Weekly Tirade

Time for a dual-partisan political rant, please review the two positions below and then see my opinion after:

• Create the American Opportunity Tax Credit: Obama will make college affordable for all Americans by creating a new American Opportunity Tax Credit. This universal and fully refundable credit will ensure that the first $4,000 of a college education is completely free for most Americans, and will cover two-thirds the cost of tuition at the average public college or university and make community college tuition completely free for most students. Obama will also ensure that the tax credit is available to families at the time of enrollment by using prior year's tax data to deliver the credit when tuition is due.
  

PITTSBURGH — John McCain called Tuesday for the federal government to free people from paying gasoline taxes this summer and ensure that college students can secure loans this fall, proposals aimed at stemming the public’s pain now from the troubled economy.

In the longer-term, the certain Republican presidential nominee said he would double the tax exemption for dependent children and offer people the option of choosing a simpler tax system.

“We know from experience that no serious reform of the current tax code will come out of Congress, so now it is time to turn the decision over to the people,” McCain said in a sweeping economic speech at Carnegie Mellon University a week before Pennsylvania’s primaries.

To help people weather the downturn immediately, McCain urged Congress to institute a “gas-tax holiday” by suspending the 18.4 cent federal gas tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax from Memorial Day to Labor Day. He also renewed his call for the United States to stop adding to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and thus lessen to some extent the worldwide demand for oil.

Combined, he said, the two proposals would reduce gas prices, which would have a trickle-down effect, and “help to spread relief across the American economy.”

Now, while these both sound like decent ideas on the surface, I believe they are merely empty campaign promises, let me explain. If I am the President of a university, or CEO of Exxon, I know that the market has dictated a certain price for my goods/services. I can raise tuition/gas prices instantly to make-up the difference of these government subsidies. Which means, I make a lot more Benjamins, Obama and Juan McCain gain some political approval, and the American people gain nothing. In fact, we prob get our taxes raised to pay for this crap! Yeah...

Do not get me wrong, I am all about capitalism, and if Exxon can make $30 Million in a quarter, rock on, do your thing, but I get a little bent when politicians use smoke and mirrors to appease the masses, when the truth is that it will not change one thing in our daily lives.

Great Article!

Well worth the read:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120787271551406585.html?mod=hpp_us_inside_today

Ready for the weekend

Ok, here is the funny story from the move. (Btw, if you google basin images, this is what comes up, so...)

As Slim and I are loading a few things in the truck and bopping thru the house, Beth asked us to get the "antique wash basin" upstairs.

Slim and I head upstairs, look around, and I see what I call a basin in the floor. Slim and I look at each other and say, "well it doesn't really look like an antique, but ok." So it gets loaded on the truck, without Beth seeing us.

So she calls Bon later that day and says, "Hey I just noticed the guys forgot the antique wash basin." Bon says, "Jeremy said they got it, that's odd".

After some Laurel and Hardy type conversations we came to realize that Slim and I had carried off the new sink for Beth's soon to be remodeled bathroom. We were right, it was not an antique...

Other random thoughts

• Props to the Godfather for hooking me into a new role as Treasurer for the Chrysalis Board. Last night was my first official meeting, and I think I am really going to enjoy it
• I have my first mortgage lead, let the fun begin
• We have picked a girl's name, and are now set either way
• Eric Rockavella has every reason to not like me much right now, I hit his car and tried to hit his face in softball batting practice
• We scored a recliner and fridge for the basement as a result of the move
• I found another Glenn Beck follower this morning at breakfast, I knew I liked you Brad

Hitting some yard work this weekend, keep it real

About time!

ConocoPhillips, BP propose Alaska pipeline

Last updated April 8, 2008 9:20 p.m. PT

By KRISTEN HAYS
HOUSTON CHRONICLE

The concept of a multibillion-dollar pipeline to bring huge natural gas reserves to U.S. markets from Alaska's North Slope has been knocked around for more than 30 years. ConocoPhillips and BP said Tuesday that they have linked arms to make it happen.

"The time has come now with the value of gas increasing and the need in the United States for that valuable commodity to bring that gas to market," said Jim Bowles, president of ConocoPhillips' Alaska division.

The companies would build a pipeline from Alaska to Alberta and possibly into the Lower 48 states.

What's more, they bypassed an Alaska bidding process, eschewing state incentives and putting forth their own plan to lock in customers, gain approvals from U.S. and Canadian governments and build the pipeline.

"We're not asking for anything," Bowles said in Anchorage. "This project is moving forward on its own."

Gov. Sarah Palin, who championed last year's bidding under the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, wasn't insulted. If it means a viable project will get moving, all the better, she said shortly after the companies unveiled their plan.

"Choices allow for competition between projects," said Palin, who discussed the venture with the companies before they announced it. "If it can result in finally more exploration and more development that is safe and sound, at the end of the day, that is all good."

The pipeline, with a cost estimated at $25 billion to $42 billion, would be the largest-ever private sector construction project in North America, ConocoPhillips said.

The Houston-based oil giant and London-based BP aim to spend $600 million to solicit customers to make long-term commitments to use the pipeline. That process, called an "open season," would occur in late 2010 and early 2011.

After that, they would seek approvals from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and its counterpart in Canada, the National Energy Board, before starting construction.

Meanwhile, they will open a headquarters in Anchorage that will employ 150 by the end of the year. Eventually, the project will have 500 workers plus "several thousand contractors," said Doug Suttles, president of BP's Alaska division.

"We are starting now. We're off," Suttles said.

The only proposal of five in the Alaska bidding process that was chosen for further review by Palin's administration was from Calgary-based pipeline giant TransCanada.

That plan is for a 48-inch pipeline to run 1,700 miles from Prudhoe Bay to Alberta, where it would tie into existing pipelines to reach U.S. markets. TransCanada estimated a cost of $26 billion to $35 billion.

The ConocoPhillips/BP plan calls for a similar route.

Tony Palmer, a TransCanada vice president, said Tuesday he supports "alignment" with ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, BP, the state of Alaska and his company.

A project to bring the North Slope's natural gas to market in the U.S. has been discussed since crude oil started flowing from the $8 billion Trans-Alaska Pipeline in Prudhoe Bay in 1977. The Energy Department says the North Slope has proven gas reserves of 35 trillion cubic feet, but geologists say as much as 200 trillion cubic feet remains undiscovered.

Whirlwind Adventure

(For those of you who are not aware, Jason and I flew to Tyler, Texas and drove a 26 foot Penske truck back to the Nati this past weekend)

Alright, now that I have recovered from sleep deprivation, here are the stories from the whirlwind adventure:

Jase and I began with a one hour delay in Dayton, that rolled into a four and a half hour delay at the Atlanta airport. We finally left the ground at 12:30am, landing in Dallas at 3am. This put us at Beth's house at 4:30am.

So, at that point the decision was made to just go ahead and start cranking, I mean how much good is one hour of sleep going to do?

So we started loading things up and somehow caught our second wind. The moving truck rolled down her street at 11am, headed to Cincinnati.

We made it all the way to Jackson, TN, when darkness settled in. This was the clear indicator to call it quits for the day, we were working on 40+ hours without sleep.

Needless to say, it did not take long to get to sleep once the hotel was secured.

Up and at 'em early we left Jackson at 6am Sunday morning. After a couple of hours we rolled thru Nashville. It was a little surreal, I had not been back since we moved two years ago.

Pretty uneventful ride, brought us back home just after 1pm Sunday afternoon. It was so good to see Bon and Reese again, they are sunshine of my life.

Thankfully we had 4 studs waiting to help on the back end and helped us unload in about 35 minutes at the storage facility! Big props to T-Bone, Godfather, Miley, and Engel, thanks guys!

Thanks and appreciation are not strong enough words to give proper kudos to Jase. He was awesome, a soldier the whole way thru, I could not have done it without him! The original Slim Shady, you rock!

I am back to normal today, well, normal for me. Check back in a couple of days for a funny story from the move...

Peace out

I got this e-mail as we passed thru Hope, AR, coincidence?

Dear Skybus Customer:

We regret to inform you that Skybus Airlines will cease all operations effective 12:00 a.m. Saturday, April 5. As a result, your Skybus flight has been cancelled.

Skybus will not be processing refunds directly. To arrange for a refund on your reservation, please contact your credit card company directly. If you purchased flight insurance for your reservation, please refer to your insurance confirmation from AIG for information on filing a claim.

Skybus struggled to overcome the combination of rising jet fuel costs and a slowing economic environment. These two issues proved to be insurmountable for a new carrier.

We deeply regret the impact this decision will have on our customers, as well as our employees and their families, vendors, suppliers, airport officials and others in the cities in which we have operated. Our financial condition is such that our Board of Directors felt it had no choice but to cease operations.

More information will be made available on the Skybus web site (www.skybus.com).

Biopsy

I finally have scheduled my muscle biopsy.

Here is the background:

My maternal grandfather passed away over 30 years ago unexpectantly while in the recovery room following routine surgery. After some investigating it was determined he had a disorder known as Malignant Hyperthermia, which is basically a deadly allergic reaction to anesthetic.

This condition is hereditary and we were all tested as kids almost 20 years ago. The initial test is a standard blood test, and the results showed that Mom and Jum were positive, Jase and I were negative. However, it is possible to carry a false negative. The only true way to test is to have a muscle biopsy done at an approved hospital with the proper testing instruments.

Thus, Jase and I are having these tests done at Wake Forest Medical Center in Winston-Salem, NC. We want to know for sure so we can proceed accordingly for our girls, and future children. Amazingly, none of us have ever needed surgery, and thankfully they have actually developed a safe anesthetic to use if they are made aware of the condition in advance.

So they will be taking a 3 inch cut of muscle from my left thigh and testing it, and will be able to give me the results within an hour after the procedure.

One bummer in all this is that we cannot have it done at the same time, so we must go separately.

Please keep our families in your prayers as we prepare to work thru this process.

Peace out

WebMD describes it as follows:

Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is an autosomal dominant genetic disorder in which affected individuals are susceptible to adverse reactions to certain anesthetic drugs.

The characteristics of a malignant hyperthermia episode are variable and include muscle rigidity, high blood pressure, increased levels of carbon monoxide in blood or exhaled gas, rapid irregular heart rate, rapid deep breathing, blue skin, acidity of the blood and muscle damage. Body temperature can rise rapidly, but sometimes only occurs late in an episode.

When an episode is not recognized and treated, internal bleeding, brain damage, skeletal muscle degeneration (rhabdomyolysis), and kidney and heart failure can result.

Back to School

Congrats to my Momma, who started college yesterday, we are so proud of her. As Jum and I were reflecting on the phone a couple of days ago, we both kept reverting back to this movie clip in our minds:



Way to go Momma!

And congrats to the Tribe on their Opening Day victory!

Sad State of Affairs

Anyone want to purchase a vacation home in Detroit city limits?

Go to the Wayne County auction site here and look at houses selling for a couple of G's

Firestarters

I have the privilege of being in a men's Bible study group with some rock solid dudes. We are currently reading a great book, and I wanted to share the premise with you all, the blog readers. It is called "Choosing to Cheat" and is written by Andy Stanley. (Click on the title and you will be taken to the Amazon page to purchase it)

And while I have learned a lot from the book, I have also learned a lot from the other men, hearing their personal stories on how they thrive or fail on "cheating" their families.

In our society these days it becomes very easy to become busy with many different things, sometimes, in the end, it is our family that suffers.

As a matter of fact, in a conversation a couple of weeks ago Bon was talking to a gentlemen who said "your children should be your number one ministry." That really hit home for me, and I have taken a little different perspective with Reese, and have come to realize that her spiritual growth and well-being needs to be my highest priority.

I think the summary from Amazon gives some good insight into the book and would recommend it to everyone:

Book Description
Work. Family. Church. Hobbies. Fitness. Housekeeping. Socializing. Sleep. With only 24 hours in each day, we simply can't fit everything in. And what we choose to cheat is a clear announcement of our values. When you come home an hour earlier, miss a round of golf, or let the dishes sit while you play with your child, you make your family feel valued and secure. Bestselling author Andy Stanley helps you restore your vision of what really matters - and guides you in making courageous decisions about your time.

Who are you cheating?

You love your family. You love the challenges of your job. But there’s not enough of you to go around. Somebody isn’t getting as much of your attention as they want or deserve.

This little book presents a strategic plan for resolving the tension between work and home—reversing the destructive pattern of giving to your company and career what belongs to your family.

But be forewarned...you will have to cheat.

Story Behind the Book

Andy has spent hundreds of hours with men and women who have cheated their families for the sake of their career goals. They all admitted knowing there was a problem. This is not a struggle relegated to some diminutive segment of society. We all wrestle with the tension between work and family. Regardless of which side of the equation you are on, you know what it is like to deal with the endless cycle of guilt, anger, jealousy, and rejection. But there is a solution. Strangely enough, the solution is similar to the problem. Both involve cheating. Simply put, you must choose to cheat at work rather than at home.

Great Story

$500 'tip' pays for her prom

THE ENQUIRER

Needing money to help pay for her senior prom, 18-year-old Kelsey Tolliver was selling newspapers on Easter Sunday inside University Hospital.

That’s when she got an Easter gift and her prom wishes fulfilled by a stranger.

“Some man walked up to me, smiled, told me Happy Easter and to keep the change,” Tolliver said today.

She looked down and believed the man gave her $4 for the $1.50 Sunday newspaper, an amount she considered “a pretty good tip.”

After a moment, though, the bills felt too thick to be just four $1 bills.

She counted it – and lost her breath.

In addition to the smile and Easter greetings, the man had given her $500 in $20 bills and the four $1 bills.

“By the time I looked up, he was gone,” Tolliver said from her mom’s Springfield Township home.

“I really didn’t know what to do. I wanted to cry but I couldn’t do that because I was selling newspapers and that would look bad. I wanted to scream but that would look bad, too.”

Tolliver is staying at her mom’s Springfield Township home this week because her school is on spring break.

She usually lives with her dad in Patriot, Ind., about 60 miles away. She attends Switzerland County Senior High.

Tolliver can’t imagine why the man – described as white with light brown hair, about 6 feet tall and in his mid-20s – would give her that much money.

“He didn’t look like he worked at the hospital. I’m guessing he was a visitor,” Tolliver said.

She’d never seen the man before – and hasn’t since.

She said she gave half of the money to her stepdad and used the rest to pay for her dress and other items for the April 12 prom at General Butler State Park in Carrollton, Ky.

“I already had my prom dress in layaway and I only owed $80 on it,” Tolliver said. “I went yesterday (Monday) and got it out.”

In addition to the $120 red dress, Tolliver also used the money to help pay for her silver shoes, purse and other accessories as well as for her share of the limo ride. She and eight or nine friends are attending the prom as a group.

“I just want to thank this guy. Bless his heart,” she said.

Easter Weekend

This is my princess in her Easter threads yesterday.

Unbelievably big ups to a couple of our great friends who treated us to an amazing dinner Saturday night. Thank you very much, we had a phenomenal time.

Congrats go out to a couple of the friends of Heat Stadium, T-Bone, aka Trent, and Chuck, who were both baptized yesterday.

I am currently beating Bon on our brackets, scoring 10 of the Sweet 16, including WVU and Huggs! Saw on ESPN this morning that of over 3 million entries they received for their contest only 2 had predicted all of the Sweet 16 correctly.

Look out Series 7 and CPA exam, you are now under radar lock...

I am legal

I just passed my Loan Officer exam, and can now legally service your mortgage needs...

Poor girl...

Wednesday night at about 10:30 as I was closing up shop on studying for the LO exam for the night, Reese sat up in bed and vomited all over the place.

With Bonnie needing her rest, I stayed up with my baby girl all night. Bon may have squeezed out a couple of hours, so her night was not a cakewalk either.

It was one of those nights I will never forget. The way she looked up at me so helplessly, wanting to hold and hug me while she was in the midst of a vomiting fit. She even has some busted blood vessels in her face from the episodes, so sad. She was finally able to keep a little bit down yesterday, and slept thru the night last night. She is very lethargic this morning, definitely not the normal Reese, but is much better.

A funny story about the spirit of my girl, in the midst of all this she asked to watch Shrek 2. During the scene where he storms the castle at the end and they are singing "I need a hero", she was able to stand up and bust out about a 15 second dance routine.

Have a great Easter everyone!

Peace out...

Pure Joy

What you don't realize from this picture is that she is moving at about 20 mph, with a wicked powerful workhorse pulling her thru the snow!

Big News

Some of you may have noticed the numeral 3 that sits to the left of the blog in my personal profile and talks a little bit about who we are.

Well, sometime around September 28th, that image will be replaced with the numeral 4.

Bonnie and I are expecting child number two, and could not be happier.

We will be finding out the sex of the baby in mid-May. Reese will be a great big sister!

"Let's spread this love like dandelions"- TobyMac

Bread, Euchre, and Good times...

What a rock solid weekend that was.

It all started Friday after work, grabbing some grub and beers with Squibb. From there I met up with Bon and a group of our friends to hang out for a couple of hours at Panera, which was awesome. You know, having friends that are not afraid to spit truth and share is really what it is all about.

Friday night was also the debut of Lauren as Reese's sitter. She was phenomenal, and it sounds like they had a great time. Lauren was on the Chrysalis weekend that Bon had a chance to serve on, and Bon absolutely loves her. I have a feeling she will be getting a fair amount of calls from us.

Saturday morning, Mom got a chance to come in for a visit. We celebrated her birthday a day late with some lunch at the Olive Garden. And, um, Reese likes their bread sticks a little bit, she was crushing.

Saturday night Bon and I hit up a euchre tourney with some old friends from Lebanon. I seriously think Bon laughed non-stop for 3 and a half hours.

One of the things that is extremely satisfying and brings Bon and I peace is the fact that both nights Reese did not fuss, never cried, went right to bed and behaved well for Mom and Lauren. In fact, as Bon and I were leaving Saturday night she says, "Bye Mommy, bye Daddy," and shut the door with authority as she ran back to play. Bonnie is a tremendous mother, and I am amazed almost everyday on what she is teaching Reese.

And if that was not enough, Momma rolled with us to 4 Corners yesterday. It meant a lot that she came, now she can get a mental picture of the church we talk so much about. She met some of our friends as well. Thanks for coming Mom!

Great story by my boy Beck

Glenn Beck: Too bad, Michigan and Florida

By Glenn Beck
CNN

Editor's note: "Glenn Beck" is on Headline News nightly at 7 and 9 ET.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- What do these stories all have in common?

• A woman who says she lost more $1 million gambling in Atlantic City sues some casinos for $20 million, claiming they should've stopped her compulsive gambling.
• People who bought houses they couldn't afford with loans they didn't understand want their lenders to change the terms.
• Congress authorizes a war and then tries everything it can think of to get out of it.
• Our country gets addicted to oil and then blames OPEC when it doesn't like the price.

These stories prove how personal responsibility has all but vanished in America, and our government is leading the way.

Remember the kid from that interminable 1980s commercial whose father caught him using drugs? The father incredulously asked, "Who taught you how to do this stuff?" and the kid responded, "You, alright? I learned it by watching you."

Well, we are that kid and our government is that drug-using father who doesn't think that anyone notices his bad habits.

Our government is leading us by example, and I don't mean that in a good way. For years, it has spent us into oblivion, mortgaging our future for programs we can't afford, and Americans have happily followed suit, running up credit card bills and home equity loans for things they never should've bought.

Unfortunately, we're also learning something else from our government: how to avoid taking responsibility for our actions.

From Eliot Spitzer's alleged hooker craze to the revelation that Arnold Schwarzenegger commutes to work in a large private jet even as he preaches the dangers of carbon dioxide emissions, there's never been a shortage of "do what I say, not what I do" hypocrites in politics.

But that same attitude has seemingly spread from individual politicians to an entire party.

Democrats aren't happy that delegates from Florida and Michigan won't be seated at the national convention because those states broke clear party rules. Well you know what? Too bad. We don't say that enough anymore. Too bad. You agreed to the rules; you broke them. Now you've got to deal with the consequences.

"But Glenn. ... Neither Hillary Clinton nor Barack Obama will have enough delegates to win the nomination. We don't want this to be decided in some backroom by superdelegates."

Too bad.

"But Glenn. ... You don't understand. If we don't seat delegates from those states now, then we might lose their votes in the general election."

Too bad.

"But Glenn. .... The voters in these states are going to be disenfranchised if we don't let their voices be heard."

Too bad.

If you want to talk about disenfranchised voters, then let's talk about why just 17 percent of Americans have a positive view of Congress. Let's talk about why we still have wide open borders despite most Americans wanting them sealed. Let's talk about why we keep selling out our sovereignty and our security by borrowing billions of dollars from-less-than friendly countries, such as China.

Americans aren't disenfranchised because our leaders won't count votes in a couple of states. They're disenfranchised because our leaders aren't doing their jobs. They're disenfranchised because after working hard to support their families and to raise kids who understand the difference between right and wrong, their leaders do exactly the opposite.

In the cases of Florida and Michigan, I've patiently listened to all the moving arguments about why there should be a "do-over," but quite honestly, they're not arguments at all. They're excuses. If this race wasn't so close, or if these states offered a combined 36 delegates instead of 366, do you really think anyone would care? Of course not.

But no matter what you think should happen, you have to admit that Clinton's idea that we should simply count her "wins" in Florida and Michigan is completely ridiculous.

In fact, if you played a rimshot and a laugh track behind her every time she recited that line, people might actually agree to a two-drink minimum to see her speak. How could you possibly count the results from an election when your main opponent wasn't even on the ballot (at least in Michigan)? You can't -- unless you think the rules are simply there for your own amusement.

Last year, when the punishment against Florida was first approved, Donna Brazile, a member of the Democratic National Committee rules panel, said she hoped that the harsh consequences would "send a message to everybody in Florida that we are going to follow the rules." And Brazile knows a little something about that ... she ran Vice President Al Gore's presidential campaign in 2000.

Voters in Florida and Michigan should ask themselves one important question before they blindly follow their party: Why did no one seem to care about "alienating" them last year when the rules were intentionally broken? It's only now, when their vote really matters, that everyone is suddenly so concerned about "enfranchising" them.

Florida and Michigan have a golden opportunity to stand up and say enough is enough, to send a message that it's time to not only take responsibility for their actions but for those of our leaders as well.

After all, what would it say about personal responsibility in this country if we allow the two states that broke all the rules to end up having the biggest say of all?

9 Days???

Has it really been 9 days since I last posted? Yikes!

Well, we survived the white death during that time, we have some cool photos of Reese getting pulled down the hill on her sled. I will try and get those posted soon.

March is my family's dominant birthday month.

Happy belated to my beautiful wife, who turned 31 this past Sunday.

Today is Rhino's birthday, and tomorrow is my wonderful Momma's. She is coming down for the weekend and spending some time with us, which will be awesome!

Things are nuts at work right now, gotta run!

Peace

Happy Election Day!

Isn't America great?

I have cast my votes this morning, including a vote for Mitt Romney. Yeah, I get that he cannot win, but he is my choice, so he still gets the vote. At least when I see the final returns and Mitt has at least one vote, I will be proud of it.

In addition, I am such a sucker, the young lady asked if I would like to work at the polling site in future elections and I said, "Of course!". So she took my contact information.

Have fun everyone!