A friend at work forwarded this joke to me, I found it to be funny.
There was a long, long line of spirits at the gate waiting to get into heaven. Not all these spirits could fit into heaven, so the ones who died the worst death would be allowed in.
The first man in line started telling his story, "Well, Peter, you see, I knew that my wife was cheating on me so I decided to come home early from work one day to catch them in action. I got home and searched all over but I couldn't find him. Then when I walked out onto the balcony, there he was dangling off the darn thing by his fingertips. So I ran and got a hammer then started beating him with it and he fell. Well, the fall didn't kill him, because he landed in a bush so I picked up the refrigerator and threw it on him. Although that killed him, the strain gave me a heart attack, and here I am."
The next man came up and started his story. "St. Peter, I always work out on my balcony on the 14th floor of my apartment building. I was on my bike one day and I fell off when it flipped. I sailed over the rail and I thought 'Please God spare my life' and he did. I caught on to a balcony below me. I was even happier when a man discovered me hanging there. But all of a sudden he started beating my hands with a hammer so I fell again. But the dear Lord saved me again when I landed in a bush. But I'm here now because the guy threw his refrigerator on top of me."
It was now the third guy's turn to start his story. "Well, Peter, just picture this. I'm hiding butt naked in this married chick's refrigerator....."
Friday, November 21, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Post Election Thoughts
Aaron or Nate asked me the other day when I was going to post another rant, specifically wanting to know my thoughts on the elections. So here it is.
While I am not pleased with having Barack Obama as our President, there is nothing you or I and anyone else can do about it. He won the election. What can we do? We can support him in his efforts to lead our country. We can pray for him and hope that he makes good decisions. I think more importantly though, we should pray for the members of congress to make good decisions since they are really ones that propose and make the laws. We can also oppose him and congress when together they make bad decisions that lead the country down the wrong paths.
I have a friend at work who has said on a number of occasions that he will take his family and move to Australia if Obama won the election. To date he has not followed through on his threat. I have repeatedly told him that moving to Australia isn't the answer to his or the country's problems. I remember four years ago when Bush won the elections and half of Hollywood threatened to move to another country. I don't think that any of them followed through on their idle threats either. Although some of them could have done society a favor by moving to another planet (Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, etc. to name a few). On a few occasions I told my friend that maybe Obama was foreordained to be the President to take us into the millenium or he will be the one that causes the "constitution to hang by a thread." Regardless, it is what is and life goes on. So get over it.
John McCain's problem was that he was campaigning against two people, Barack Obama and George Bush. There were too many independent voters that felt that John McCain and the Republican party would continue Bush's policies. Lets face it George Bush is about as unpopular these days as a BYU fan in Salt Lake County during rivalry week. There was no way John McCain could escape from under the shadow of George Bush and beat Obama in the election. It was an impossible task. I also think that the Republican party has some serious leadership issues that has damaged the party. Until a true leader emerges to lead the Republican party, conservatives will continue to suffer loses in Congress. I maybe wrong and I hope I am.
While I am not pleased with having Barack Obama as our President, there is nothing you or I and anyone else can do about it. He won the election. What can we do? We can support him in his efforts to lead our country. We can pray for him and hope that he makes good decisions. I think more importantly though, we should pray for the members of congress to make good decisions since they are really ones that propose and make the laws. We can also oppose him and congress when together they make bad decisions that lead the country down the wrong paths.
I have a friend at work who has said on a number of occasions that he will take his family and move to Australia if Obama won the election. To date he has not followed through on his threat. I have repeatedly told him that moving to Australia isn't the answer to his or the country's problems. I remember four years ago when Bush won the elections and half of Hollywood threatened to move to another country. I don't think that any of them followed through on their idle threats either. Although some of them could have done society a favor by moving to another planet (Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, etc. to name a few). On a few occasions I told my friend that maybe Obama was foreordained to be the President to take us into the millenium or he will be the one that causes the "constitution to hang by a thread." Regardless, it is what is and life goes on. So get over it.
John McCain's problem was that he was campaigning against two people, Barack Obama and George Bush. There were too many independent voters that felt that John McCain and the Republican party would continue Bush's policies. Lets face it George Bush is about as unpopular these days as a BYU fan in Salt Lake County during rivalry week. There was no way John McCain could escape from under the shadow of George Bush and beat Obama in the election. It was an impossible task. I also think that the Republican party has some serious leadership issues that has damaged the party. Until a true leader emerges to lead the Republican party, conservatives will continue to suffer loses in Congress. I maybe wrong and I hope I am.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Political Cartoon
Someone at work forwarded me this political cartoon today. I thought it was funny, especially after what Sean Hannity said on his radio show today. The main topic of conversation was Obama's wealth redistribution plan. I don't know for sure that that is exactly what Obama will do, but everything I have read on his own web site, from his own mouth and in his political ads leads one to believe that wealth redistribution is on his agenda.
I voted today
I voted today at the Salt Lake County government building. It took all of about 20 minutes from the time I got there until I left. It was pretty slick. While I tend to vote Republican, I did not vote straight Republican. For instance I voted for Peter Corroon for Salt Lake County Mayor because I like the job he is doing. He is a good leader and I liked his stance on not providing tax payer dollars for the building of a soccer stadium. It is unfortunate that the state legislature stepped in and overruled the County. It is a great nation we live in to be able to vote for those people who will lead us over the next couple of years.
I need to clear up some misunderstandings over some comments I made over the weekend regarding Sarah Palin. I think Sarah Palin is a fine individual with some great qualities that will serve her well as a leader and I think she will be a valuable asset to the McCain administration if they win. I do not not support her. However, I question John McCain's decision to select her as his running mate. I feel that there are a 100 other political leaders in the Republican party that John McCain could have chosen as a running mate that are far more qualified than Sarah Palin. It is hard to argue that Palin is more qualified than Mitt Romney, Joe Lieberman, Condeleza Rice, Newt Gingrich, Tom Ridge, Orrin Hatch and the list goes on. McCain chose Palin to secure the evangelical voters and those on the far right of the Republican party, and to get some of the disaffected Hillary Clinton supporters. Palin has done a great job of getting some of those voters on their side. Anyways, enough said.
I hope everyone exercises their right as an American and votes by November 4th. It is a wonderful privilege that should not be taken for granted.
I need to clear up some misunderstandings over some comments I made over the weekend regarding Sarah Palin. I think Sarah Palin is a fine individual with some great qualities that will serve her well as a leader and I think she will be a valuable asset to the McCain administration if they win. I do not not support her. However, I question John McCain's decision to select her as his running mate. I feel that there are a 100 other political leaders in the Republican party that John McCain could have chosen as a running mate that are far more qualified than Sarah Palin. It is hard to argue that Palin is more qualified than Mitt Romney, Joe Lieberman, Condeleza Rice, Newt Gingrich, Tom Ridge, Orrin Hatch and the list goes on. McCain chose Palin to secure the evangelical voters and those on the far right of the Republican party, and to get some of the disaffected Hillary Clinton supporters. Palin has done a great job of getting some of those voters on their side. Anyways, enough said.
I hope everyone exercises their right as an American and votes by November 4th. It is a wonderful privilege that should not be taken for granted.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Politics
I really don't like this time of year ever four years. It is irritating to watch two grown men sling mud at each other. I know more about Barack Obama from watching McCain campaign ads than I do from Barack Obama himself, and the reverse is also true. Either one or both of them are lying. What I want to hear from both men are truths about how they are going to fix the problems that exist in our country. I don't want to hear about programs and how need this thing or that thing. I want to do the how? How are they going to fix the credit crisis? We all know how we got into this mess, but how and why will your plan fix this crisis. How do you plan to fix social security? How do you plan to win the war on terroris.? The unfortunate thing is that the candidates just say what they know people want to hear and will appeal to the voter. The bad thing is that most voters don't educate themselves on what each candidate wants to do and they base their vote on who sounds good, or who the media is pushing, or Hollywood tells me to vote for this person. I guess we are were we are because of ignorance.
I have been thinking a lot over the last couple of days about some of things that Barack Obama wants to do specifically regarding taxes and the more I read about his plans the more I believe he is unquestionably wrong. Some of what I am hearing comes from listening to the radio, specificall Sean Hannity. What I like about Sean Hannity is that when he states something on his show 99% of the time he can back it up with facts. This week he has really focused on Obama's distribution of wealth policies by taxing the rich. As I listened to what was being said in Wednesday's debate and on the radio I began asking my self the following questions: What should be the role of government? and are Obama's ideas moving us more towards socialism?
I have come to the solid conclusion that Obama is a socialist at heart. One of the principle tenets of socialism is the idea that society should be classless. One way to create a classless society is to involuntarily take money from those that have it and redistribute it to those who don't or those who don't have as much. Over a hundred years ago the LDS Church attempted this very same thing, but the primary difference between what the Church attempted to do and what a socialist government attempts to do is choice. The members of the Church who practiced socialism could chose to do so. However, a socialist government forces people to live it, it strips away your freedom to choose.
If you want a modern day example of socialism at its worst take a look at social security. As a US worker you have no option but to pay into social security. You can't get around it, the government forces you to pay 7.65% of what you earn to social security (5.3%) and medicare (2.35%). You have absolutely no choice. Then the government takes what you have contributed to its cofers and redistributes to those citizens who have reached a specified age and redistributes the money to them. However, if I make too much money from my other retirement income or other income sources I get nothing because it would be inequitable to that person who has no other source of income. If you have accumulated wealth over the course of 40 years of hard labor and contributed thousands of dollars to the plan for all those years, you probably will not see a dime. How idiotic is that? Stupid, stupid, stupid!!!! I won't get any further into my view on this stupidity, rather I will save it for another rant.
I've got to go, Adison has a game at 9:00 and I have to get him to the game by 8:00. I will finish my rant on Obama's taxes at another time. All you need to know is that socialism is evil and Obama and every other liberal democrat like him are socialists.
I have been thinking a lot over the last couple of days about some of things that Barack Obama wants to do specifically regarding taxes and the more I read about his plans the more I believe he is unquestionably wrong. Some of what I am hearing comes from listening to the radio, specificall Sean Hannity. What I like about Sean Hannity is that when he states something on his show 99% of the time he can back it up with facts. This week he has really focused on Obama's distribution of wealth policies by taxing the rich. As I listened to what was being said in Wednesday's debate and on the radio I began asking my self the following questions: What should be the role of government? and are Obama's ideas moving us more towards socialism?
I have come to the solid conclusion that Obama is a socialist at heart. One of the principle tenets of socialism is the idea that society should be classless. One way to create a classless society is to involuntarily take money from those that have it and redistribute it to those who don't or those who don't have as much. Over a hundred years ago the LDS Church attempted this very same thing, but the primary difference between what the Church attempted to do and what a socialist government attempts to do is choice. The members of the Church who practiced socialism could chose to do so. However, a socialist government forces people to live it, it strips away your freedom to choose.
If you want a modern day example of socialism at its worst take a look at social security. As a US worker you have no option but to pay into social security. You can't get around it, the government forces you to pay 7.65% of what you earn to social security (5.3%) and medicare (2.35%). You have absolutely no choice. Then the government takes what you have contributed to its cofers and redistributes to those citizens who have reached a specified age and redistributes the money to them. However, if I make too much money from my other retirement income or other income sources I get nothing because it would be inequitable to that person who has no other source of income. If you have accumulated wealth over the course of 40 years of hard labor and contributed thousands of dollars to the plan for all those years, you probably will not see a dime. How idiotic is that? Stupid, stupid, stupid!!!! I won't get any further into my view on this stupidity, rather I will save it for another rant.
I've got to go, Adison has a game at 9:00 and I have to get him to the game by 8:00. I will finish my rant on Obama's taxes at another time. All you need to know is that socialism is evil and Obama and every other liberal democrat like him are socialists.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Thoughts at 4:30 in the morning
I woke up this morning at 4:30, for whatever reason, and never fell back to sleep before my alarm went off at 5:15. The odd thing was that when I woke up my thoughts brought back an experience I had 21 years ago involving John McCain. Why I had this sudden remembrance at this odd hour, I don't know. Here is my experience as best as I can remember.
The summer after I graduated from High School I worked on the Bar-10 Ranch on the Arizona strip. The Bar-10 is a working cattle ranch but a tourist destination of sorts. It is located 8 miles north of the rim of the Grand Canyon and is in a unique position to cater to Colorado River runners, those who are just ending their trips and those who are just starting their trips. There is the Whitmore International airport which is nothing more than a dirt airstrip, but is international because people from all over the world have flown in to and out of it. The ranch also has two helicopter pads which are used to transport Colorado river runners out of and into the Grand Canyon. The lodge has the ability to sleep up to 75 people comfortably, showers, a trading post, and other necessary amenities to make life comfortable.
The Arizona strip is a narrow strip of land in the north west corner of the state of Arizona. It is bordered on the south by the Colorado River, on the North by Utah, and its western border is Nevada. It is approximately 200 miles going east to west, and 80 to 100 miles going north to south. If you have ever been to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Colorado City or Fredonia, Arizona, you have been to the Arizona strip. The area is as remote a wilderness as you will find in the U.S., and once you get off of the paved roads, and there are very few, it is easy to get lost. The ride from the Bar-10 to St. George lasted nearly 2 hours for the 80 mile journey, and the entire drive was a dusty, bumpy dirt road until you got to the Arizona/Utah border. If you were lucky and knew the dirt road well enough your top speed was 45 mph, and if you were an idiot you could get up to 60 mph (I never drove faster than 45 mph, seriously, wink, wink).
My responsibility on the Bar-10 was to assist Colorado River runners getting on and off of the helicopter as they ended their trip or just beginning. On the south rim side of the Colorado River, and directly south of the ranch, there is a small beach on the river which provided the perfect location for landing a helicopter. In order to get to the helicopter from the boat landing area, river runners would have to hike up the sandy beach for about 200 feet where they would get into the helicopter for the 10 minute ride back to the ranch. The ride into the canyon was thrilling experience as the helicopter drops nearly 1,000 feet to the helicopter pad below. Equally as thrilling was the helicopter ride out as you ascend the 1,000 feet over the sheer canyon walls. Once at the ranch the river runner could have a shower and get a bite to eat prior to departing on a 6 or 7 person Cessna airplane ride back to civilization.
It was on this beach in the summer of 1987 that I met the then first term senator from Arizona, John McCain. He had just completed the 180 mile journey from Lee's Ferry, through the Grand Canyon, lasting 5 to 7 days depending on the rafting company (some rafting companies take as long as 14 days to make the same trip). If my memory serves my right, he made the trip with a Senator Rudman of Texas and other close friends and family. It would have probably been during August, but I don't remember the exact month. What I do remember is an unshaven, silver haired, and exhausted man. He wore a green canvas, wide brimmed hat with a neck rope to keep the hat from falling off his head during the roughest rapids. He would have experienced the thrill of riding at least four large rapids all rated a "10", along with many other rapids rated a "7" or higher.
It was my fortune to be able to work on the river that day rather than at the lodge. My boss at the time, Tony Heaton, asked that we not talk to him. I rebelled and and shook his hand, said "hi" to him and asked him about his trip. He was very nice and cordial and answered my question with an exuberant, "it was great." That was the extent of my experience with him. Once the helicopter arrived to return the Senator to the ranch and his plane ride to civilization, one of the other ranch hands, Garth Bundy, herded the Senator and his family into the helicopter. I handled his baggage placing it in the storage area at the rear of the helicopter.
I don't know why I woke up this morning with this memory because I had forgotten all about it. What I remember was a man who was very personable, he was not aloof or demanding, and was very respectful. If I had known then what I know now, that he would later be on the cusp of becoming the leader of the free world, I may have spent more time getting to know the man. I must admit that at the time I was a bit intimidated by him and it took every bit of courage I had just to say "hi" and ask about his trip. John McCain, I believe, will do just fine as President of the United States. He has the experience and the intangibles to do the job well.
The summer after I graduated from High School I worked on the Bar-10 Ranch on the Arizona strip. The Bar-10 is a working cattle ranch but a tourist destination of sorts. It is located 8 miles north of the rim of the Grand Canyon and is in a unique position to cater to Colorado River runners, those who are just ending their trips and those who are just starting their trips. There is the Whitmore International airport which is nothing more than a dirt airstrip, but is international because people from all over the world have flown in to and out of it. The ranch also has two helicopter pads which are used to transport Colorado river runners out of and into the Grand Canyon. The lodge has the ability to sleep up to 75 people comfortably, showers, a trading post, and other necessary amenities to make life comfortable.
The Arizona strip is a narrow strip of land in the north west corner of the state of Arizona. It is bordered on the south by the Colorado River, on the North by Utah, and its western border is Nevada. It is approximately 200 miles going east to west, and 80 to 100 miles going north to south. If you have ever been to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Colorado City or Fredonia, Arizona, you have been to the Arizona strip. The area is as remote a wilderness as you will find in the U.S., and once you get off of the paved roads, and there are very few, it is easy to get lost. The ride from the Bar-10 to St. George lasted nearly 2 hours for the 80 mile journey, and the entire drive was a dusty, bumpy dirt road until you got to the Arizona/Utah border. If you were lucky and knew the dirt road well enough your top speed was 45 mph, and if you were an idiot you could get up to 60 mph (I never drove faster than 45 mph, seriously, wink, wink).
My responsibility on the Bar-10 was to assist Colorado River runners getting on and off of the helicopter as they ended their trip or just beginning. On the south rim side of the Colorado River, and directly south of the ranch, there is a small beach on the river which provided the perfect location for landing a helicopter. In order to get to the helicopter from the boat landing area, river runners would have to hike up the sandy beach for about 200 feet where they would get into the helicopter for the 10 minute ride back to the ranch. The ride into the canyon was thrilling experience as the helicopter drops nearly 1,000 feet to the helicopter pad below. Equally as thrilling was the helicopter ride out as you ascend the 1,000 feet over the sheer canyon walls. Once at the ranch the river runner could have a shower and get a bite to eat prior to departing on a 6 or 7 person Cessna airplane ride back to civilization.
It was on this beach in the summer of 1987 that I met the then first term senator from Arizona, John McCain. He had just completed the 180 mile journey from Lee's Ferry, through the Grand Canyon, lasting 5 to 7 days depending on the rafting company (some rafting companies take as long as 14 days to make the same trip). If my memory serves my right, he made the trip with a Senator Rudman of Texas and other close friends and family. It would have probably been during August, but I don't remember the exact month. What I do remember is an unshaven, silver haired, and exhausted man. He wore a green canvas, wide brimmed hat with a neck rope to keep the hat from falling off his head during the roughest rapids. He would have experienced the thrill of riding at least four large rapids all rated a "10", along with many other rapids rated a "7" or higher.
It was my fortune to be able to work on the river that day rather than at the lodge. My boss at the time, Tony Heaton, asked that we not talk to him. I rebelled and and shook his hand, said "hi" to him and asked him about his trip. He was very nice and cordial and answered my question with an exuberant, "it was great." That was the extent of my experience with him. Once the helicopter arrived to return the Senator to the ranch and his plane ride to civilization, one of the other ranch hands, Garth Bundy, herded the Senator and his family into the helicopter. I handled his baggage placing it in the storage area at the rear of the helicopter.
I don't know why I woke up this morning with this memory because I had forgotten all about it. What I remember was a man who was very personable, he was not aloof or demanding, and was very respectful. If I had known then what I know now, that he would later be on the cusp of becoming the leader of the free world, I may have spent more time getting to know the man. I must admit that at the time I was a bit intimidated by him and it took every bit of courage I had just to say "hi" and ask about his trip. John McCain, I believe, will do just fine as President of the United States. He has the experience and the intangibles to do the job well.
Friday, October 10, 2008
I'm new at this
I have been thinking about setting up my own blog for the last couple of months. My primary motivation is to provide myself with a cathartic release of frustrations and other issues that may be bugging me, but nothing too personal. I have found over the years that for me the best way to relieve stress or nagging obsessions has been to write things down in the form of a letter. I have written several letters at 1 a.m. in the past and found myself falling right to sleep shortly thereafter. Most of the things I have written about were problems I have had at work (co-workers and client issues mainly). Therefore, some days I may find myself blogging about politics (current presidential race), work, local issues (Salt Lake City and Utah), sports, family moments and whatever else may cross my mind that I wish to blog. I may share pictures and other downloadable files. I may blog every day (I doubt it), or a couple of times a week (maybe), or once a week (most likely). I am also doing this blog as a way to communicate thoughts and ideas to family, friends and others. My hope is that maybe some of what I blog will help the reader and maybe the reader can help me. The best thing will be if we are all uplifted and edified and we can all learn from each other through successes and failures.
I look forward to this adventure, until next time.
I look forward to this adventure, until next time.
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