Another Year Bites The Dust

A lot of ways to look at the end of the year so let's talk about some. 1) It was a lousy year & you can't wait for a new start 2) It was a great year & you want to celebrate 3) You did not reach your goals or New Years Resolution so you want to start over 4) You just can't wait to party with friends & look forward to the next day off from work.
I am sure there are many more opinions about New Years but regardless of what you think, there are some very simple facts about New Years. 1) You are starting a new year 2) You are getting older just like at Birthdays 3) You have the chance to change what you do & use this day as the starting point 4) You have to start putting a new year on correspondence you just got comfortable with.
The last but most important thing to remember is that regardless of the fact that you are not getting younger or that you can't meet your New Years resolutions, You are part of the world & mankind & you have the chance to be who you want. You can jump or you can sit, You can change jobs or you can stay. Life is yours so make the best of it because we don't know if we will see another New Year. Realize that you make the New Year, it doesn't make you.

Creatures Of The Night

Sounds like a sci fi movie or a thriller doesn't it? Well have you ever ventured into a 24 hour Wal Mart after 10PM in a city? I happened to be in Stockton a couple weeks ago & we were leaving at about 10PM. My wife wanted to stop at a Wal Mart we passed but when I walked from the car to the front door, I realized that I wasn't surrounded by people which I would consider "normal". I know what you are thinking so quit. I am not talking about poor people or under privledeged people, I am talking about people that are walking but aren't thinking or talking. There were obviously people of all types in the store so I have somewhat exaggerated the scene but not by much. I actually tried to talk to a couple people in friendly conversation but they looked at me with complete blank stares. I literally thought I was looking at a zombie.
Have you ever felt like you had somebody watching you when alone & got creeped out? Well that was me until I got the heck out of the store & town. Whew, I am glad I survived to tell the story but I know there are doubters among you so I am giving you a strong warning. If you want to check this out for yourself, make out your will & tell somebody where you are because I can't guarantee your safe return. VBS

Family

You have to Love them but when they all get together it can be chaotic, fun, emotional & stressful. What was your Christmas like? We spent three nights at Bear Valley where it snowed about 5 feet in 3 days. We rented a snow mobile for 2 of those days but still did a lot of shoveling & walking since the roads arent plowed & we were about half a mile from the road & store.
There were some "Shining" moments, to be taken from the movie & from the word. HAHA
Overall it was great & it was incredible to have everyone together, which doesnt happen very often. Although we almost didn't have Kenny, since his friend was bringing him up to snow board & then on Christmas eve, decided to bail on him & Kenny ended up hitch hiking through a horrible storm which took over 3.5 hrs to travel 50 miles. I was going to store at about dark on the snow mobile & saw Kenny walking through the snow, trying to find us. I was so grateful to see him & had been really worried he wouldn't make it for Christmas. This was a blessing come true & we all got along the rest of the time together.
Family gatherings aren't always easy but from what I have learned & seen, they are very much worth it because it is when we can share our lives, both the good & bad & become reaquainted with each other if only for a moment but that moment is priceless because it will last forever & you never know when it will be the last.

Christmas

I don't care whether you like Christmas or not, I don't care whether you are atheist or have some other beliefs, The very reason America was established was to have freedom of belief & religion, without persecution. America was founded on the principal of a higher power & that power was in "God". America was also founded on a principal of let the people decide & that is done by a majority vote. If you happen to be the minority vote you should not get your way but you also should not be subjected to forced indoctrination.
Many people don't get their way & they go on with life, they don't complain & whine about it, they simply live their life & participate when they agree & do something else or leave when they don't.
Christmas is & "ONLY" represents the birth of Jesus, so if you don't like it, don't participate but "DON'T" think you have the right to stop the majority from celebrating the most important birth in the history of the world.
You don't have to believe in Jesus but if we are going to celebrate Martin Luther King, George Washington & Abraham Lincolns birthday, we should at least celebrate the most influential person in world history, a fact that is undisputed.

Rubbing It In Your Face

All of you have seen the person that probably doesn't have much confidence, is arrogant, is mentally challenged or is simply obnoxious & rude. You know the person, they are the one's that when they get something, they rub it in your face or brag about it. Now don't get me wrong, I understand the need to show everyone your new toy or telling everyone about an exciting adventure you had or something incredible you saw or experienced but come on, do you have to leave your "Obama for president" signs in your yard or on your car for weeks & months after he won. O.k., your messiah has reached the White House, I understand the need to be happy but give the rest of us a break. After your guy or girl gets in, throw your party & "shut up about it".
Nobody likes someone who brags (NOBODY), so shut up & quit bragging. I won't do it to you & don't like it when it gets done to me.

Teenagers

I think that if we want to negotiate with foreign countries, we should use teenagers to do the job because have you ever seen the tactics a teenager will use to get what they want? It is almost an art at how efficient they are in the negotiation process. They start by asking for what they want & when they ask, it is in a way that masks the real intent or the details. They will ask you with a smile & make it look like what they are asking for will benefit you. They will then have one reason after another to argue the case & if by chance you disagree with them, they will pull out the sympathy & I Love You card.
Don't bother negotiating with them or debating them because that is their plan, They know they will out live you & are prepared to argue until you give up. They are relentless & will stop at nothing to get what they want. In fact they are so good at negotiating that they have already done all the research for every argument you could possibly come up with. You see, that is the plan, they come prepared & catch you off guard.
If by some chance you can work out a compromised deal with them, they will use it against you forever by saying that "remember when I did what you asked instead of what I wanted, you owe me". Regardless of the outcome & if you can't work out a deal, they will have nothing to do with you until the next time they need something & you go through it all again.
Teenagers, good luck in negotiations, I am losing my hair & mind over them but go ahead & try to get your way, you have been warned. VBS

Fight For America

If you want it bad enough or you Love it, you will fight for it. How bad do you want America & how much do you Love it?

Cell Phones

Now that we have cell phones, I don't know how we ever survived or how anything got done before we had them? I was in a meeting today & my cell phone went off about 5 times in 30 minutes. I thought to myself, what did I do before I had a phone?
I think cell phones are great to have if used when needed but they are so overused that we forget how to talk in person, face to face. Before cell phones we were more efficient & you might think the contrary but think about it? If you didn't have a cell phone, you would prepare better for your day, you wouldn't be talking so more work would get done & you would insure that possible problems were planned for, allowing many problems to be avoided. People on cell phones are like people that smoke. They can't help it, they are addicted to talking & spend more time talking than working. People that talk on cell phones all day are not thinking about work or tasks they need to accomplish, they think they can catch up later which means longer days & less productivity.
I know they can save time on some things & when used in case of emergency, they are a miracle but come on, plan ahead & do your job. Call when you get home or go by & see the person face to face. What a novel idea that would be. real personal interaction. You might even see the person you have been talking to & realize it was the wrong person because you never actually saw them face to face, it was only a voice on a cell phone.

Kids

Isn't funny how kids can say anything & get away with it? I had my 3 year old granddaughter Lily, over last week & she was playing at the table, when one of a few adults said that my grandson was awake in the bedroom. Being innocent but probably hearing this before Lily, while still playing said, "somebody better get him" & she just kept playing without even realizing what she said.
If one of the adults had said that, they would have been told in unanimous unison, get him yourself. I think the saying, we should be like little children is important because children are innocent & when they speak it is not in anger or laziness, they just speak from their heart.