Author: Doug McCaughan

  • Yes, I want a Faraday cage in my basement.

    It’s 2023 and I totally relate to Gene Hackman’s character in Enemy of the State and his Faraday cage. I’m just having difficulty visualizing myself answering my children’s question “Why did you blow up the house?” Me, “Because you made a phone call!” Well, now that I type that it doesn’t seem that far fetched.

  • Today’s Letter to Tim Burchett

    People in the United States, I encourage you to stop replying to people of power in social media. Instead, every time a congress person or elected official puts out a statement in social media, contact them via phone or email. They can ignore your social media replies but should not ignore your emails and phone calls.

    I am a constituent of Mr. Burchett. At 5:14pm on 4/18/2023, Mr. Burchett Tweeted “I went to the Treasury with some of my @GOPoversight colleagues to go through documents related to the Biden family’s shady business dealings.

    I can’t get into specifics just yet, but I suspect a lot of people are very nervous at the thought of these things coming to light…”

    I want Mr. Burchett to stop embarrassing Tennessee and to focus on issues that matter. If Mr. Burchett wasn’t willing to prosecute or hold account the criminal Trump, then he needs to quit with the same on Biden. Tweeting with ambiguity like “I suspect a lot of people are very nervous at the thought of these things coming to light” is sensationalism and designed to rile people up. This is childish and not to the level of propriety expected of a congress person. Put out a statement when you have facts to share not gossip.

    That brings us to your job. Instead of making up issues for political purposes, please focus on issues that concern Tennesseans. Do your job as if you are not going to be reelected and you want to leave a wonderful legacy. Tennessee wants you to address gun safety. We are tired of children dying and wasting money on LEOs in school is not the solution, arming teachers will only get more people killed faster, turning schools into prisons is a horrible idea as it scares children instead of making them feel secure and a scared child is a child that will act out. Permitless carry is crazy. We need background checks, training, regulation, and no one needs something that spits lead at 45 rounds per minute. We need public education fortified in Tennessee instead of privatized. Dick DeVos on Dec 3, 2002 described to the Heritage Foundation that charter schools and vouchers can be used to destroy public education. Moving tax dollars to privatized schools is nothing short of theft. Tennesseans want gerrymandering ended and voter rights prioritized rather than suppressed. Tennesseans want the attack on drag shows ended. Drag shows are not harming children but every week we see another news article about priests and Republicans abusing children. Tennesseans want mass transit not toll roads.

    I personally want you to look at the actions of Governor Bill Lee and objectively ask why he is turning Tennessee into a fascist state. Do something to save our democratic republic. Do your job! You are a congress person not a FoxNews host. You have plenty of meaningful work to do. Stop wasting your time and my tax dollars on political theater!

  • Today’s letter to Tim Burchett

    People in the United States, I encourage you to stop replying to people of power in social media. Instead, every time a congress person or elected official puts out a statement in social media, contact them via phone or email. They can ignore your social media replies but should not ignore your emails and phone calls.

    Today I contacted Tim Burchett:

    I am a constituent. On April 21, 2023 at 6:37am, Mr. Burchett tweeted, “We are broke yet ?@POTUS? keeps funding Foreign countries. Why?”

    I request that Mr. Burchett refrain from such rhetoric without substantiating it. As your constituent, I’m asking that you show in documentation or reputable publications that “we are broke.” I want to see the numbers and Mr. Burchett’s sources.

    As for why are we sending funds to other nations, well, if Mr. Burchett cannot answer that question then clearly he is not qualified for this job. For that matter, it is his job to tell us, his constituents, why. So I demand that Mr. Burchett answer his own question. Why are we funding foreign nations?

    Thank you.

  • Brilliant product designs

    So what genius decided to put Clorox wipes and flushable wipes in the same style container?

  • I’ve declared war on the vines crawling all over my trees

    For years, I’ve begged the children to trim the vines from the trees while I’ve procrastinated doing it myself. I finally removed vines from on of the trees and it looks so much better. I’m excited to continue and cleared 3 more trees today.

    “Cleared” and “removed” are inaccurate. I use an Ax my son gave me for Christmas and chop thru the vine about 3 feet high and then at the ground to remove the bottom 2-3 feet of vine. I am very careful to not damage the bark.

  • ChatGPT

    “How do we steal traffic from Google’s market share?”

    “What if we called our search engine a chatbot? Oh! An AI Chatbot.”

    “Ok. With ads?”

    “No! We will limit functionality in the free version and charge $20/mth for access to our beta version. They will pay to test our software!”

  • I did it! I exercised!

    I actually got on the rowing machine. I was interrupted so it wasn’t as long as intended but it was something. It was a start!

  • How’d yesterday’s exercise go?

    Glad you asked. It didn’t. Hold me accountable. I do have an 8 mile hike planned for Saturday.

  • What do you to be when you grow up?

    I’ve been at this for decades and I still don’t have an answer to that question asked of every 8 year old.

    Quit asking people what they want to be when they grown up. Quit trying to make them define their life purpose. Instead, ask them what do they want to do. If money were no object, what would you be doing with your time right now?

  • A new me

    In my twenties, I enjoyed exercising. I would wake at 4am and be at Court South at 5am with the morning crowd waiting for the doors to open. I’d use the dry sauna, stretch, run the track, use the free weights, sometimes swim and other times play racquetball then finish in the steam-room and possibly ride my bike to work. I never felt better. Then life got in the way.

    I also used to stretch 20-30 minutes in the morning and again in the evenings. I loved my flexibility. At one point, I gave many of my friends and family a Go set and a stretching book by Bob Anderson which was basically the only stretching book at the time because yoga had not taken off and there was no yoga section in the bookstores.

    I lament letting myself go. So tomorrow, April 12, 2023, I begin a journey to get in shape. I invite your commentary and suggestions knowing that I am very limited on time and regularly do not have access to a car. I do have access to a rowing machine and a chest strap heart rate monitor. Let’s get me to drop 20 to 30 pounds, add on muscle and tone, and make my body lean again.

  • c’est la vie

    It is 8:24pm. I have 3 hours of computer work left to do. I have to cook dinner. And there is a third thing I am completely forgetting. This is why you see “cooking at midnight” posts of Facebook.

  • What are my obstacles?

    Me. I am all my obstacles.

  • That was awkward

    We have a young mother who walks in front of our house with her stroller several times a day. Annie, the golden retriever, always barks at her.

    This morning I let the dog out for a walk, off leash, and just happened to go out in the yard with her. I see stroller mom approaching so I begin to place myself between stroller mom and Annie. And I say, “Don’t you do it.” I see a gleam in Annie’s eye and assume she is about to bolt so I quicken my step, slip on the grass, land palm down on our gravel driveway and roll onto my back as I complete my fall. Then a sweet voice says, “Are you okay?” And I reply, “Yup. She’s going to come visit you.”

    Annie instead of running in a scary charge as normal hesitantly walks toward stroller mom while glancing my way then comes back to me.