These interesting times......

In these "interesting times" we now find ourselves in, quite a few folks are pretty nervous about what's going to happen in the future. How we're going to survive the present economic conditions, with all it's uncertainties and unknowns. Will we follow the normal events that have came out of all the other recessions and even the "great depression" in our history?

It sure is hard to imagine positive results when we are all caught in this particular recession. With all the poor folks out of jobs and losing their homes. People struggling just to pay their bills and put food on the table, it's pretty easy to get caught up in the old "down mood" prevalent in a certain ill informed minority of Americans at this time.

OK, enough with the negative spin on things. Lets talk about some realities throughout history now. First of all, with an average unemployment rate of around 10% across America right now, the thing never mentioned in the news or from the Doom and Gloomer's clubs is that means on average, 90% of folks are still employed and doing relatively fine. Now even those folks still employed are a little nervous and playing it safe with their money, as well they should. Which according to reliable economist is the main cause of our ongoing recession right now. 75% of our economy is driven by Americans spending money. With people not spending money on normal items, it means the production of those items with the employment involved is at an extreme slowdown right now.

Another truth that's not said in the media is some of the best times in American history took place AFTER THE DEPRESSION. By the 40's and on through the 70's, the depression was pretty much gone and prosperity was at an all time high for the average American.

The truth that comes to mind for me in times like these is even though we have made some huge mistakes like sending all the manufacturing of American products to other countries, instead of having our own people have those good paying jobs and sustaining our own economy we let them go elsewhere. All in the name of being able to buy the things we think we need as cheaply as possible.

So, obvious mistakes aside, the reality is all throughout history, Americans have always been some of the most inventive, creative, intelligent folks on this Earth. So.... we gave most of our large manufacturing away, we'll come up with something else new and exciting as hell to manufacture soon.

Mark my words. There's some engineer, inventor, or genius out there right this minute working in his dark barn or garage about to have his own "AHA" moment, when he discovers some miraculously wonderful new product or way of doing something. Some amazing breakthrough that changes everything for us. Something of tremendous value that puts thousands, if not millions of people to work.

Some examples of this truth would of course be the light bulb. Did you know that when Edison invented that little devise, most everyone of those times thought it was a waste of time. A stupid idea when everyone was quite happy with their lanterns and candles. It took him years to convince small towns to install the systems needed to make it work for them. Then and only then did the populations of those times see the good of this new fangled idea as something they might actually use on a regular basis.

Another example is of course the Automobile. When whoever first built one had it up and running, everyone basically laughed right out loud at that noisy, clunky worthless piece of crap. Why would anyone want one of those contraptions when they had dependable horses to get where they wanted to go? How would you even be able to drive it anywhere on rut and pocked marked horse and wagon dirt trails all over the country? Again, it took years to create the infrastructure to make it a usable device for the masses to use .

In the present times are things like Solar Power. This relatively new invention came out of the brains of people who one day just looked up and wondered about that bright, hot thing in the sky that burns every day without fail, other than on cloudy days. They probably noticed that water left out in the sun became hot. That led them to wonder how that tremendous resource could be put to good use and Viola! A whole new exciting industry was started. It's now growing in leaps and bounds and putting tons of folks to work making pretty good money. It's especially good for those who lost their jobs in the building industry. Those people are now being re-trained in the manufacturing and installation of Solar Units by the millions across America.

Being a perpetual, life long "Glass half full" guy and proud of it, I'm telling you right now the future is going to be just fine. It very well might take more time than we all would like to see but get better it will. The old "Bubble" analogy will probably happen again just like this time and every time after a large downturn makes everything seem hopeless. That's just the nature of life folks. Life is one big old pendulum. Swinging on way, much too far eventually, then it starts back in the other direction, way too far in the end. The reality and part that's important to always remember is that damn pendulum has always worked that way and will continue forever to swing into the future.

So as I've said over and over in these "interesting" times...........don't let the doom and gloom idiots get to you. They're full of shit and their bullshit is just that... Hold your head up high, grab a smile and see your life as it clearly is.........hopefully with loving friends and family, a dog and two cats who love you unconditionally and a mate who thinks you're the cats meow....(well, most of the time)

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Don't make contacts. Make friends....

Go out and make contacts young man/women. Most of us have heard this great advise along the way. As you meet people in your career, get their names and keep in touch through the years. That way, when you need help climbing the social or business ladders of life, you will have someone you know personally and who knows you to possibly help along the way. People you can use as references in your search of better, more lucrative jobs, positions or business situations.

We've all heard this. How one gets ahead in the business world or even personally with other people is to accrue a list of people who at least know of you and have a good memory of who you are. People who just might give glowing and helpful statements about your character, morals and strengths to a potential employer or business opportunity you might come across in your future.

Now this is not only great, wise and intelligent advise at any time in history but in the tough economy we presently find ourselves in, it's probably of the up most importance. Nowadays the competition for jobs, positions and business opportunities are amazingly fierce. The whole trick at this time is to somehow stand out from the crowd. Make your self larger and more visible than all the other people with the same exact talents, skill sets and financial needs that you have.

Now is when I get to the meat of this little dissertation. I have to stop right now and give credit where credit is due. Through my Daughter's occupation and ongoing career as a Helicopter Pilot, I've met or at least know through the world wide web dozens if not more Helicopter Pilots all over the world.

There is one particular Helicopter pilot who shall remain unnamed for the sake of his personal privacy that taught me this and uses the saying as the subtitle of his life, morals, occupation and personal philosophy. This man has to be the nicest, most sincere and generous person I've ever known of in my life. His philosophy is to always pass on everything he has received that's good or helpful to those just starting out in life. He always gives unlimited professional advise to young, just starting out newbie students or just beginning Helicopter pilots. His advise to them is always right on and comes from years of problem free experience and expertise as a Helicopter Pilot. With a perfect safety record, I might add. His writing is impeccable, with perfect grammar and spelling at all times, which of course gives them an incredibly good example of how to professionally handle their own affairs now and in their futures in the industry.

So here it is folks. Here's his bi-line. Instead of the standard great advise of "Make Contacts"

His take on the whole thing is:

"Don't make contacts. Make friends"

When I first saw that, I was completely floored. Is that the coolest, most wise one sentence saying you've ever heard? When you meet new people, don't think of them as potential contacts to further your career, profession or even your personal life. Just be your normal friendly self and make them your friend. How cool is that? Just with that one little side wise slant on things. That one little difference in approach and boom....You've just changed the dynamic of the whole situation with this new person in your life. This new person will remember you fondly for years to come and will gladly help you in any way he/she can.

So the next time you meet a stranger to you. A new person. Treat him/her with kindness, respect and put on your best face because he/she just might turn out to be your new best friend and be willing to help you in some special way. More important than helping you, he/she might just become a very important part of your future life. As we all know, great friends are a rarity in these times, so do everything you can to make yourself available and receptive to the wonderful side of being human.

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My name is Cuddles........

My given name is Cuddles. The humans I allow to take care of me named me that when I entered their world and fell asleep on their lap, which of course is what we mainly do. The interesting thing about humans is they think they are the dominant species when most of us in the real world know they are just above the ants walking in lines like living robots to find food and comfort. They scurry around most of the time aimlessly, perceiving their activities as somehow important and required in order to survive in the world.

Luckily, I found pretty good humans to obey my every whim and desire. I have a pretty good house to live in. A house with all the requirements we demand from life, like warm sunny areas to get my beauty sleep in. Unlike humans who deprive themselves of the proper amount of sleep and slumber, we need a minimum of 16 hours of deep sleep out of every 24 hour day.

I have no idea what my humans names are as it doesn't matter to me as long as they do exactly as I demand. I really don't demand much. Just constant food, including the kind that comes in the little cans. I prefer foods at body temperature--the temperature of freshly killed prey. I demand my water bowl be changed daily with room temperature water only. Not too warm or too cold. That wouldn't do at all.

A few facts for you humans who are considering living under the same roof as we do.

Sense of smell:
Humans have 5 million odor-sensitive cells in their noses--cats have 200 million. Of course this means they can smell when you don't clean the litter box every day and will "inappropriately urinate" because of this.

Hearing:
Human beings can hear sounds up to 20,000 Hertz (cycles per second), dogs can hear up to 40,000 Hertz, and cats can hear up to 100,000 Hertz. Cats can even hear electrical currents in cords. Pretty amazing, huh?

Psychic:
In China, cats have been used successfully as earthquake predictors for years.

Cats are color blind,
but only need 1/6th of the light that humans require to see.

The cat has 26 facial expressions
The same parts of the human and feline brain correspond to emotion. So pay attention and learn to recognize what we need and we'll get along a lot better.

So as you can clearly see, we are far, far superior to humans in most every way. We have learned through generations to keep life simple. Humans make everything so damnable complicated. They even complicate the simple pleasures of life. Attaching all kinds of unnecessary rules and regulations to most everything they do sure explains their general befuddlements and confusions.

I was going to go into my entire life with the humans I choose to live with but you know what? I'm getting kind of tired and sleepy right now and don't feel like indulging any of my sacred secrets with you anyway. We must keep this stuff to ourselves. We can't let on that we are actually very smart and only pretend to put up with you doofis humans and your weird ways. You just keep on thinking your superior and we'll get along just fine as long as you do as your told.........

Right now I'm just going to lay down and............zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........

By the way. One super important thing we all require. You need to take us right away to our special doctor or better yet to a Spay and Neuter Clinic to be fixed and get all our shots. Our species tends to over populate like crazy and I personally don't like the competition.

Are you under the false impression that you're superior to your cats? Carefully read the instructions below and tell us about your misconceptions. We could all use a good laugh...



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Good News......

We've all been indoctrinated into the non-truth that only bad news sells. That bad news is the only thing interesting to the masses. Well, I've always thought that was a royal cop-out. The ultimate lazy news organization's rationalization for not doing the work of finding all the good news out in the world that happens every moment of every day.

I consider myself to be just an average, normal American with average intelligence (well, maybe a little more than normal...."^) and I and everyone I know are getting sick and tired of only hearing bad news. Especially on the bullpucky political front. All the Doom and Gloom nut cases, who think they are the majority, when they're thankfully and actually a very small minority indeed. I know they think otherwise but their only kidding themselves. Normal people are sick and tired of all that nonsense and want to get back to understanding and re-realizing that there is far, far more good things happening in the world than bad.

So I went searching and easily found sources for good news. Things happening around the world that are both interesting, informative and worth repeating. Stories that are uplifting instead of degrading, negative and meant to scare, intimidate and make us hide in our homes in fear. We all know down deep these good things are happening all around us because if we just open our eyes to our neighbors and friends, they are all good people trying to do good things every day.

So...............here's just a few things I found easily in just a few moments on line to share with you.........


40 Billionaires Pledge to Give Away Half of Wealth!

A little over a year after Bill Gates and Warren Buffett began hatching a plan over dinner to persuade America's wealthiest people to give most of their fortunes to charity, more than three-dozen individuals and families have agreed to take part, campaign organizers announced Wednesday.

In addition to Buffett and Gates — America's two wealthiest individuals, with a combined net worth of $90 billion, according to Forbes — 38 other billionaires have signed The Giving Pledge. They include New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, entertainment executive Barry Diller, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens, media mogul Ted Turner, David Rockefeller, film director George Lucas and investor Ronald Perelman. "We're off to a terrific start,"

Buffett, co-founder and chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, said in a conference call also attended by Bloomberg and San Francisco hedge-fund manager Tom Steyer and his wife Kat Taylor, founder of OneCalifornia Bank. Buffett said he and Gates, the Microsoft co-founder, and Gates' wife Melinda made calls to fellow billionaires on the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans — in many cases, people they had never met — to try to persuade them to join the giving pledge."We contacted between 70 and 80 people to get the 40. A few were unavailable. We don’t give up on them. Every saint has a past, every sinner has a future.


Cab Driver Returns $21,000 to Tourist

A New York City cab driver is being praised for returning more than $21,000 lost by a visitor from Italy.
Felicia Lettieri, who's 72, left her purse in a Manhattan taxi on Christmas Eve. It contained traveling money for her and six relatives.
Police told them not to get their hopes up about finding it.
The cabbie drove about 50 miles, to a Long Island address he'd found in the purse. No one was home, so he left his phone number and later returned with the money.
Lettieri's daughter, Maria Rosaria Falonga, told Newsday from Pompei, Italy, that the cabbie also left a note.
He told her: "Don't worry, Felicia. ... I'll keep it safe."
"When I was 5 years old, my mother told me, 'Be honest, work hard and you will raise your station,' " said the driver, Mukul Asaduzzaman, to the New York Post newspaper. He refused a reward.


Mother, Baby Revived, After Both Dying

DENVER - Mike Hermanstorfer was clutching his pregnant wife’s hand when her life slipped away in a Colorado hospital on Christmas Eve, and then he cradled his newborn son’s limp body seconds after a medical team delivered the baby by Cesarean section.

Minutes later he saw his son come to life in his arms under the feverish attention of doctors, and soon he learned his wife had inexplicably come back to life.

Hermanstorfer’s wife, Tracy, went into cardiac arrest and stopped breathing during labor on Thursday, said Dr. Stephanie Martin, a maternal fetal medicine specialist at Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs, where the Hermanstorfers had gone for the birth of their son.

“She had no signs of life. No heartbeat, no blood pressure, she wasn’t breathing,” said Martin, who had rushed to Hermanstorfer’s room to help. “The baby was, it was basically limp, with a very slow heart rate.”



The Soldier Who Smuggled Himself Into Auschwitz

When millions would have done anything to get out, one remarkable British soldier smuggled himself into Auschwitz to witness the horror so he could tell others the truth.

Denis Avey is a remarkable man by any measure. A courageous and determined soldier in World War II, he was captured by the Germans and imprisoned in a camp connected to the Germans' largest concentration camp, Auschwitz.

But his actions while in the camp - which he has never spoken about until now - are truly extraordinary. When millions would have done anything to get out, Mr Avey repeatedly smuggled himself into the camp.

Now 91 and living in Derbyshire, he says he wanted to witness what was going on inside and find out the truth about the gas chambers, so he could tell others. He knows he took "a hell of a chance".

"When you think about it in today's environment it is ludicrous, absolutely ludicrous," he says.

"You wouldn't think anyone would think or do that, but that is how I was. I had red hair and a temperament to match. Nothing would stop me."



Veteran, 84, Attacks Gun-Weilding Thief

John Dietsch wasn't scared – then or now. While working in the engine room of World War II Allied warships in the North Atlantic, he faced the threat of Nazi mines, warships and U-boats.

"You would hear the guns go off above us. You could feel it all around you," said the 84-year-old.

"There really wasn't time to be scared."

It was the same on Thursday afternoon, when a gunman stormed into a Royal Canadian Legion in Scarborough, demanding thousands in poppy donations. Dietsch and three others had just finished counting through $10,000 at Oakridge Legion, Branch 73, near Danforth and Warden Aves.

"At first, I didn't see the gun. I said, `What are you doing here?' He said he wanted all the bills," said Dietsch. "But nobody was going to get that money we had worked so hard to collect. It's for the veterans and the widows and the community."

When the gunman lunged for the cash, Dietsch grabbed his arm, pushing away the gun. They struggled and Dietsch fell to the floor. The startled attacker, who looked to be in his 20s, ran to the door empty-handed.



Woman Celebrates 100th Birthday

Astrid Thoenig got dressed, went to work and sat at her desk smiling Thursday as she slid her finger gently under the envelope flap of yet another identical birthday card. They don't make that many that say "Happy 100th."

Thoenig was interrupted by a steady stream of deliverymen bringing bouquets, chocolate-dipped strawberries and stacks of cards to the Thornton Insurance Co. in Parsippany where she's been answering phones, keeping financial records, handling payroll and typing up documents for more than 30 years.

"It's another day — it's hard to explain," Thoenig said of turning 100. "I don't feel old, and I don't think old."




So there ya go folks. In just a few moments of my valuable time, I easily found these few examples of wonderful, intelligent, interesting stories to digest and enjoy.


So, the next time someone gets that angry negative look on their faces, starts spitting, with their neck muscles bulging out and starts ranting about all the horrible, awful things they heard some talking head say on the garbage box or radio, just smile and walk away before they infect you with their self important crap. I guarantee you will be better off not allowing yourself to be infected by their disease..


A little side note.

In our home, we are in the middle of a little life experiment right now. We decided to turn off the TV completely. We have not watched TV now in over a month. We now listen to music, read, work outside in the garden, talk to each other.....Can you imagine? This is not something written in cement, it's just something we are messing with right now. Who knows how long we'll keep this up but for now we are loving the quietude and calmness it gives us. Personally, I think the best thing about doing this is NO NEWS! I'm guessing if the world is going to end, some customer will let me know. Until then, I don't miss hearing all the crap regurgitated over and over nightly at all.




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