What A Selection

I watched the movie Thank You For Smoking recently and boy was it an interesting turn. The movie is about a lobbyist for big tobacco and how they are able to manipulate people into smoking by presenting the facts in the appropriate manner. It was a great concept because it exposed both the media and the lobbying groups for what they are; manuipulators. Of course, you already know that if you have read any of my other posts. Now we are starting the long slide down the razor blade of who will be the next big liar to live in the Whitehouse and the poor cowboy who is marshalling that herd has his (or her) hands full.

We have a bevy of senators who think that they are the right person for the job. The top pick but not the first to enter the race is Hilary Clinton. I dismiss her right off the bat. The first commercial I would present would be one of her and Bill striking oil in Arkansas and moving to the big city. By big city I do not mean Bug Tussle. You could have the Beverly Hillbilly theme or maybe the banjo theme from Deliverence playing in the back ground and have Howard Dean playing Jethro driving the jalopy. Maybe Chelsie would come back to play the Ellie Mae character. If not, I am sure Bill can produce an ample empty headed babe to play the roll. They would drive around Washington and right into the Whitehouse. Maybe they could bring back some of the things they look the last time they were there. Of course Hilary promised that she would fulfill her term as senator if re-elected. You know she lied because her lips are moving.

Then there is Barack Obama. He started the season off by pre-empting Hilary to the announcement. Now he is young and a first term senator. He has (so far) a good record but I think he is too green behind the ears to be effective as our nations leader. I am not opposed to a black President but I would like one with a little more proven experience and leadership ability. We all know what Hilary would do if elected and I do not want to live in a gulag with the rest of my clan. Socialist Amerika, here we come. Don't work or you'll pay taxes or rather most of your check to support those who refuse to become self reliant. Don't think for yourself because that is what government is for. But make sure you stay in debt so we can control you. Gotta love government. It is by the people, of the people and well definitely not for the people.


Icool

Cobb

A Friend In Need

My oldest daughter has a friend that is graduating high school this year. He dropped a bomb on everyone last week when he announced that he was looking into joining the US Army. This young man has spent quite a few nights at our house and even eats dinner here several times a week. The dinner eating has been a delight since I am sure his meals at home are not regular. We celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday last week and my family seemed miffed that we had a few extra mouths to feed. I didn't really care. It is my house after all.

Anyway, I wanted to chat with the young man to determine why the sudden change in direction for his future. I realize that you cannot watch, listen to or read any media without being told that we are losing in Iraq and our troops are dying uselessly. So why would this young man who I know is immersed in popular culture and subject to the brainwashing that comes from that immersion thinking about heading to his media determined death?

So I determined to sit down and chat with him on his decision. I had been led slightly astray by the hype surrounding his decision. He had called a recruiter who was coming out to talk to him next Wednesday. He had not signed anything or made any decisions. He was only exploring an option for the future. I gave him the full benefit of my military experience including both the rewards and the not so fun things. I hope he makes the best decision. The military is a great way to grow up but I am not sure it is something I would repeat given the current state of military.

Icool

Cobb

In A Hurry

For some reason, January is as busy as December this year. We have been rushing to get somewhere since the beginning of the year and I truely hope we get just a breather before the spring sports activities start in full force. It does not seem to be just one thing. We have basketball on Tuesday and Saturday. We've had dances and unannounced meetings that we've had to attend. It has been a race to see who can become exhausted first. Is this welcome to life or just a short term blip?

This may just be the way it is with two teens and an almost teen boy. Kids at this age seem to demand to be somewhere all the time regardless of if their parents have something to do. I know that my wife and I have interrupted dates (those few and far between events) to take the kids to something because another parent backed out at the last minute. Call it karma, I don't know but our kids have a perfect sense of timing when it comes to our free time.

Would I trade it for anything? Absolutely not. You only get one chance to see your kids grow up. Make the most of it because before you know it, they are moving their tassles to the other side and off they go. Sure they will come home for gas money, laundry and a home cooked meal but for the most part, your work is done. All you can do is pray that you have done it right and they will live to give you someone to spoil.

Icool

Cobb

Out Of The Ordinary

I don't usually post on weekends so you could say it was out of the ordinary. What exactly does that mean? If it is something that you regularly do not do, then it could be considered out of the ordinary. I would take it one step further and say that it is something that you would not do unless you had no other option and then only as a last resort. You are not comfortable with out of the ordinary. It throws the warm and fuzzy right out the window for the odd and angular. I would not say that this posting is out of the ordinary because I am very familiar with creating a blog. It is the time that I am posting that has changed.

We all live inside our comfort zones and dislike when they are disrupted for any reason. Some days the littlest thing becomes a monolith blocking your way. Any other day this would be something that you walk over but that odd day has become a series of little quirks that seem to stack one on top of the other until you are staring bricks in the face. You can feel the tension in the neck and that bubbling rage just below the surface. No specific reason other than a series of seemingly unrelated incidents. Smile, sit back and realize that you are stressed. Breathe deeply and say a little prayer for guidance.

Some days it works. Other days you just need to go off about something. Most of the time you end up apologizing for being such a big ass but at least it is out of the system. I have been spending at least half an hour on an elliptical exercise machine every day which is a great stress reliever. You can get in shape and release the days pent up tension in one fell swoop. So I guess this is not so out of the ordinary after all. I am ranting and rambling and at the same time dredging up old phrases that I will have to investigate the origins of for a later post.

Icool

Cobb

Consumers Beware

I read an interesting article today about a group in San Francisco that pledged at the beginning of 2006 that they would not buy any new consumer goods for the entire year. The caveat was that they could buy personal hygiene items like toothpaste and razor blades but nothing new in the form of tangible consumer goods. The idea peaked my interest but not for the reasons presented in the article. Since the group originated in the liberal heart of the left coast, it was based on the idea of anti-consumerism, profit is bad, save the Earth. My reasoning dabbles a little in the idea of consumerism but not in the way they intend.

The marketing machine that drives our economy has worked hand in hand with the financial arms of the industrial octopus to find new and more devious methods of keeping us spending. My parents paid cash for everything. If they needed a new appliance, they saved up and purchased it. There may have been a small bank loan that was paid back in 30 or 60 days but no revolving credit. I remember the first time I saw a credit card used it was at Franklin Park Mall in 1980. I was dating a girl from Toledo and her parents were buying a wedding gift for someone. The used a credit card to buy the item and I was shocked and appalled by their blatant use of someone else’s money. Now having a credit card is the only way to get a hotel room or rent a car.

The next big push was to get you to use the equity in your home to buy things. Once the credit cards were maxed, they conned people into putting up the one thing they owned to continue to buy. So now we have people who have everything they want but are too broke to do anything with it and all of them are worried about losing their jobs for fear they will lose their stuff. So we get back to our group in San Francisco who are buying used or going without. I love the idea. It requires planning and helps to focus on what really matters in life. It is the reversal of the instant gratification that tickles me. As Sheryl Crow says, “It’s not having what you want, it’s wanting what you’ve got.”

Icool

Cobb

Enter The Electronic Age

I must say that I have been kicking and screaming about entering the electronic age. I am not talking about electricity or the many useful ways we have developed for making our lives easier. I am talking about the technology that has made communication instantaneous and music portable. The digitalization of the electronic world has opened up the avenues that both create a more instant form of instant gratification than was unimaginable 15 years ago to all except for those few hard core trekkies.

Now I love music but the idea of paying such an exorbitant price for a digital music device was beyond me. They have come down in price and I got an IPOD Nano for Christmas. It took me the whole break to get it figured out (with the help of my children of course) but I have loaded songs and used it to work out. It was great that there were no skips when I jarred too heavily and that I could switch songs at the drop of a hat. Too cool.

I have also just programmed my work cell phone to transfer all calls to my home cell phone. Since it Verizon to Verizon, the minutes on my personal phone are not affected. My boss highly encouraged his staff to carry their cell phones at all times. He is really into instant communication. I guess I do not have a choice. Well at least not one that I can feed my family on. So, I will run toward the light and hope that it is not a solar flare.

Icool

Cobb

The Spaces In Between

I have not been faithful to my posting over the last two weeks. There are several reasons including the most important which is that my work place put this web site on the can no longer view list. So I cannot write and post on my break at work. So I will have to be more creative in my use of home time and find the time to post while fighting the children off of the computer.

Another reason is that I have just been vegging for the last several days. Things are changing at work in an interesting way and I know that need to embrace the change. It will not be hard to do but it is another change which as you get older, becomes more of a drag. I have a new boss who loves to communicate via the cell phone. I am not a big fan of instant communication and refer to my cell phone as Satan. I am going to try my hardest to become a constant carrier of that device. The other big thing is that my company is selling off our division to a billionaire investor who buys and consolidates companies and sells them for a huge profit. Business is business and this worries me much less than the cell phone. Amazing how sometimes it is the little things that bother us the most.

So as we venture into the New Year, let us rejoice at the ocean of opportunity and remember that we can either embrace the horse as it runs us down the track or fall off and end up chasing it to the end of the race. This is not a merry-go-round but a full out gallop to the end of the race. What I love it that for a short time every year, I am able to sit back and reflect on what is and what should be. God is love. Amen.

Icool

Cobb