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From the mouths of babes

I decided to teach Amy the Daimoku today and it is wonderful to chant together with her. At bedtime, I asked her if we could do it again and she wanted to chant then read a book. We repeat the Daimoku 3 times. What does Nam-myoho-renge-kyo mean?

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the Buddhist prayer that means I dedicate my life to bringing out the very best in myself and in all people. [Source, Jason Jarrett of A Buddhist Podcast, A Buddhist Podcast – Bodhisattvas of the Earth, 24:17-26:12]

Dad and Amy (6 years old), repeating 3 times: "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo"
Sarah (15 years old) with shocked look on her face: "You’re brainwashing her!"

Dear Sarah:

Buddhism is about revitalizing humanity, and transforming the world we live in from one dominated by greed, anger, and stupidity into one of peace and happiness. [Source, Jason Jarrett of A Buddhist Podcast, A Buddhist Podcast – Bodhisattvas of the Earth, 2:46-2:58]

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From the mouths of babes

Evan, quickly approaching 3 but already an expert: "OOH peein" (that’s open to the uninitiated) *squint* *grin* "peeeas" (that’d be please)
I think, "Aw, he’s so cute." Then Evan hands me a box of 24 Durex condoms. That’s a whole 2 year supply!
Dad: "A little young for those aren’t you?"

Of course, if you help contribute to the vasectomy fund , I can quit buying those things and think of ALL the oil that could be saved! The material itself, transportation, packaging, manufacturing equipment, and so forth. Snip me, save the planet! You know, if May 27 rolls around and we still only have a penny, I’m tempted to DIY this procedure while streaming it over ustream. I mean, how difficult could it be?

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I love me some Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving TurkeyI thought yesterday was very special. I was tickled that our inlaws chose to join us at our house. The official family Thanksgiving is Saturday at their house when some other relatives will be in town. Between yesterday and Saturday we should have enough Turkey to last until Christmas. For half a decade or so, I have put off (ie. procrastinated) getting a meat thermometer. Yesterday, while the turkey cooked, I went to Walmart to get a meat thermometer, some ice cream, and a few essential non-essentials only to find that I wasn’t alone. I thought I would get to park right by the door but still had to park a distance before trekking around Wally World. Who needs a gym when you shop at Walmart! I did find a few things at the store for which to be thankful even if I don’t understand it. I felt sorry for the poor guy in line in front of me who had to produce his birth certificate, social security card, photo id, bring in three unrelated people to vouch for him, and give a blood sample before he could pay with a check. I sure hope there was a valid reason for the hassles. In America we should not have present papers simply because you look Hispanic. Do our schools teach any history anymore? Can people not draw the parallels between WWII Japanese and how we locked away American citizens because of their Japanese ancestry and today how we hassle American Hispanic citizens because of immigration politicism. Do people not see the risk of another race war hidden behind the word "immigrant?" Have we forgotten our Schoolhouse Rock Great American Melting Pot lyrics?

Whoops. How do these soap boxes keep getting under my feet? Yesterday was a thankful day. I brought a long standing project to a close. I was able to relax instead of spend the day in uncertainty and panic. I was with family and they laughed and played. I am thankful to have found countless friends on the Internet (I dare not make a list of links for fear of leaving someone out or having this post extend endlessly) who share such fascinating stories. I am thankful to those who have helped us in so many ways during the extremely hard times. I am thankful that I am not out shopping today. I am thankful for my children; they make me smile! And everyone knows, I am extra thankful for my wife! She is my sun which I gravitate around; she warms my soul; provides me energy; and shines on me to make my darkness go. I can think of so many things for which to be thankful that I believe I could type this post until next Thanksgiving! I hope you are thankful too.

wrestlinggrandaddyfor the little peopledessert highpirate grubhe who eats with fingers

Update: Illegal immigrant saves 9 year old boy’s life.

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One step closer to 1984

So, how long do you think it will be before US citizens are wearing cages on their heads with rats in them?

…the Republicans are the party of torture, indefinite and unreviewable detention powers, and limitless presidential power, even over U.S. citizens on U.S. soil. By contrast, Democrats have opposed these tyrannical, un-American and truly dangerous measures. [Source]

Has our Senate absolutely lost their collective minds?!

During the debate on his amendment, Arlen Specter said that the bill sends us back 900 years because it denies habeas corpus rights and allows the President to detain people indefinitely. He also said the bill violates core Constitutional protections. Then he voted for it. [Source]

"I am a vegetarian. I’ll have my New York strip medium rare please." Could it be his meds were off and he couldn’t differentiate the YES button from the NO button? Or is Arlen Specter just that smug that he would brag about taking our country down.

When George Bush came into office I joked that his motives were to bring back his daddy’s Cold War and he has made good inroads to doing just that! What I did not realize is GW’s fascination with the Middle Ages. Apparently his sights are set in traveling further back in time than I had ever considered.

There is more in "Habeas Corpus, R.I.P. (1215-2006)":

It leaves the president with the power to decide who is an enemy combatant.
This bill is not a national security issue—this is about torturing helpless human beings without any proof they are our enemies. Perhaps this could be considered if we knew the administration would use the power with enormous care and thoughtfulness. But of the over 700 prisoners sent to Gitmo, only 10 have ever been formally charged with anything.
[Source]

Expect more statements in the news like: The "heart attack" came after he had been beaten so often on this legs that they had "basically been pulpified," according to the coroner. Or not. I suppose the administration probably has some clause that for security reasons the public never needs to know about torturees.

Where will this stop? Is a person that cannot pay their taxes worthy of torture? What about death row? Or better, what about people we suspect maybe, might, have had something to do or perhaps some information on a crime?

Oh! We can stop giving our kids Ritalin. Let’s bring back corpal punishment. Nothing quite like a big armed principal with a wood paddle with holes drilled in it to keep the kids in line.

This bill that passed is a revised version that excludes several "safe guards" from the original bill.

In another change, a clause said that evidence obtained outside the United States could be admitted in court even if it had been gathered without a search warrant. But the bill now drops the words “outside the United States,” which means prosecutors can ignore American legal standards on warrants. [Source]

Right now I am sure many short sighted people are thinking that this bill only applies to the war effort and making our country safer. It is a short leap from applying this bill to the American people.

The bill also expands the definition of an unlawful enemy combatant to cover anyone who has "has purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States." Quick, define "purposefully and materially." One person has already been charged with aiding terrorists because he sold a satellite TV package that includes the Hezbollah network. [Source]

Could the opinions I state in this blog make me an enemy combatant? If I chidingly state that we live in Amerika can I anticipate O’Brien to pound down my door and take me away?

As Vladimir Bukovsky, the Soviet dissident, wrote, an intelligence service free to torture soon "degenerates into a playground for sadists." But not unbridled sadism—you will be relieved that the compromise took out the words permitting interrogation involving "severe pain" and substituted "serious pain," which is defined as "bodily injury that involves extreme physical pain." [Source]

We are living it folks. Bush is a sadist. He will say anything to get his way.

In July 2003, George Bush said in a speech: "The United States is committed to worldwide elimination of torture, and we are leading this fight by example. Freedom from torture is an inalienable human right. Yet torture continues to be practiced around the world by rogue regimes, whose cruel methods match their determination to crush the human spirit." [Source]

Other news discusses Losing the War, Winning a Police State with Bush Co.’s Widespread Warnings, Fanned Fears, NSA Wire Taps, Expanded Powers, and War on Iran.

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Today’s Cool Links

Is MySpace a fad?
A lot of folks have asked me “What went wrong with Friendster? Why is MySpace any different?” I guess i never directly answered that question, even though i’ve addressed the causes in other talks. Still, i guess it would be helpful to piece some of it together and directly attend to this question.

MySpace is not the same as Friendster – it will not fade in the same way. Friendster was a fad; MySpace has become far more than that. If it doesn’t evolve, it will fade, but MySpace is far better positioned to evolve than Friendster was. That said, i think we’re seeing a huge shift in social life – negotiating super publics. I kinda suspect that MySpace teens are going to lead the way in figuring this out, just as teens in the 60s and 70s paved the way to figuring out globalized life with TV. I just hope law doesn’t try to stop culture.
Cold War bunker found in Brooklyn Bridge
(This on the heels of me watching Johnny Mnemonic) NEW YORK (CNN) — New York workers have discovered a trove of Cold War-era supplies within the masonry of the Brooklyn Bridge, a cache meant to aid in survival efforts in the event of nuclear attack. …employees were conducting maintenance on the structure Wednesday when they found the cache on the top floor of a three-floor space inside the bridge’s base… containers were marked with two dates notorious in the annals of the Cold War: 1957 and 1962 and "To be opened after attack by the enemy." "Could it have been a bunker for the mayor? We don’t know."
Men’s strange requests
Video of Big Foot
How NOT to be a man
(This one will make you mad) Are all of you out there following the story about the smug frat-boy asshat who filed a lawsuit claiming that men have the right not to pay any support for a child they fathered by accident?
Moore’s Law of Razor Blades
Expect 14 bladed razors in 2100
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Acting Presidential

Ever get the impression that the White House just doesn’t have the class that it did in the past?

April 7, 2005 — VIDEOTAPE of Jenna Bush in very high spirits at a bachelorette party is being sold and could end up on national TV by the end of the week. Luckily for Jenna, the cameraman missed “the high point . . . Jenna on all fours doing ‘the butt dance’ — and doing it very well — as guys were ogling her thong.

You know, if my daddy was president I think I could keep a clean nose and act appropriately for a 4-8 years.

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Credit Card Debt – My Bane

[NOTE: Be sure to jump to the bottom of this post and read "What spurred this post?" as it has some great links!]

Now
We are a cash family and have been for at half a decade now. I don’t remember the year but it was probably 5-7 years ago I took a glass and cut all my plastic cards up into little shreds, filled the glass and set it on my desk as a reminder to myself. Like the cards, the glass was full.

The Seed of Debt
My debt story is probably not unlike many others. I was in college and walking to class. Someone had a tent and a table setup. I was thristy and they were giving away six packs of coke to anyone that applied for a credit card. I thought, “I have no income. No one will give me a credit card but I am thirsty.” That application resulted in a VISA card with a $500 credit limit.

The Spending Catalyst
I have had 2 car accidents in my life. When I was 19, I drove a Triumph Spitfire under a junker whose wheel had fallen off in the middle of Poplar Avenue, Memphis during lunch hour traffic. The car in front of me zigged and I had no where to go but under the disabled vehicle. That’s a different story and one that would trouble me for 10 years. The 2nd accident, a year or two later, was a hydroplaning incident on I-40 outside of Nashville in a pickup truck and a torrental downpour. That one wasn’t so bad.
The truck accident was during the return to the University of TN, Knoxville campus after visiting the family for Thanksgiving. Christmas break was quickly approaching and I had to get the truck fixed to get home. Turns out the parts I needed (a new fender and new front bumper) came to just under $500. Wanting independence and not wanting to ask Dad for $500 I used my new found power of charge!

The Escalation
After Christmas I returned to campus with a check from Dad for my tuition. That’s when I learned about "deferred payments". I applied for deferred payments which meant I could pay my tuition in 3 parts. 1/3 up front; and 2 other payments during the semester. I used part of the check to completely payoff my $500 credit card because I understood it wasn’t good to carry a balance on these things. A lot of the other money was squandered on beer, some toys, eatting, oh, and of course beer. Did I meantion beer?

The credit card company was thrilled with my spending behavior and upped my credit limit to $750! Ironically, that was just about how much I needed to pay my 2nd payment to the university. I think I bought a $70 Australian Outback hat which to this day people say nice "cowboy hat". It is still one of my favorite hats.

I wasn’t earning as much money as I thought I would to pay the deferments. I think my job only covered my beer and liquor expenses. So I was sweating the third payment when one morning my dorm phone rings. I’m groggy, possibly hungover and some voice offers me a credit card. I replied "sure", gave some information and went back to sleep instead of going to class.
The MasterCard arrived in the mail with something absurd like a $1500 credit limit. The party began and would not end until I was roughly $35,000 in debt.

The List of Cards
My apologies to any evil creditor whom I may have forgotten in this list:

Thirst begat NBC Visa;
Who begat MBNA Mastercard;
Who begat Capital One;
AT&T long distance begat the AT&T Visa;
Middle management begat an American Express card;
The TVA Employee Credit Union begat the TVA Visa;
Car repairs and tire rotations begat Credit First National Bank (Firestone card).
A suit begat a JCPenney store card;
JCPenney regular begat JCPenney Major store card;
A man’s need for tools begat the Sears Premier card;
A washer, dry and ladder begat the Sears Plus card;
Business ownership begat the Fleet gas card;
Marriage begat a handful of pre-existing store and credit cards (which I paid off quickly and before all other cards..those cards of course left when the wife did);
The first wife begat Dillards store card;
Dillards begat Proffits store card;
Proffits begat The Limited store card;
The Limited begat Structure store card;
Vacation begat the Disney Credit Card;

There were debts outside the $35k range:

Marriage begat GM Motors autoloan;
A cracked engine head begat a TVA Credit union loan (Jeep loan);
A desire to not pad the pocket of a property owner begat a Mortgage.
Proprietorship begat several personal loans.
Proprietorship begat a laptop computer lease.
Re-marriage begat two student loans.

This also excludes regular recurring expenses:

  • Homeowners Insurance
  • Auto insurance on two cars
  • Fire insurance
  • Cable television
  • Regular phone line
  • Fax phone line
  • Cell phone
  • Two business phone lines
  • Water bill
  • Electricity bill
  • Garbage service
  • 3 post office boxes
  • Internet access
  • Gym membership
  • $92 per month for a "Get out of debt" course – see the lesson?
  • newspaper delivery
  • medical expenses
  • and food

[Note: much of this has changed dramatically over the years. Luxuries such as "gym memberships" are a thing of the past.]

The Breakdown, The Penalties, The Interest
It’s no secret that as my first marriage failed and my business simultaneously collapsed that I had a little nervous breakdown.

I was having this discussion
In a taxi heading downtown
Rearranging my position
On this friend of mine who had
A little bit of a breakdown
I said breakdowns come
And breakdowns go
So what are you going to do about it
That’s what I’d like to know
-From: Paul Simon, Graceland "Gumboots" (lyrics)

What I did about it was basically ignored my mail for a year. In that time of igoring bills (I was flat broke anyway) I nearly lost my house, had utilities cut off, skipped meals to save money and watched my debt skyrocket. My interest rates of 9 percent shot to 27%. The cards had late fees put on them which caused some of them to go over their limits creating over the limit fees. Mind you, the card company created the charge that caused it to go over the limit in the first place. I had one card with a $700 balance that over the course of 2 years in fees, penalities and interest would grow to be $2100! A $7000 card rose to $14000 without a single purchase!

Payoff Strategies
I meantioned paying $92 per month for a Debt-Free program. This was not credit counselling. I knew how to get out of debt. This was a multilevel marketing program that taught techniques on debt reduction. The monthly newsletter and tape were worth the $92 for awhile. It served as a reminder to stay on track. Basically it taught the same thing that Dave Ramsey (see also Dave Says) teaches on his radio program. Adjust your lifestyle to maximize paying off debts. Do you really need a capuccino every morning? Pay the minimums. This number is the constant dollar number that will be applied toward paying your debt until it is completely gone. If that number is $1200 per month fix it in your head. Now any extra money that can be gathered will be paid toward the card with the lowest balance. Say that lowest balance is $200 and requires a minimum monthly payment of $10. The next lowest card is $550 and requires a minimum monthly payment of $15. Once the $200 card is paid off you don’t look at the $10 you were paying toward it as "extra cash" but instead pay that on the next lowest card. So now the $550 balanced card still has a minimum of $15 but you are paying at least $25 per month because your debt reduction constant of $1200 must be maintained. If the third lowest card had a monthly minimum of $30 per month when the 2nd lowest is paid off that $30 per month will become $55 per month. You can see how that quickly escalates into eliminating debt;however, it assumes steady, predictable, regular income which is not what a consultant has.

What did it cost me?
Debt has cost me an enourmous amount of anxiety, opportunity, health and stress. To list everything it has cost me would require a post in length equivalent to this one but to name a few: I applied and was accepted to the college of Danube in Budapest for a summer program but could not come up with the money to pay for the trip (maxed out cards); I was inspired to hike Europe street performing and juggling but did not know how to pay the cards while doing so and it never happened; I passed up an opportunity to hike the Appalachian Trail with some friends because I did not know how to pay a monthly bill from the woods; and my family has lacked security, educational opportunities and those nice, unnecessary material things you’d like your kids to have as well as necessary things like a van. I also feel tired and old because I’ve carried this burden for so long.
The real kicker is that I am still paying on debts occurred for things that for the most part were either intangible or I no longer own. Even the ladder from Sears is trash now.

What spurred this post?
Today MSN Money ran "Take charge of your credit cards" with these fantastic links:

Another resource: Cardweb – US Credit Card trends

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A New Day! Let’s start the day off with a PayPa…

A New Day!

Let’s start the day off with a PayPal donation link:

This Morning

My body is adjusting to the concept of waking earlier. At 5am my wife kicked me because the music alarm was on and I had not silenced it. I never fell back into anything more than a light sleep. Mostly I stared at the clock until 6am. The next challenge is making myself get out of the bed.

Sarah wanted something out of her room so I went to get it and Amy squeaks in the sweetest little voice “Hi Dada.” I had to reply “Hi Amy. Nite nite.”

This morning I’m in a cool, calm freak out. Needs: call all my contacts, letters to business, call local developers.

Last Night

What more Futurama with the wife. Can’t find any easter eggs on Disc 3 for Season 3 which is somewhat disappointing. After watching an episode of Futurama on DVD we turned on Futurama on television (just worked out that way) but we were both falling asleep so Cathy says turn it off. I began to get frustrated because the dvd remote was having absolutely no effect on turning the show off. After a few seconds Cathy says, “Oh! This is the tv!”

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A New Day! Let’s start the day off with a PayPa…

A New Day!

Let’s start the day off with a PayPal donation link:

This Morning

I didn’t want get up. Drilling a hole in my head felt more inviting than getting up.

Got a waste of time meeting with my recruiter today. Have several opportunities I want to submit resumes for. Want to get downtown to the City County building which is probably closed today. Want to visit the Chamber of Commerce which is probably closed. Want to visit the Lottery Regional office which is probably closed. Want to find the manual to the Jeep and get the starter replaced. Want to get the wood that I spent so much effort chopping out of the neighbor’s yard and stacked. Want to program, work on finances, clean and do construction on the house and landscape the yard.

Last Night/Afternoon

A flurry of activity. Cathy did a great job putting together a disc of pictures of Sarah for her school. One of the negatives of having digital photographs is non-digital people don’t know what to do with them.

Tommy, Noah and I dropped the pictures off on our way to Star. During Star, Noah and I worked on Cub Scout achievements towards his Wolf. I feel like a bad dad since he probably should have had the Wolf already.

After Star (Tommy did great!) we drove to McDonald’s for fast food dinner and brought it home. After a quick bite and Noah and I were off to scouts where I had a very pleasant conversation with one of the scouts grandfather as that scout’s dad has been deployed to Iraq.

Home for a quick bout with the wife. Children to bed. Kingdom Hospital. Futurama then sleep.

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A New Day! Let’s start the day off with a PayPa…

A New Day!

Let’s start the day off with a PayPal donation link:

This Morning

Woke at 5am and almost got out of bed! Woke again at 6:05. Spent the next 10 minutes making 2 gallons of chocolate milk. Woke the children. Now I’m going to check my shares at Blogshares

Noah watched the chocolate milk pour into his cereal and waited a few moments then put it away and said “Cool, the milk’s turning brown.” I decided to hold my tongue.

Last Night

Tried unsuccessfully to move the children around in their beds. Noah would be in Tommy’s bed, Tommy would be in Sarah’s bed and Sarah would be in Noah’s bed. We’d hoped it would cause much confusion in the morning for April Fools. Noah was the only one that didn’t wake while we were trying to move them so we ended up with Sarah in Noah’s bed saying “Why am I here?” (she later moved herself back to her own bed), Noah made it to Tommy’s bed and Tommy just groggily said “hi dad.”

Stayed up with the wife watching Stephen King’s Kingdom Hospital and tried to stay up for Futurama

    

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A New Day! Let’s start the day off with a PayPa…

A New Day!

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This Morning

* I actually get up! Did not return to bed. Granted, I didn’t get up until 6:30 but I did get up!

* Bathe the 7 yr old

* The kids are in jolly moods and I’m nice to them. No grumpies!

* Return from car pool to bury the cats 2 day old mole kill (in warmer weather it would have been fly food by now) then have a “sexual responsibility” talk with the 13 yr old-topics: cleaning up after that personal activity, tissues by the bed, not leaving seminal fluid about, disease–what fun!

Last Evening

* Seems we forgot to give the 13 yr old his medicine

* The 19 mth old splits her lip just as Mom is trying to get out the door for a Girl Scout training meeting on selling cookies (which none of the other generous mother’s would donate time for). I lose my temper not because it happened but because no one cleaned up the toys. It was an irrational and unreasonable response. It bugs me that I’m such a loose cannon now-a-days. I used to choose my battles so much more carefully.

* Chaos calms and the 10yr old gets on her home work, the 13 yr old settles in bed for reading, the 7yr old works on his Daniel Boone project and I join him for some Internet research. We print a 17 page document and staple it to look like a book (I was hoping this would engage him better than loose papers) and set him down to read it. He gets through most of it before I give him a break and send him to bed to read Yu-Gi-Oh..a book that reads right to left but is printed in English.

* Cingular text messaging was down so I spend 1/2 hour on hold to get tech support to tell me its down in all markets and they don’t know why. “Could be morning before its back”

* Call Dad to wish him a happy birthday. Find out my brother got his job in South Carolina. At least someone is getting employed.

* Wife returns and we discover the 7yr old didn’t make it (in the morning he remains strongly opinioned that he did not wet his pants)

* Evening of email, chats and tv with the wife. Strong dizzy spells in bed.

* 13 yr old stayed up well past midnight masterbating. Tired dense dad goes upstairs to see what the noise is about to have 13 yr old quickly jump from the bathroom to the bed onto his stomach only to ask a stupid question “why the hell are you naked?” to get a well deserved blunt answer of “I was playing with myself” — pause — “oh, do you need to change your sheets?” which was prompted by his statement of “I had to wash my hands.” You DINKS don’t know what you’re missing!