Bailout Bathrooms and Beach Parties

Okay, so the press is full of stories about lavish spending by people and organizations now feeding at the government trough. I understand the frustration, even the anger of the moment. But there is one lesson that we seem never to grasp as hard working, taxpaying, beer drinking members of these United States:

WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER!

It is basic physics and believe me I did not do well in physics. Every action has a reaction. A rich person spending money creates work for a non-rich person. I understand and appreciate that tax dollars were not intended to build million dollar bathrooms, but buying creates making and making creates jobs. There are lots of examples of wasted tax dollars. Remember the Senator who gave out an award for dumb government spending? What was his name anyway?

People need jobs. They need all kinds of jobs. They need put up a beach tent so Sheryl Crow can sing jobs. They need put fuel in the auto executive's corporate jet jobs and senator jobs and middle manager jobs and factory jobs. They just need jobs. Jobs come from spending - either a lot of people spending a little bit each or a few people spending a lot, or maybe this is what we are missing, a lot of people spending a little and a few people spending a lot.

The circle is too complex for simplification. But riding the high horse of indignation about one piece of the intertwining puzzle does not create a job, it stops a job. Where are those people that put up the tent on the beach last week. Where are the ones that put fuel in the corporate jet a couple weeks before. Are they still working? Are they still paying taxes? Or, are they reading the fine print of the stimulus bill to figure out how long their unemployment benefits will run?

I wonder where they are.

Sunday Morning

Sunday morning has a special feeling to it. Quiet, reserved, take it easy special. Saturday is not. Saturday says get up and get going. The lawn awaits. The car wash is ready. But Sunday is a day to start with ease. It has a television show. It has a place where people are supposed to be. It has instructions from God.

I love watching Sunday Morning (CBS). I first remember getting addicted to it back on Gylah Lane. That is a way back then thought. Wow. Charles Kuralt was the best. Stories from every sector of society. A slow, methodical, pay attention tale of life. Kind of an electronic campfire story through the eyes of a modern day sage. Don't get me wrong. Charles Osgood does a great job, but he is not Charles Kuralt. A flight long ago from LA to New York allowed me the opportunity to sit next to Betsy (gosh I never thought I would forget her name) who did the culture stuff back then. She had a cold, but she was gracious throughout the flight. We spoke of women, age and broadcasting jobs. She told me that but for Charles Kuralt she would have been off the air years earlier for the face of a younger commentator. A heartfelt moment of sharing from a famous person to a young, impressionable, just getting started consultant. I can see her as she shared those thoughts. I cannot remember her name.

What did I come out to the garage to get?

A Day in the Life

President's Day
Stayed home for the holiday with Joanie and Barney. Rained all day. Barney spent most of the day on his couch. To think. Two weeks ago he was in Doggie Jail under the name of Tramp. Joanie and I went to Coco's for breakfast. Enjoyed the geezer special. A Mom and her two year old daughter enjoyed their breakfast together at the table behind. The little girl was cute as a button. Fire in the fireplace (good place for it) all day. Barney did not want to get his paws wet, but he is easily tricked by a chunk of leftover chicken. Got some work done. Took a break with Joanie for a quick afternoon trip to Starbucks. Barney came along. He waited patiently in the car while we went in to gather up a tall Pike's Place. He is good at riding in the car. Dinner. Two and One Half Men times two. Time for a Barney walk. Till later.

The Stimulus Bill

January 29, 2009 - 4:50 AM - Woke up early this morning with a lot of things to think about. Decided to use this space to share a few thoughts from time to time. Just random thoughts. Nothing special. Maybe some fun. Hopefully some insights.

Have you read the stimulus bill? You should. It is labeled H.R. 1. It is 647 pages long. I wonder if Nancy Pelosi read it. You will be happy to know that it specifically excludes any of your money being spent on aquariums. Look on page twelve. Read it for yourself. What on earth did aquariums do to incur the wrath of whoever wrote this nonsense anyway? Are Democrats anti-aquarium? I wonder why. I like the Long Beach Aquarium. I think Nancy should visit it. I think she would like it. I guess she likes our iron and steel. All of the iron or steel used in construction projects must be made in the United States unless the head of a federal department says it is not available here. That is on page twelve too. It is a good thing. Nancy should visit a steel mill soon. I wonder what she would look like in a hard hat?

I listened to an economist speak at the PIHRA meeting this morning. I don't remember his name. He teaches at UCI. I would like to take a class from him. He was very good. I admit that I did not understand a lot of what he said. The bottom line was pretty clear though. We are in a world of hurt and not likely to emerge for a long time. Even Iceland is somehow caught up in the sub prime mortgage fiasco and not likely to survive economically. Iceland. Imagine that.

Wind: The wind is blowing. It is 63 outside. In southern California, that is freezing!. The heater has been running off and on most of the night. The windows rattle with each gust. The trees sway back and forth in the glow of the yard lights. I always think of the wind as a speaker without words. Each burst seems to be making a point about someone or something. The slow whining start of each episode leads to an unexplained exclamation point. A brief silence follows to let the point settle in for just a moment. Another follows, sometimes with great patience; sometimes with intense fury. You leave knowing that you heard the speech. You wonder if you got the message. You worry that you will forget the key points.

A Final Thought for Today: These times are tough. Budgets are tight. Going, doing, buying are put on hold. Use the time to cherish a loved one. Walk with them. Hold them. Listen to them. Be gentle with them. In the end, they may be all you have.

That is all for now. May hope and love be yours today, tomorrow and thereafter.

Barney

January 31, 2009 - 6:38 PM - Went to see Tramp at the Dog Pound (Animal Shelter for the politically correct) today. He looks lonely. He needs a bath, a walk, a home and a hug - in reverse order. He is three. He really isn't a he anymore, but he doesn't know that for sure. He is a beagle. Beagles are special. Molly was the best beagle ever. She wasn't really a girl either. Tramp (not his real name) has an owner but he or she or they have not come to get him. He has been there in the animal jail since January 17. They should come get him. He is only supposed to have to wait eight days. His jailers, the ones who named him Tramp, can't count. They said to come back on February 2 to see if he might be available for adoption. I hope it is because they think his real family is coming to get him and not just to watch another taxpayer lose productive work time to do business with a bureaucrat.


February 14, 2009 - 6:00 AM - Tramp came home with me on February 2. Tramp was not a good name for him. He became Barney on the ride home. We stopped at Petsmart to get some food and treats. We picked out a stuffed Democrat Donkey to be his first toy. He loves that toy. Won’t chase a ball, but he loves to chase his Democrat. Good boy Barney.

They don’t give you much information about inmates at the Doggie Jail. We could only learn that he was from Anaheim. He was in Doggie Jail because he was a stray. They made him into an electronic beagle during his incarceration. He has chip now forever to be identified in the future. He came with a discount, first for overstaying his welcome; second for getting spayed before being captured by the Doggie Police.

Barney has quickly become part of the family. He seemed very quiet at first. Spent a lot of time sleeping. About the fourth day, Danielle discovered an empty Nyquil tablet on the floor. Oh, oh. It seems she had a cold a couple of weeks earlier – pre-Barney. She dropped a pill on the floor and could not find it. We think Barney did. Toward the end of the week he came to life and started acting like a real Beagle. Poor Barney. Out of jail and into a drug induced stupor. He must of thought he had joined a cult. Imagine the headache he had coming out of that. All is well now. We walk. We talk. We watch his every move.

Welcome to our home Barney.