What To Do With A Hole In Your Back

At the beginning of December of this year, I had a cyst taken off of my back. It had been there for about a year and had not bothered me at all. Around the middle of October it started to get big and painful. It really only hurt when I would lay down or bump it on something but when it grew to the size of a golf ball, I know that I had to do something. I saw my doctor on election day and she lanced it to no avail. Her suggestion was to have it removed so I scheduled an appointment with a surgeon. The sad thing was all of this time, it was seeping some very ugly looking stuff. I should have bought stock in Johnson & Johnson but everything is much clearer in hind sight.

So now I have a hole in my back that the doctor says is healing nicely. Unfortunately, when he did the surgery, it was still infected which impeded the healing process. It is still seeping but the volume has greatly reduced and one of the side effects was that I have not been able to really exercise for about three months. Couple that with the holiday season and a lack of will power and you have the gift that keeps on giving; 20 extra pounds on top of the already blessed abdomen.

My whole family (with the exception of the 13 year old boy who eats whatever he wants and remains pencil thin) has decided that they are going to undertake an exercise and portion program called P90X. If you watch any television at all, you have at least passed over one of their infomercials on the way to deciding there is nothing worth watching. I realize that I am disciplined enough to continue a work out routine but since eating is the problem, the family will be going on the menu program. I know at least three of us will be doing the work out so with hard work and dedication, we should all be thinner and healthier by Easter.

So that is what you get for a hole in your back. Hopefully, it continues to heal from the inside out and I do not have a dime sized hole in the middle of my back. If not, it will make a great story about how I was wounded. I can change it every time depending on the audience and make sure I either get the maximum sympathy or push the testosterone threshold.

Icool

Cobb

How Things Change

2008 has been a year of big change. Since this is the end of the year and I am feeling introspective, I will not begin to look at the macro changes around me. I could never encompass them all in my three paragraph format and I do not want to be angry all day at the lack of vision and lemming like behavior of my fellow countrymen. I want to focus on what made this year different and unique for me and my family.

The biggest change for me was changing jobs. I have spent 20 years in the automotive industry making everything from spark plugs, to engine mounts, to exhaust systems, chassis and engine components and plastic interior parts. The big three have been through several highs and lows during that time, each time driving more of their costs down to their suppliers while stepping up their expectations. The suppliers cried uncle several years ago. The big three finally fell to their knees this year. I managed to escape to the building products industry before the big three were humiliated and humbled by Congress. I will not miss the automotive world.

Other highlights for the year were my lovely wife finally coming into her own as an insurance rep. She has been slowly building her business and is now reaping the benefit of what she has planted. Most people hate dealing with life insurance because of how they have been treated or how they perceive insurance salesmen. There are a few honest ones out there.

My oldest daughter is graduating from high school this year. She is looking at a college in Midland, Michigan. My middle daughter went to three Jonas Brothers concerts this year. I do not see the attraction but I am not a teenage girl and it made her summer. My son's baseball team won the league championship and his voice finally started changing. It is still in the transition phase so we will find in 2009 how he will finally sound. I know that I could go on but I have already violated by format rules.

So as 2008 comes to an end, I am thankful for all of the gifts that the Lord has blessed us with. As I look toward the next year, it will bring the one thing that we have began to fear above all else; actual change.

Icool

Cobb

Sharks Finally Smell The Blood

An unexpected consequence of the 2008 Presidential election is that my lovely wife started listening to talk radio. She would come in and tell me what Rush or Sean was saying about the election. It was an amazing thing to finally see her involved in the process of how each side works to discredit the other. As a conservative (I cannot say Republican any more because they are just as tax and spend as any Democrat politician), I supported the Republicans simply due to McCain's VP choice. Anyway, my wife hit on something that I thought was nothing short of brilliant.

She has been listening to how the media has been treating Obama as of late. All of a sudden, there are all kinds of things wrong with the man who has no past. It has been a stream of small digs that you would never have seen prior to November. Her theory is that they knew all along that Obama was a slimy worm. They also had done extensive research on McCain and found that the skeletons in his closet were actually Halloween costumes for his grand kids. He would have made a very boring President with no real juicy things to dig up and report on.

Obama on the other hand will have a boat load of news worthy items that will provide fodder for the cannons and help to increase viewership or circulation of the free fall news medias. So the main stream media wasn't really supporting Obama for his political view. It was about the money. I do not know how I could have been so blind. I though that the media did not understand capitalism. Of course I could be wrong. It may not be an understanding of free enterprise that is driving this farce. It could be that the patient is so terminally ill that they are grasping at any straw to keep breathing. What a way to starve off the grim reaper; fixing the election for the President of the United States. Somehow that should be illegal.

Icool

Cobb

If It Was Easy

I have done my best to stay away from politics during the election season. There was too much venom in the air and I knew that I had a poisoned perspective about the election. I did not like either candidate mainly because they both leaned too far left for me to even respect their points of view. It was not until the Vice Presidential pick for the Republicans that I actually found anything to support. Now that the election is over and due to the cyclonic spiral into the abyss of the economy caused by the mix of poor governmental decisions and a generation of living beyond our means, neither party will win and the country is in for another bout of FDR style socialist programs. Can anyone say money pit? At least the rich will keep their houses in the Hamptons and ACORN will be allowed to sign up a few more members of the Dallas Cowboys so they can vote in Montana.

I have talked to a few people about the election. The two responses that I got were, "I didn't vote for him" and "I voted for Obama." I always have to ask the obvious question, "What about Obama made you vote for him?" The response to that question has been universal and very disappointing. "He is a great speaker." They know nothing about his policies or history or the direction he wants to take the country. He speaks well. You've got to be kidding me.

I credit the victory of Obama to George Bush. Not because of the war in Iraq or any of the decisions that he has made. George Bush has proven to be a man of integrity. When he made a decision, he thought it through and stuck to his guns. He did not waver when public opinion (mainly steered by the nightly news and opinion polls) repeatedly told him he was wrong. Time has shown that he was right to stay the course. No, it was the medias depiction of his inability to correctly use the English language that handed the election to the highly polished lawyer. His ability to read a speech in a convincing manner was what people noticed. Once again it is style over substance.

As to what will happen in America, we will find out in January when the mantle of responsibility changes. I know what I think is going to happen. I can only pray that I am completely in error. Somehow, I get the feeling that it is time to be afraid, very afraid.

Icool

Cobb