Ok, with all the negative doom and gloom naysayers screaming their insanity's (are you as sick of it as I am?), especially on the political bullshit front, I thought it was about time to point out some amazing positive facts about us humans.
It has always amazed me that in the worst times and situations we find ourselves in, people of every color, ethnicity, age, economic statis and sex always put their best foot forward and do incredibly heroic and brave things for the good of their fellow man.
One of the examples that comes to my mind would be the Earthquake we had in Northern California a few years back. You know...the one where entire freeway bridges collapsed, trapping poor souls in their cars between the layers? If I remember this correctly, a lot of those scenes took place in downtown Oakland. In some of the worst places in that city. Places where crime ran in the streets like greasy liquid. Gangs, drugs, prostitution and killings were an everyday happening. Bars on most every window and where the average person generally lived in fear for their lives.
I watched the news that day in complete fascination and awe with what was taking place. People including those same druggies, robbers and rapist ran out of their homes, risked their lives climbing up into the crumbling cement structures and went to work trying to save anyone they could. They worked for hours with no care of their own safety right beside the emergency personnel who eventually came to help. I saw overweight, out of shape, never exercised in years type folks sweating blood that day putting their lives on the line to try and save complete strangers.
You see on the news all the time where car accidents happen and strangers get out of the safety of their own cars, run up to a burning inferno, break out windows and drag the victims to safety. They suffer severe burns to their arms and more but do it anyway. The other thing that comes to mind is when a heavy weight falls on a person and someone comes along and lifts far, far more than they should be able to in order to save the victim. I'm sure all of us have seen stories like these.
Seems the truth is us humans always shine the brightest in the darkest times imaginable. The more horrible the situation, the more we rise to the occasion and do the right and honorable thing. I would bet these kinds of incredibly heroic acts of bravery have been happening since humans came to this earth. To me one of the most interesting facts about all this is how no matter how noble and brave or not people are in their normal lives, in the right situations all that goes out the window and most everyone becomes like some kind of superman or women and does whatever it takes to help others out.
So, being the incredibly complex creatures we in fact are just makes us more, not less enduring and interesting to be sure. Yes obviously we can be complete monsters, pricks and idiots at times but at the most important times, even those types of people can be angels in drag also. So when the news portrays us with their dark lenses, we should all not forget that we are really like many faceted diamonds, even to the extent that diamonds can be beautiful and at the same time cut the crap out of you.
So, come on folks. Hold your chin up and face this crazy world with a huge helping of hope with a healthy dollop of positiveness. Take a moment to view it as a glass half full and smile once in a while. At least you and I are looking down at the grass. Think of how many people over at the cemeteries are looking up at the roots possibly wishing they had our measly problems.
Right at the bottom of this posting is a "Comments" link. Click on it, follow the instructions and leave a comment about this post. You can use your name or make up one, by clicking in the circle beside "Name/URL". Or just leave your comment anonymously by clicking on the circle beside "Anonymous".
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Come on.......DO IT!
Friday, August 14, 2009
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Kick them ALL out?
I think it's time for a little reality check here. Not only all the extremist on both sides of the aisle but most regular Democrats and Republicans who are presently screaming and yelling need to shut the hell up and crawl back in their bomb shelters and freakout chambers and take a self imposed time out.
I've heard of a movement that I'm going to join from now on that asks each of us to never again vote for ANY incumbent from either side ever again. The common fear is that we would lose the experience if we did that. Well, look where that experience has gotten us at this point.
Both sides have their own personal agenda that has nothing whatsoever to do with what's best for the common working, contributing people of America. The only things that matter to the extremist is that their particular bullshit ideas are right and the other side is wrong. What in the hell does that have to do with anything real? How does that divisiveness help solve any of the super pressing problems we are now having. We all need to shut off the super partisan political radio and TV shows blabbing on both sides of the isle and start thinking about what's best for americans in the long run.
Then we need to elect people as far away from normal as possible and see if they can come up with completely new, inventive and creative approaches to almost everything we do here in America. Obviously, our time worn ways are completely worn out and no longer work in this new age we find ourselves in and we need huge, real, out of the normal box thinking to move on ahead.
I'll admit that I thought our new president was presenting just those things but alas, he seems so far to be just more of the same. Of course he has only had a few months, so we need to give his policies a fair amount of time before making rash judgements. We are just now starting to show real and positive economic changes, so lets all hope for the best.
The majority of Americans obviously thought the same thing and desired huge changes also. So unless he can make these changes within his time in the spotlight, out he goes and we'll try someone else. Just not anyone in there right now. Their ALL idiots who could care less about us. Their all just fat, spoiled rotten good old boys who love money, power and sex, probably in that order. We obviously are to blame for this. They make far too much money. Have far too many perks and just sit there year after year in their thousand dollar suits and we just keep right on electing them. How stupid have we become?
The serious questions we have to start asking ourselves is this: Is our present system working for the good of the common people of America in this new high tech age we find ourselves in? Should we just keep on keeping on, the way it has been all these years and somehow expect things to change for the better? Is it time for some kind of completely new "out of the box" kinds of thinking and changes?
So, is it time to consider the idea to NOT vote for ANYONE from either party with "incumbent" next to their names from now on?
As usual, I can only ask questions as I have no answers. Come to me with a hair problem and I just might have some real, concrete ideas on how to solve them. As far as real answers to all the world problems, you would be better served to ask a rock.
As I've said over and over......I'm just a Barber.....the best damn Barber in the entire universe but alas, just a Barber. Oh wait....I almost forgot....I also do Brain Surgery, Leach Application and Blood Letting.
Right at the bottom of this posting is a "Comments" link. Click on it, follow the instructions and leave a comment about this post. You can use your name or make up one, by clicking in the circle beside "Name/URL". Or just leave your comment anonymously by clicking on the circle beside "Anonymous".
I will receive an e-mail, OK it and then it will appear for others to view after they click on the comments link.
Come on.......DO IT!
I've heard of a movement that I'm going to join from now on that asks each of us to never again vote for ANY incumbent from either side ever again. The common fear is that we would lose the experience if we did that. Well, look where that experience has gotten us at this point.
Both sides have their own personal agenda that has nothing whatsoever to do with what's best for the common working, contributing people of America. The only things that matter to the extremist is that their particular bullshit ideas are right and the other side is wrong. What in the hell does that have to do with anything real? How does that divisiveness help solve any of the super pressing problems we are now having. We all need to shut off the super partisan political radio and TV shows blabbing on both sides of the isle and start thinking about what's best for americans in the long run.
Then we need to elect people as far away from normal as possible and see if they can come up with completely new, inventive and creative approaches to almost everything we do here in America. Obviously, our time worn ways are completely worn out and no longer work in this new age we find ourselves in and we need huge, real, out of the normal box thinking to move on ahead.
I'll admit that I thought our new president was presenting just those things but alas, he seems so far to be just more of the same. Of course he has only had a few months, so we need to give his policies a fair amount of time before making rash judgements. We are just now starting to show real and positive economic changes, so lets all hope for the best.
The majority of Americans obviously thought the same thing and desired huge changes also. So unless he can make these changes within his time in the spotlight, out he goes and we'll try someone else. Just not anyone in there right now. Their ALL idiots who could care less about us. Their all just fat, spoiled rotten good old boys who love money, power and sex, probably in that order. We obviously are to blame for this. They make far too much money. Have far too many perks and just sit there year after year in their thousand dollar suits and we just keep right on electing them. How stupid have we become?
The serious questions we have to start asking ourselves is this: Is our present system working for the good of the common people of America in this new high tech age we find ourselves in? Should we just keep on keeping on, the way it has been all these years and somehow expect things to change for the better? Is it time for some kind of completely new "out of the box" kinds of thinking and changes?
So, is it time to consider the idea to NOT vote for ANYONE from either party with "incumbent" next to their names from now on?
As usual, I can only ask questions as I have no answers. Come to me with a hair problem and I just might have some real, concrete ideas on how to solve them. As far as real answers to all the world problems, you would be better served to ask a rock.
As I've said over and over......I'm just a Barber.....the best damn Barber in the entire universe but alas, just a Barber. Oh wait....I almost forgot....I also do Brain Surgery, Leach Application and Blood Letting.
Right at the bottom of this posting is a "Comments" link. Click on it, follow the instructions and leave a comment about this post. You can use your name or make up one, by clicking in the circle beside "Name/URL". Or just leave your comment anonymously by clicking on the circle beside "Anonymous".
I will receive an e-mail, OK it and then it will appear for others to view after they click on the comments link.
Come on.......DO IT!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Is life Intelligence, luck or just Timing?
My business, my wife's job and our financial lives in general are doing just fine in these interesting times we find ourselves in right now. Having said that I wonder, is this because we are somehow just plain smarter than those who have lost their jobs, homes and possessions lately or is something else involved? If it were pure intelligence, how could it be possible that people with high scholastic degrees are having some of these same problems that average people are having? How could that be? Doesn't high intelligence with Masters and Doctorate degrees exclude those people from making drastic mistakes with their money and means of employment?
Now my wife and I only have our High School diplomas plus some collage courses through the years. I of course went to Barber Collage, which involved about a year and a half full time with a state test at the end. Another test after a couple of years for my journeymen license (which they don't even required anymore) and like magic, I've been working in the hair hacking world for over 40 years now, making decent money to support my wayward and sometimes questionable ways.
Ok, this pretty much establishes that high scholastic degrees and extreme intelligence plainly don't have much to do with how one comes out in the financially competent, fit world, doesn't it? So that leave us with another possibility. Is it some kind of divine luck that only some people seem to have? Does all the super well off people just have luck on their side to get where they are? Are some people just born with luck? I really doubt that idea because we all know or have heard of folks who seem to be lucky their whole lives and then all of a sudden have super bad luck and lose it all or even lose their lives. All the recent celebrities with their dysfunctional lives comes to mind in that department, don't they?
So......that leaves us with Timing. Could it just be a simple matter of timing most of all that makes some peoples lives stand out as successful, rewarding and enjoyable? Could it be something as simple as when one was born into this crazy world? I was born in 1945. Into a much simpler and less complex world. A world where we were taught the value of being careful and cautious with our money. Our parents were products of the great depression and passed those experiences and lessons on to us. We were taught to only buy things we could afford. Credit was a rare thing indeed in those days. If you could not have something by paying cash then you could not have it. Simple as that. If you desired something you couldn't afford, you had to slowly save your money until you could buy it. Stores even had this thing called "Lay-a-way". Where you could keep putting a little money in an account until you could then pay for the item and finally take it home.
So, Timing.....We bought our house over 20 years ago. Back then there were only regular loans. Banks would only give home loans with payments you could afford long term. You had to prove beyond a shadow of doubt that you could afford the amount of payment. Plus over 20 years ago, homes were relatively cheap, especially compared to the recent past when prices were extremely over-inflated. So, for the last 20+ years our payment has been somewhere along the lines of what one might rent a one room shack or dog house for now.
Timing........I have been a Barber now for over 40 years. I started Barbering in 1964. Developing my hair butchering and bullshitting skills over such a long period of time has served me well. I worked at a shop in Sacramento for years, then came up into the foothills, oh so long ago. I actually have dozens of customers who just followed me up and have been loyal all these years. Plus during all these years in my present shop, I've developed an incredible amount of customers. Loyalty seems to be one of the driving forces in any successful business. I have customers who tell me if anything ever happens to me, they'll just have to start shaving their heads as they have no intention of finding and training a new Barber. So my business is so successful because of the large volume of super loyal customers i've acquired, bullshitted and cajoled through all these years, even in these and other questionable times in the past.
So obviously there are several complex reasons and explanations why some people seem to be in a better place in life than others, even in bad economic times. In my experience timing sure seems to be at the top of that list though. It sure seems that folks just recently born, just bought homes in the short term past and were taught to live on credit are having or will have a hell of a lot more negative financial issues than those of us lucky enough to be born long ago.
Whatchathink?
Right at the bottom of this posting is a "Comments" link. Click on it, follow the instructions and leave a comment about this post. You can use your name or make up one, by clicking in the circle beside "Name/URL". Or just leave your comment anonymously by clicking on the circle beside "Anonymous".
I will receive an e-mail, OK it and then it will appear for others to view after they click on the comments link.
Come on.......DO IT!
Now my wife and I only have our High School diplomas plus some collage courses through the years. I of course went to Barber Collage, which involved about a year and a half full time with a state test at the end. Another test after a couple of years for my journeymen license (which they don't even required anymore) and like magic, I've been working in the hair hacking world for over 40 years now, making decent money to support my wayward and sometimes questionable ways.
Ok, this pretty much establishes that high scholastic degrees and extreme intelligence plainly don't have much to do with how one comes out in the financially competent, fit world, doesn't it? So that leave us with another possibility. Is it some kind of divine luck that only some people seem to have? Does all the super well off people just have luck on their side to get where they are? Are some people just born with luck? I really doubt that idea because we all know or have heard of folks who seem to be lucky their whole lives and then all of a sudden have super bad luck and lose it all or even lose their lives. All the recent celebrities with their dysfunctional lives comes to mind in that department, don't they?
So......that leaves us with Timing. Could it just be a simple matter of timing most of all that makes some peoples lives stand out as successful, rewarding and enjoyable? Could it be something as simple as when one was born into this crazy world? I was born in 1945. Into a much simpler and less complex world. A world where we were taught the value of being careful and cautious with our money. Our parents were products of the great depression and passed those experiences and lessons on to us. We were taught to only buy things we could afford. Credit was a rare thing indeed in those days. If you could not have something by paying cash then you could not have it. Simple as that. If you desired something you couldn't afford, you had to slowly save your money until you could buy it. Stores even had this thing called "Lay-a-way". Where you could keep putting a little money in an account until you could then pay for the item and finally take it home.
So, Timing.....We bought our house over 20 years ago. Back then there were only regular loans. Banks would only give home loans with payments you could afford long term. You had to prove beyond a shadow of doubt that you could afford the amount of payment. Plus over 20 years ago, homes were relatively cheap, especially compared to the recent past when prices were extremely over-inflated. So, for the last 20+ years our payment has been somewhere along the lines of what one might rent a one room shack or dog house for now.
Timing........I have been a Barber now for over 40 years. I started Barbering in 1964. Developing my hair butchering and bullshitting skills over such a long period of time has served me well. I worked at a shop in Sacramento for years, then came up into the foothills, oh so long ago. I actually have dozens of customers who just followed me up and have been loyal all these years. Plus during all these years in my present shop, I've developed an incredible amount of customers. Loyalty seems to be one of the driving forces in any successful business. I have customers who tell me if anything ever happens to me, they'll just have to start shaving their heads as they have no intention of finding and training a new Barber. So my business is so successful because of the large volume of super loyal customers i've acquired, bullshitted and cajoled through all these years, even in these and other questionable times in the past.
So obviously there are several complex reasons and explanations why some people seem to be in a better place in life than others, even in bad economic times. In my experience timing sure seems to be at the top of that list though. It sure seems that folks just recently born, just bought homes in the short term past and were taught to live on credit are having or will have a hell of a lot more negative financial issues than those of us lucky enough to be born long ago.
Whatchathink?
Right at the bottom of this posting is a "Comments" link. Click on it, follow the instructions and leave a comment about this post. You can use your name or make up one, by clicking in the circle beside "Name/URL". Or just leave your comment anonymously by clicking on the circle beside "Anonymous".
I will receive an e-mail, OK it and then it will appear for others to view after they click on the comments link.
Come on.......DO IT!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Dysfunctional Artists/Geniuses
Isn't it amazing that everyone you know or have heard of who are geniuses with great creative talents are mostly running around with only one oar in the water? The very recent deaths of Michael Jackson and David Carradine of Kung Foo fame brought all this to the forefront for me. Michael Jackson was probably one of the most creative and successful geniuses in the music industry and his realities and baggage turned out to be so overwhelming and insurmountable that it obviously destroyed him in the end. Other crazy music artist names include: Mozart, Schubert, Rossini, Tchaikovsky, and Beethoven. Modern musical geniuses like James Taylor have been relatively public about battling mental illness and drug addiction.
In my hippy days, all my friends and I would show up at whoever had the largest screen television to watch our hero Kung Foo beat the crap out of the bad guys and loudly and with great gusto cheer him on in the process. We would listen to every word his master told him about reality and try to emulate the philosophies we learned into our daily lives. He was just this side of a god for all of us at that time.
He died HOW???
Holy crap, why doesn't reality just pull the rug out from under our feet?
I can go on and on with examples of great people all throughout history who we all looked up to and revered who turned out to be complete nut-cases in reality. Elvis Presley easily comes to mind for most everyone in that category huh? He might as well have been from a different planet toward the end of his career. Who was the great painter who cut his damn ear off for some reason only he understood? Wasn't his name Vincent Van Gogh?
The truth of my life, having been in the music world most of the time in one way or another, is most everyone I know and care about is half crazy. The most interesting, creative, intelligent people I knew and presently know in life and consider friends are all in that category compared with whatever normal means. I would bet the same is true of most of you. That out of all the people you've known, the crazy ones were the most fun to be around.
Even in my shop at the present time, I LOVE and try my hardest to bring out the nuttiness of my sometimes rather staid customers. My biggest thrill is taking some suited self important man and get him laughing right out loud at some stupid, politically incorrect statement I make. I take great pride in knowing I'm probably the only person in his life who gets away with treating him irreverently and outside his normal box. Now here's the wild part. They keep coming back for more, which tells me they like it. If I ask why, they tell me most everyone else treats them with phony respect and that gets tiresome in the long run. Being treated like normal idiots is refreshing as hell for them. So when they come in and I tell them to "Shut the hell up, sit down and wait they're turn". I know they are finally there when they say back "Oh stick it where the sun doesn't shine Paul".
I really don't think I'm stating a new idea here. I'll bet these facts have been studied and well documented by the mental health field for years now. Isn't this the most interesting thing though? All our lives we are taught to "be normal". "Don't stand out". "Watch how you behave and act". "You don't want society to think you're crazy or something is wrong with you".
And yet........and yet........everyone we love to see, hear, revere and appreciate are clearly a bubble off center aren't they? I suppose this gets back to the idea that if we were all exactly alike, what a boring ass world this would be. Then the world would be a world of robots and no one would want that would they?
Ok, my mission specalist is trying to contact me via my Viscal Assimulater.
Opps, did I say that outloud?
Never mind..........
So......who do you remember with a small smile? Your boring friends or your wild ones? You tell me........
Right at the bottom of this posting is a "Comments" link. Click on it, follow the instructions and leave a comment about this post. You can use your name or make up one, by clicking in the circle beside "Name/URL". Or just leave your comment anonymously by clicking on the circle beside "Anonymous".
I will receive an e-mail, OK it and then it will appear for others to view after they click on the comments link.
Come on.......DO IT!
In my hippy days, all my friends and I would show up at whoever had the largest screen television to watch our hero Kung Foo beat the crap out of the bad guys and loudly and with great gusto cheer him on in the process. We would listen to every word his master told him about reality and try to emulate the philosophies we learned into our daily lives. He was just this side of a god for all of us at that time.
He died HOW???
Holy crap, why doesn't reality just pull the rug out from under our feet?
I can go on and on with examples of great people all throughout history who we all looked up to and revered who turned out to be complete nut-cases in reality. Elvis Presley easily comes to mind for most everyone in that category huh? He might as well have been from a different planet toward the end of his career. Who was the great painter who cut his damn ear off for some reason only he understood? Wasn't his name Vincent Van Gogh?
The truth of my life, having been in the music world most of the time in one way or another, is most everyone I know and care about is half crazy. The most interesting, creative, intelligent people I knew and presently know in life and consider friends are all in that category compared with whatever normal means. I would bet the same is true of most of you. That out of all the people you've known, the crazy ones were the most fun to be around.
Even in my shop at the present time, I LOVE and try my hardest to bring out the nuttiness of my sometimes rather staid customers. My biggest thrill is taking some suited self important man and get him laughing right out loud at some stupid, politically incorrect statement I make. I take great pride in knowing I'm probably the only person in his life who gets away with treating him irreverently and outside his normal box. Now here's the wild part. They keep coming back for more, which tells me they like it. If I ask why, they tell me most everyone else treats them with phony respect and that gets tiresome in the long run. Being treated like normal idiots is refreshing as hell for them. So when they come in and I tell them to "Shut the hell up, sit down and wait they're turn". I know they are finally there when they say back "Oh stick it where the sun doesn't shine Paul".
I really don't think I'm stating a new idea here. I'll bet these facts have been studied and well documented by the mental health field for years now. Isn't this the most interesting thing though? All our lives we are taught to "be normal". "Don't stand out". "Watch how you behave and act". "You don't want society to think you're crazy or something is wrong with you".
And yet........and yet........everyone we love to see, hear, revere and appreciate are clearly a bubble off center aren't they? I suppose this gets back to the idea that if we were all exactly alike, what a boring ass world this would be. Then the world would be a world of robots and no one would want that would they?
Ok, my mission specalist is trying to contact me via my Viscal Assimulater.
Opps, did I say that outloud?
Never mind..........
So......who do you remember with a small smile? Your boring friends or your wild ones? You tell me........
Right at the bottom of this posting is a "Comments" link. Click on it, follow the instructions and leave a comment about this post. You can use your name or make up one, by clicking in the circle beside "Name/URL". Or just leave your comment anonymously by clicking on the circle beside "Anonymous".
I will receive an e-mail, OK it and then it will appear for others to view after they click on the comments link.
Come on.......DO IT!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Don't get old!
I was having lunch the other day at a Produce Deli in our little town and watched a very old couple walk through the door. They were probably in their eighties, maybe late eighties. They were both fairly emancipated, very small people who walked with super small steps to keep their balance, I guess.
I watched them shuffle over and order their lunch, then slowly make their way over to the table area where I was setting. As the little old lady slowly came right close by me, she stopped for a moment, looked me right in the eyes and simply said "Son, don't get old!", then walked on without another word to the table her husband was sitting at. For some reason, those serious, direct words coming from her affected me immensely at that moment and I'll never forget that little kind old ladies words of wisdom.
I'm like a lot of people around my young age......"^) I talk to at the shop. Most times I don't feel old at all. When I'm up and about my day, running around or at work, I feel.....oh, I don't know....maybe in my forties or younger most days. I still can do the hard yard work on the weekends. Cutting trees and limbs with the chain-saw, digging ditches or holes for placing posts in the ground, planting trees, spading up the garden. Any number of hard labor things I've always been able to do. Now of course I have to take a lot more frequent breaks for heavy breathing, complaining and plenty of water. Ok maybe now I have to do those things real early in the morning before it gets too hot. Where I used to be able to do those things all day long, now maybe a few hours and then I'm done for the day but by god, I can still do them.
One thing needs to be said here though. I have a longtime loving wife who has always and without fail jumped right in beside me on all those hard outside plans and chores. I'm certainly not sure how many of them I would have accomplished without her strong back and soul at my side all these years. In fact as one of my earlier blogs admitted, she most times was the one who started the whole thing and deserves all the credit for our beautiful house and yards.
The only times I truly might feel old is certainly when I first get up in the morning, what with all the grunting, groaning, popping noises coming from parts of my body and quiet bitching I do. Then when I first look into that bad ass lying mirror and see that white haired, wrinkly old fart looking back at me pretending to be me. I usually just cuss the old shit out and turn out the lights at least until I can brush my teeth and by then be a little more awake and partially sane.
There are a lot of great parts to getting older too for sure. My body feels the aches and pains but my mind....oh, my mind. I love what has happened to my mind as I get older and I hope wiser. I used to easily become intimidated by most anyone when I was young. I used to easily become embarrassed by the slightest little things and what people said to me in life.
Now, I could care less what people think about my thoughts or opinions about anything. I love being able to be blunt and honest and say what I mean and mean what I say without the slightest pause. I used to hem and haw and try and make up excuses when confronted by a salesman at stores or in my shop when they walked in. NOW.....oh yeah......NOW.....It's like, hell no, I don't want any of that plastic crap your selling and matter of fact, get the hell out of my face and my shop NOW! I LOVE THAT FACT! I even feel like and sometimes do a little jig dance afterward. By the way, I've had times where the customers waiting all broke out into applause after the rude and crude salesmen sulked outside.
So, I certainly don't have any idea how many more wonderful years I have left at this stage of my existence but I'm telling you right now, I'm going to live them out full blast, with all my heart and soul, laughing out loud as much as possible and to hell with what others may think of me.
The Golden Years
The Golden Years have come at last
I cannot see
I cannot pee
I cannot chew
I cannot screw (well, we'll leave that in for the sake of the rhyme)
My memory shrinks
My Body's drooping
Got trouble pooping
The Golden Years have come at last
The Golden Years can kiss my ass
Right at the bottom of this posting is a "Comments" link. Click on it, follow the instructions and leave a comment about this post. You can use your name or make up one, by clicking in the circle beside "Name/URL". Or just leave your comment anonymously by clicking on the circle beside "Anonymous".
I will receive an e-mail, OK it and then it will appear for others to view after they click on the comments link.
Come on.......DO IT!
I watched them shuffle over and order their lunch, then slowly make their way over to the table area where I was setting. As the little old lady slowly came right close by me, she stopped for a moment, looked me right in the eyes and simply said "Son, don't get old!", then walked on without another word to the table her husband was sitting at. For some reason, those serious, direct words coming from her affected me immensely at that moment and I'll never forget that little kind old ladies words of wisdom.
I'm like a lot of people around my young age......"^) I talk to at the shop. Most times I don't feel old at all. When I'm up and about my day, running around or at work, I feel.....oh, I don't know....maybe in my forties or younger most days. I still can do the hard yard work on the weekends. Cutting trees and limbs with the chain-saw, digging ditches or holes for placing posts in the ground, planting trees, spading up the garden. Any number of hard labor things I've always been able to do. Now of course I have to take a lot more frequent breaks for heavy breathing, complaining and plenty of water. Ok maybe now I have to do those things real early in the morning before it gets too hot. Where I used to be able to do those things all day long, now maybe a few hours and then I'm done for the day but by god, I can still do them.
One thing needs to be said here though. I have a longtime loving wife who has always and without fail jumped right in beside me on all those hard outside plans and chores. I'm certainly not sure how many of them I would have accomplished without her strong back and soul at my side all these years. In fact as one of my earlier blogs admitted, she most times was the one who started the whole thing and deserves all the credit for our beautiful house and yards.
The only times I truly might feel old is certainly when I first get up in the morning, what with all the grunting, groaning, popping noises coming from parts of my body and quiet bitching I do. Then when I first look into that bad ass lying mirror and see that white haired, wrinkly old fart looking back at me pretending to be me. I usually just cuss the old shit out and turn out the lights at least until I can brush my teeth and by then be a little more awake and partially sane.
There are a lot of great parts to getting older too for sure. My body feels the aches and pains but my mind....oh, my mind. I love what has happened to my mind as I get older and I hope wiser. I used to easily become intimidated by most anyone when I was young. I used to easily become embarrassed by the slightest little things and what people said to me in life.
Now, I could care less what people think about my thoughts or opinions about anything. I love being able to be blunt and honest and say what I mean and mean what I say without the slightest pause. I used to hem and haw and try and make up excuses when confronted by a salesman at stores or in my shop when they walked in. NOW.....oh yeah......NOW.....It's like, hell no, I don't want any of that plastic crap your selling and matter of fact, get the hell out of my face and my shop NOW! I LOVE THAT FACT! I even feel like and sometimes do a little jig dance afterward. By the way, I've had times where the customers waiting all broke out into applause after the rude and crude salesmen sulked outside.
So, I certainly don't have any idea how many more wonderful years I have left at this stage of my existence but I'm telling you right now, I'm going to live them out full blast, with all my heart and soul, laughing out loud as much as possible and to hell with what others may think of me.
The Golden Years
The Golden Years have come at last
I cannot see
I cannot pee
I cannot chew
I cannot screw (well, we'll leave that in for the sake of the rhyme)
My memory shrinks
My Body's drooping
Got trouble pooping
The Golden Years have come at last
The Golden Years can kiss my ass
Right at the bottom of this posting is a "Comments" link. Click on it, follow the instructions and leave a comment about this post. You can use your name or make up one, by clicking in the circle beside "Name/URL". Or just leave your comment anonymously by clicking on the circle beside "Anonymous".
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Come on.......DO IT!
Monday, June 8, 2009
One man, one vote?
You know what? It hit me one day as I was again setting there with my absentee ballet at the kitchen table, trying to figure out the best way to vote about the issues of the moment. Do I really know anything at all about these issues? The answer unfortunately is hell no!
The really sad part is I never know anything about them. I always feel fairly guilty and plain stupid about just guessing what might be the best thing to vote for. I almost always base my vote on weird things like how much will this cost? When I look down at the cost, if it's in the millions, much less billions then my vote is always NO. Another method I'm using lately is to vote out all incumbents, no matter which side their on or who they are. I figure everyone there at any given time are idiots who never seem to do the right or logical thing about anything.
Watching the news or listening to the radio for real, true knowledge about the issues is like winking in the dark. They all have their own agenda having nothing whatsoever to do with what's right and proper for the masses in America. As I've said in some of my other blogs, their ALL full of bullshit. They act like they care about us and know some kind of truth but their all just stating their own opinions, which are just that and nothing more.
So the conclusion I'm slowly starting to formulate is our system is out of whack to say the least. The whole "one man, one vote" thing is ridiculous to the extreme. Who in the hell thought this up? Did they really imagine that all of the regular, normal folks out there had the intelligence, insight and knowledge to decide what the best course of action is for the many, complicated issues facing us all the time?
Did they envision some way to properly educate the public enough for them to make these decisions intelligently? If so, does that not smack of indoctrination or
lead to just plain lying to us to achieve their particular agendas?
How do any of us know if the information we are getting is anything close to a real and honest truth about anything? So my guess here is no matter how smart and informed you think you are, it's mostly your own self delusions and egos, not any kind of reality.
Ok, here's my own personal truth. I don't know shit about any of the super important issues facing our nation and the world. The only things I do have a fair handle on would be my business, customer/friends, my loving family, gardening and a little music ability. Other than that all I can offer would be fancy, smancy sounding philosophies that in the end don't mean shit.
So is there some other way we could go about choosing leaders and making decisions? Well, as I just made clear. How in the hell should I know. I'm just a Barber, for christ sake.
Do you have any idea to help out mankind with this? The next paragraph will give you a chance to lay them out for others to see. Just follow the instructions.......
Right at the bottom of this posting is a "Comments" link. Click on it, follow the instructions and leave a comment about this post. You can use your name or make up one, by clicking in the circle beside "Name/URL". Or just leave your comment anonymously by clicking on the circle beside "Anonymous".
I will receive an e-mail, OK it and then it will appear for others to view after they click on the comments link.
Come on.......DO IT!
The really sad part is I never know anything about them. I always feel fairly guilty and plain stupid about just guessing what might be the best thing to vote for. I almost always base my vote on weird things like how much will this cost? When I look down at the cost, if it's in the millions, much less billions then my vote is always NO. Another method I'm using lately is to vote out all incumbents, no matter which side their on or who they are. I figure everyone there at any given time are idiots who never seem to do the right or logical thing about anything.
Watching the news or listening to the radio for real, true knowledge about the issues is like winking in the dark. They all have their own agenda having nothing whatsoever to do with what's right and proper for the masses in America. As I've said in some of my other blogs, their ALL full of bullshit. They act like they care about us and know some kind of truth but their all just stating their own opinions, which are just that and nothing more.
So the conclusion I'm slowly starting to formulate is our system is out of whack to say the least. The whole "one man, one vote" thing is ridiculous to the extreme. Who in the hell thought this up? Did they really imagine that all of the regular, normal folks out there had the intelligence, insight and knowledge to decide what the best course of action is for the many, complicated issues facing us all the time?
Did they envision some way to properly educate the public enough for them to make these decisions intelligently? If so, does that not smack of indoctrination or
lead to just plain lying to us to achieve their particular agendas?
How do any of us know if the information we are getting is anything close to a real and honest truth about anything? So my guess here is no matter how smart and informed you think you are, it's mostly your own self delusions and egos, not any kind of reality.
Ok, here's my own personal truth. I don't know shit about any of the super important issues facing our nation and the world. The only things I do have a fair handle on would be my business, customer/friends, my loving family, gardening and a little music ability. Other than that all I can offer would be fancy, smancy sounding philosophies that in the end don't mean shit.
So is there some other way we could go about choosing leaders and making decisions? Well, as I just made clear. How in the hell should I know. I'm just a Barber, for christ sake.
Do you have any idea to help out mankind with this? The next paragraph will give you a chance to lay them out for others to see. Just follow the instructions.......
Right at the bottom of this posting is a "Comments" link. Click on it, follow the instructions and leave a comment about this post. You can use your name or make up one, by clicking in the circle beside "Name/URL". Or just leave your comment anonymously by clicking on the circle beside "Anonymous".
I will receive an e-mail, OK it and then it will appear for others to view after they click on the comments link.
Come on.......DO IT!
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Overpopulation
It has constantly amazed me that no one, the news media included NEVER even bring up probably the biggest problem facing mankind. That being just plain too damn many people on the planet. Overpopulation is beyond a doubt the largest problem the world has at this point in time and no one even mentions it at all. This is unbelievable to say the least. Are all the great thinkers just plain stupid? Are they avoiding this plain as day issue for some reason? Is it just too touchy of a subject for them to discuss? Are they just plain chickenshit because of the delicate nature of trying to tell people about responsible birth control? Is religion somehow holding the subject at bay because of their weird and completely irresponsible precepts about birth control?
I fully understand that its a hell of a complicated issue because we're talking about somehow telling people or even somehow forcing the issue on how many children they can have but does that mean we just keep on pumping out humans until we destroy the earth, without even discussing it?
Overpopulation begins growing very slowly, but over generations the growth rate increases more and more rapidly, similar to a snowball affect. It took the human population thousands of years to reach 1 billion in 1804. However, it took only 123 years for us to double to 2 billion in 1927. The population hit 4 billion in 1974 (only 47 years), and if we continue at our current rate, the human population will reach 8 billion in 2028. Doubling from our present count of 6.8 billion to 13.6 billion will have a much greater impact than our last couple doublings combined.
One thing which must be taken into consideration is the amount of time, money, and effort we have spent toward saving and extending lives. Billions of dollars have been spent in this field, and successfully. However, something that we also must look at is the effect this has had on our own number. How much have we contributed to birth control, family planning, and preservation of the environment? Nature is a balance of existence. In order to coincide with nature, we must balance the saving and extending of lives with controlling the number of lives which we produce. We mustn't use resources any faster than they can be reproduced. We need to respect ourselves by learning to respect the environment which we depend on for our own existence. If not, we will cease to exist.
The super politically incorrect part of this whole subject is all the intelligent, normal, working responsible people of the world try to hold their own birthrate down to something they can be responsible for. They choose to wait until they can afford everything involved with having children. They understand that it is a hell of a lot of work and gladly do that work out of love, respect and just plain trying to bring a contributing member of society into the world who is equipped with the resources and plans to be self reliant.
That leaves the vast majority of ignorant, cave men/women all over the world putting out babies without a second thought. People who barely, if at all even know where babies come from, much less care. People who have no idea how their going to feed, cloth and shelter their children. People who have no education and have no intention of trying to provide their ongoing brood with any real knowledge of the world. The end result is we are obviously headed for a world populated by ignorant idiots.
With our present complete silence on this growing subject, I can see no answers coming up the pike, only more and more ignorant and increasingly dangerous humans inhabiting the earth. The truth is, this whole thing will not implode during my lifetime or even our children's lifetime but implode it will without some kind of real, thoughtfull and intelligent action on our parts.
I'm thinking, even hoping that nature might just handle it for us with famine, disease and natural disasters. I've often pondered that our planet seems to have a kind of destiny and even perhaps an intellegence we can't even imagine. I can only hope those lofty thoughts could be true for the sake our our future.
Luckily so far, it seems nature does those kinds of actions in the backward, third world locations, so I might be right that nature is a lot smarter than us supposedly intelligent humans.
Lets hope so...........
Right at the bottom of this posting is a "Comments" link. Click on it, follow the instructions and leave a comment about this post. You can use your name or make up one, by clicking in the circle beside "Name/URL". Or just leave your comment anonymously by clicking on the circle beside "Anonymous".
I will receive an e-mail, OK it and then it will appear for others to view after they click on the comments link.
Come on.......DO IT!
I fully understand that its a hell of a complicated issue because we're talking about somehow telling people or even somehow forcing the issue on how many children they can have but does that mean we just keep on pumping out humans until we destroy the earth, without even discussing it?
Overpopulation begins growing very slowly, but over generations the growth rate increases more and more rapidly, similar to a snowball affect. It took the human population thousands of years to reach 1 billion in 1804. However, it took only 123 years for us to double to 2 billion in 1927. The population hit 4 billion in 1974 (only 47 years), and if we continue at our current rate, the human population will reach 8 billion in 2028. Doubling from our present count of 6.8 billion to 13.6 billion will have a much greater impact than our last couple doublings combined.
One thing which must be taken into consideration is the amount of time, money, and effort we have spent toward saving and extending lives. Billions of dollars have been spent in this field, and successfully. However, something that we also must look at is the effect this has had on our own number. How much have we contributed to birth control, family planning, and preservation of the environment? Nature is a balance of existence. In order to coincide with nature, we must balance the saving and extending of lives with controlling the number of lives which we produce. We mustn't use resources any faster than they can be reproduced. We need to respect ourselves by learning to respect the environment which we depend on for our own existence. If not, we will cease to exist.
The super politically incorrect part of this whole subject is all the intelligent, normal, working responsible people of the world try to hold their own birthrate down to something they can be responsible for. They choose to wait until they can afford everything involved with having children. They understand that it is a hell of a lot of work and gladly do that work out of love, respect and just plain trying to bring a contributing member of society into the world who is equipped with the resources and plans to be self reliant.
That leaves the vast majority of ignorant, cave men/women all over the world putting out babies without a second thought. People who barely, if at all even know where babies come from, much less care. People who have no idea how their going to feed, cloth and shelter their children. People who have no education and have no intention of trying to provide their ongoing brood with any real knowledge of the world. The end result is we are obviously headed for a world populated by ignorant idiots.
With our present complete silence on this growing subject, I can see no answers coming up the pike, only more and more ignorant and increasingly dangerous humans inhabiting the earth. The truth is, this whole thing will not implode during my lifetime or even our children's lifetime but implode it will without some kind of real, thoughtfull and intelligent action on our parts.
I'm thinking, even hoping that nature might just handle it for us with famine, disease and natural disasters. I've often pondered that our planet seems to have a kind of destiny and even perhaps an intellegence we can't even imagine. I can only hope those lofty thoughts could be true for the sake our our future.
Luckily so far, it seems nature does those kinds of actions in the backward, third world locations, so I might be right that nature is a lot smarter than us supposedly intelligent humans.
Lets hope so...........
Right at the bottom of this posting is a "Comments" link. Click on it, follow the instructions and leave a comment about this post. You can use your name or make up one, by clicking in the circle beside "Name/URL". Or just leave your comment anonymously by clicking on the circle beside "Anonymous".
I will receive an e-mail, OK it and then it will appear for others to view after they click on the comments link.
Come on.......DO IT!
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