYC. Was this the same guy who just push GM into bankruptcy this week....is this the same guy whose financials.....are a mess.

Timing Mr. President....shame on you.....That million dollar date....I am sure many people could of used that money back in a tax cut. I am sure you could of found something in Washington to do......

Blogs are......cool!

Last night at dinner we started reminiscing about our 6 week tour of the US last year. Everybody went around the table on what was there favorite place. Taylor's was Sante Fe, Jessica's was Seattle, Shelby loved Sedona and Chris loved Alcatraz.

Then we went back to Taylor's blog and started reading about our daily adventures. It was a lot of fun. Blogging can be a real pain, but it's a great way to keep track of all the "stuff" that happens in your life.

Under my favorite blogs on the right, you will see the top three are Taylor's tour blog, Taylor's daily blog....in which she writes once a month.....and the blog of the installation of my pool. All very funny blogs.

Credit Card Legislation....surprisingly from me....pretty cool!

Now this may take some of you by surprise....but I do think the new bill passed by congress today could be a good thing. Congress passed sweeping new rules on how credit card companies can run their business. Now before you go and get the smelling salts for me.....let's take a look at this thing.
"In general, the new rules — which go into effect in nine months — will protect debt-ridden consumers from many of the surprise charges common in the industry, such as over-the-limit fees and costs for paying a bill by phone" AP

Some of the rules are fine by me....like
You cannot change interest rates on like crazy.....we have laws the say Guido can't do it....so why can Chase
I heard that the crazy interest that is charged to people who miss the pay day by one day will be outlawed.

On the other hand....although it protects the deadbeats, the uninformed and others it will hurt
"cardholders who pay off their balance in full each month could see new annual fees and lucrative rewards programs canceled" AP

Lastly, credit cards will be harder to obtain. No surprise there! If you are going to make it hard for them to make money in one section of the market....they will not give cards to that section of the market.

So more people will have to use debit cards or checks....which in turn will not allow them to put things on credit.....they will need to HAVE the money if they want something...there is a novel idea....but remember....they will not buy on credit....the economy will feel even more of a squeeze...less spending, although on credit....but less spending.

This is the Medicine that is way over due......let's hope the cure does not kill the patient.

At Last John Wins..........kinda cool!

I have been here in St Louis for 7 years. My partner is a workout junkie, riding, running or tumbling hours each day. When I first got to St Louis, John would consistently ask me to get on the bike and take a ride with him. 7 years of begging off.......maybe due to the fact my partner is a very skilled cyclist, where I am a guy whose bike seat is barely broken in.

Well today he won. We decided to take bikes into the valley for lunch. Don't get too excited, the valley is just 2-3 miles away. It was an outstanding day and the ride was great. There was a good breeze.....so no major sweating...ok my butt hurt a little ......but I was actually enjoying it.

I thought..."OK, I could do this every day..........."

Then I got a flat.

Pock ee Staaan really? not cool!

When did Pakistan ( pack i stan) become Pock eee staaaaaan.

Have we been saying it incorrectly for 40+ years?

Now I may be showing my stripes....but I think I started hearing it from President Obama.....now all the media pronounces it "correctly". Each time I hear it....my skin crawls.

If the new way is the right way......why weren't we corrected decades ago?

For all of you St Louisians....is it Chevys or Shevys....(I know it's spelled with CH dopey)

Camping....cool?.......

With my youngest finally hitting the Boy Scout road....I am being dragged back into my camping days. My memories of all the camping I did in my youth returned. I have very fond memories of not only camping with the boy scouts, but with my family in our "pop-up" trailer.

Then Saturday morning came....wet shoes, cold, wet grass, wet tents, packing all this stuff up......and I remembered why my idea of camping is a Holiday Inn without a pool.

Some things I had to "re-learn" about camping.....

Bring extra shoes....bring extra clothes
get a good night sleep the night before the weekend camp out
bring a bunch of heavy duty paper plates...washing is a pain
bring a cup if you want something to drink
Bring a chair to sit around in.....lots of sitting around as an adult.

Some things I can say that went really well....
Buy an air mattress with a battery operated pump.
juice up the ipod/iPhone and bring earphones....bring a battery lantern, they work great in the tent, bring a paperback.
Bring a one man tent....no roomies, keeps you warmer.... a breeze to set up!

Oh yeah....when Denise found out I went out and bought an air mattress....she texted me that I was a Wus and that I should Man up! I guess I won't tell her that I snuck out for a Large Hot Tea at Mcdonalds.....and just happened on a clean bathroom.


Oh Yes, Camping....I'm Back

Chrysler profitable is 2012.....really?....not cool!

Yesterday in the WSJ it was reported that Chrysler would be profitable by the year 2012! Sounds Great right....

Is this the same firm that Obama and the boys moved into bankruptcy this week? Do they really think we fell off the turnip truck last night?

OK ....so I can tell all my creditors that either I am defaulting....giving you 30 cents on the dollar or swapping my worthless stock for your debt.....thus giving me a clean balance sheet....all my debt gone....and it still takes me 2 years to be profitable?

A guy at basketball this morning stated that if he was not married and had 4 kids....he would be profitable.....

Craziness has taken control of the economy!

Luke 18 Mass...very cool!

Last weekend was the Luke 18 retreat weekend at our church. About 80-90 8th graders go through a retreat to prepare themselves to become confirmed in the Catholic church. The retreat is run by the Life Teens in our parish. Each year they end their retreat with the 5:30 Life Teen mass. This is our favorite Mass. It is always filled with teenagers and is full of great music and worship. When the "Lukers" are there....it's one of the best masses of the year.

What makes it great is the music. John and the band do a great job. One of the highlights is always when John stops the band and the kids continue to sing....70 voices fill the church....no more guitars, drums and piano....just them. It's just a fantastic sound.

Great Job St. Alban Roe!

Here is one of the songs they did on Sunday....Listen to the lyrics.....very cool!

BTW...it is not them....this is the band who actually wrote the song....SAR also does the acoustical version!!

Quizno $4 sub.....cool!

OK, Quizno got me....have they been advertising those new thin subs like crazy of what?

So I went down today and got a few surprises. It was longer then I imagined tasted great! Lunch prices has gotten so far out of whack, it's amazing people go out to eat! $4 for the sub....better then the $6 for the normal size....smaller one is better for me anyway!

I had the Turkey Pesto

Chrysler run by the unions....not cool!

Take a look under the covers on this deal....the four main creditors of Chrysler...the bond holders...the people who are suppose to be first in line in bankruptcy are told by Obama take 20-30 cents on the dollar and get behind the Union for payment. Who are these 4 creditors....TARP recipients. So now the Union owns 55% of Chrysler....Fiat 20%...nice deal...no money down for them! All being run by Obama, who has never run a company in his life. One step closer to Socialism.

PF Changs is cool

If you have not been to a P.F. Chang's, you are missing a great place.

A quick review:

They have a gluten free menu! And the stuff on it ....is the good stuff.

The service is Great! Denise and I usually eat at the bar...the place is always busy and we are never organized enough to make reservations. The bartenders are fast and very well trained.

The drinks are consistent and come in man glasses. If I have to explain what a man glass is....then forgetaboutit!

Get the Lettuce Wrap for the appetizer....then get the Singapore Street noodles sided by the Crazy delicious Spicy green beans.....

Don't forget to tell them to make the sauce ....spicy Drizzle this over the lettuce wraps!

Only downside is the desserts......they are pushing those small shot sized dessert...

Come on....two mouthfuls is not dessert...and I don't know about you....but the crust of the apple pie is not my favorite part of the pie....and that's what it tastes like.

Overall, one of my favorite places.

The Movies.....cool!

Denise and I use to go to the movies at least once a week....that was BK.

16 years later and we have had a fill of Family films. The girls are getting older and they like the scary and the chic flicks so Chris and I end up manning up to whatever is G or PG. The last "Family Movie" turned out just that way. Chris and I at, the surprisingly good, Race to Witch Mountain and the Girls all went to see Taken.

This week Denise and I went to two Movies....YES two movies. We had a couple of sets of coupons that we had won at an auction night.

The first movie we saw was I Love You Man.....very funny...this is full of man humor...some uncomfortable scenes...nothing you would ever bring your kids to....but if you liked Wedding Crashers, this was funnier and more realistic.....and better yet, it did not have Owen Wilson in it.
A great "B" guy movie.

The second was Knowing with Nicholas Cage. It was given poor reviews, but I liked it. Wait a few weeks and it will surely be on the small screen. It is definitely worth the viewing. There is a low level religious theme going on that is pretty cool. The last scene is just really cool. The crazy thing is, when the movie was over the only word that came to mind was........ creepy.

Overall a great movie week......great popcorn too.

Absolute Power Corrupts....not cool!

I don't know about you, but if one of my deadbeat friends wants to repay me the $10 bucks he mooched from me.....I TAKE IT. Makes sense right? Then why is it that the Government has to review and make a decision if they want OUR MONEY back from some of these deadbeat banks. Early this week a few of the big boys got tired of their new buddy's big thumb and said "hey, we can pay you back" So what did Obama and the boys do......we will think about it.

Ask your self why is that? Power...it's not about helping the banks....Obama and the boys want to control the banks.

If you think I am again out on the conspiracy limb....read the journal today about Paulson and Bernanke strong arming the BOA president in taking the crummy Meryl Lynch Deal earlier this year, Here is a summation of it for those that do not get the WSJ.

This should be the Front Page story of all papers...I doubt you will read it on any of them. This will be the first big scandal of President Obama's presidency.....oh wait I meant the first publicized....unless you think having a crook running the treasury department is OK.

Happy Friday....Life is good....Cool

This should start your weekend off with a good feeling!



Playing For Change | Song Around The World "Stand By Me" from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.

The Over "asking" for tips....not cool!

Over Easter weekend we got into a discussion of tips. Here are a few of my pet peeves with tips:

The rules....I am not sure who to tip and how much...do you tip the mailman at Christmas? your barber, the baggage guy...blah blah blah....all of this uncertainty causes frustration and anxiety.

Automatic tipping at restaurants....don't add 18% on to my bill automatically. If you do....you get 18%...not a dime more. BTW I am a 20% tipper in restaurants.

No tip jars that say tips please in retail locations.

Overall I think there should be no tipping. The employer should pay his employees....not me. I pay for the service, it's up to the employer to figure out wages for his people.

Now with all that said, it was interesting to hear my brother say that he was in favor of tip jars in retail places or anywhere else..."it's your choice" he thinks. He also does not tip his barber, his choice and he does not believe that it deserves a tip.

Here is my tip schedule:
20% restaurants, 2-4 dollars to the guys that handle the bags at the airports in the shuttles. I never check my bags in at the outside checkin. I figure if I do not tip correctly my underwear will end up in Asia. 2-3 dollars on a $13-$14 haircut. NO tips in tip jars at retail places. Couple of bucks to the valet parking guy (when you get the car back). $2 for a $5 shine at the airport. I received a ton of grief about that one from the guys at basketball.

Since "Mr. Spread the wealth around" is now in office, I may curtail my tipping altogether and just hand out cards that say "Obama has your tip" (didn't think i would do a non political post did ya?)

Let me know if I am being too stingy!

Proud to be an American....cool!

That was a great video! I think there is a sense in the world that America is a lousy place. That we are the bad guys. I guess that will always be true.

Remember back when our first lady said she was never proud of the US until the US started voting for her husband? Remember how all of her fans said she didn't mean it...?

Well I am starting to think not only did she mean it, but her husband believes it to.

Obama is now back from his apology tour. Thank God. In every country and in every speech he apologized for the US. One of the last straws for me was when he made the comment about how after he took a beating at the America's conference....he said he was glad they did not blame him for what happened when he was 3 months old. A joke? Really? This guy does not like the US period. So strong you think? He in fact is ashamed of what we have become....what we are and what we stand for....why else would the man apologize for all of our policies, our history and our people.

I guess he never really heard the Reverend Wright....God $#@$ America when he sat in those pews for 20 years.

So much to blog about....so little time...not cool

I have started a list of things that need tending....

There is so much going on in the world, most of it very disheartening. But let's start with a video.

God Bless America!

No American Ships.....cool!

Somali pirates hijack 4 ships, take 60 hostages......."The latest seizures were the Lebanese-owned cargo ship MV Sea Horse, the Greek-managed bulk carrier MV Irene E.M. and two Egyptian fishing boats. Maritime officials said the Irene carried 21 to 23 Filipino crew and the International Maritime Bureau reported 36 fishermen, all believed to be Egyptian, on the two boats." (AP news)

Lot's of big talk from these "pirates".....no surprise to me that they picked Lebanese, Greek and Egyptian freighters instead of an American ship. These guys are punks....I hope that the Greeks have the courage to stand up and not pay them. Send their navy?????? and get their ship back. Give into these punks like everyone has been doing for years and guess what? They keep doing it.

I have a question for all of you....during the Bush years, did we have any pirates grabbing our ships? If not, it's interesting that they decided to grab one once Obama came into his presidency. It shows how the world looks at us since Bush is gone. Biden did say that people would test this new president. I guess President Obama surprised them.....Again I will say....Good Job Mr. President.

Taylor's essay.....cool!

Taylor wrote a 5 page essay last week. I was really impressed with the writing and also the topic. Here is the opening part of the essay....thought you would enjoy this. I also thought the book selection by the school was interesting. (sorry about the formatting, the cut and paste did not work that well.)


The Conception of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World
Brave New World itself is a social criticism. Huxley’s major purpose in writing Brave New World was to reveal the horrifying future of “totalitarian ideology and uncontrolled advances in technology and science” (Baker 22). During the 1930’s many thoughts, ideas and events influenced and prompted Huxley to write a book in which the future was completely ruled by technology. Huxley found many faults with society in the 1930’s. He felt “in 1932 he was living in an age in which science had outstripped ethics, and in which there was ‘every reason to suppose that the world will become even more completely technicized, even more elaborately regimented than it is at present’” (23). He believed that ethics no longer played a part in modern society and science was becoming ever-more present. Through the influence of ideas of men like H.A.L. Fisher, events like failing democracies, and the behaviors of men like Marquis de Sade, Aldous Huxley formed his own thoughts and beliefs about society and wrote Brave New World as a warning that the advances in science and technology would increase governmental power and strangle individualism and morality. According to Robert S. Baker, many of Huxley’s ideas came from H.A.L. Fisher, one of the leading English historians of the period. Fisher “saw Europe on the threshold of a new period of ‘insane’ nationalism and extremist ideologies in which its ‘moral unity’ has decisively ‘broken’”(51). Huxley ‘took these ideas to the extreme and revealed the severity of a world where moral unity is choked by the government. Huxley “saw the rapid changes that scientific advancement was allowing in his society and, aided by a strong scientific background, imagined how much further it might go” (Bloom1 2). In World State the government holds so much power that human life itself “is carefully controlled from conception to death” by “outright control of the numbers and types of babies born and subconscious conditioning of people's thoughts” (Hochman 2). From what they look like to what they think, citizens of world state are completely defined and pre-destined by the government of world state. There are no morals in this world, because there God does not exist. The government suppressed all sort of individuality. Since Fisher was a prominent figure in the 1930’s Huxley was influenced by his thoughts, and many are found throughout the novel. Fisher found history to be “a cycle of achieved and lost unity, of social calamities, alternating cultural divisions and deepening lines of fracture” and Huxley agreed with him, and found history a complex tangled web of interacting forces (Baker 51-52). Huxley creates Mustapha Mund for the purpose of expressing that opinion. In the first few chapters Mund explains the way World State is run and informs the students “‘you all remember, I suppose, that beautiful inspired saying of Our Ford’s: History is bunk. History,’ he repeated slowly, ‘is bunk’” (Huxley 34). The characters in Brave New World serve as pawns for Huxley to expose his own opinions through fictitious people.

footnote....TF 2009

Way to Go Mr. President.....cool

"The pirates transferred the 53-year-old Phillips, a Vermont native, to a lifeboat. But the pirates had not counted on the U.S. military's resolve. After a five-day standoff during which a small U.S. flotilla tailed the lifeboat, Navy SEAL snipers on a destroyer shot and killed three pirates and plucked an unharmed Phillips to safety. A fourth pirate surrendered."

On Sunday I could not believe that it took this long to do this.....we have these crazy pirates taking an American flagged ship....then sitting in a lifeboat with one hostage...out of gas.....wanting 2 million. I said, send in the snipers and on the count of three ....end this issue. Obama comnmanded just that!

Now a couple of insights....mine of course.

President Obama...WTG...as commander and chief...you did well. Many in the world have applauded your actions....funny though, if Cowboy George had made the decision I am sure they would have condemned the action. The same people who applauded the action did say however....violence may increase due to our aggression.....I don't think so you marsh mellows....at least not against American ships. I am sure the pirates will still continue to take ships....15 YTD in 2009 alone....but they won't be American ships....it's just business for the pirates...they do not hate us or anyone else, they want the money. They will pick on the skinny weak kid and let the big dog sail right on by....

Another thing you should watch is the coverage on this issue. You will not see the main stream media tie Obama to the issue. They will not say he directed the event....that would be too much "Bush" for them to handle....too much "Reagan". But maybe, just maybe Obama will be strong, unlike Clinton and Carter who allowed our country to be run by the UN and become weak.

Go out and read the press on this issue, How is this not the biggest news of the day?

#1 job of the President.....keep our country safe. Good Job!

The Obama Apology Tour! not cool!

I was just listening to talk radio and the guy was talking about Obama's commitment to apologize to the world due to the fact that he and his wife were never really proud of the United States before his coronation!

He coined the phrase " The Obama Apology Tour" It would be funny if it was not so scary and true.

Obama is like every technician I have met...not cool

You ever notice that when ever a technician or a plumber or other tradesman comes to look at your job, the first thing they say......jeez who did this work, that last guy didn't know what he was doing. Back in my copier days we also fought this type of attitude from our techs. It made the company look terrible. I understood why the tech always wanted to throw the last guy under the bus.....they would look like they were an expert and then be the hero. I still hate when I hear these types of statements......

This is probably why it drives me crazy to listen to Obama and his crew blame someone else ON EVERY OCCASION. America basically sucks...he had no part in it.....(reality is he really did...remember his career in the Senate...oh you can't....that's because he was the ever "present" guy who did basically nothing during his short tenure.) .....and that it's gonna cost us to get it fixed...not his fault.


What really brought this on was his address at the M-20 yuk festival....how does he start....by meeting with Russia and apologizing and blaming the US for not being such nice guys for the past 8 years....

Belly up to the bar Mr. President. Stop being a 10 year old and blaming the kid next to you....the honeymoon is over...suck it up.

Waste of time?....probably...not cool!

In this busy time in our lives....it seems that we keep getting more info shoved at us....more messages, more emails, more junk mail, more phone calls....you get the drift.

Now we have social networking. Not sure what that really means? Well you are using it right now. Blogging was the beginning ......now there are many ways you can "keep in touch" by not really keeping in touch.

I am involved in this crazy stuff due to the impact these programs may have on our e-commerce store, www.showmecables.com . We are not sure what impact it will have, but we do not want to wake up in 2 years to find that our friends at google rank social networking at the top of their criteria for search results. So we waste time on this stuff. Hopefully it sells more patch cables.


If you would like to see the other networks that I need to review DAILY......here ya go...


1st there is facebook...you need to join face find me....Peter Foley St Louis
This one I understand.....it's basically a place where you keep in touch with others by posting remarks, pictures and videos of what is happening in your life.

2nd there is Linked In
This one is really more for business networking. You also need to join Linked In to see me. Again I am under my name and city. We also have a showmecables page....search under showmecables and we appear...you can join our page and hear about all of our companies information

3rd...you can join me at twitter
http://twitter.com/WebOptimization
This is a site that allows me to mini blog ....not sure why....but again, we need to do this stuff....we think!!

OK I think I am done.......Each day this consumes at least an hour. My concerns are:

Am I really keeping in touch with people?
If everyone is doing this....and millions are....at work no less.....and they are not doing it "for their company" then this is a big waste of productivity.

Gotta go......I need to Tweet.