April Week 3, 2005

Monday  April 11 , 2005

Time wears away error and polishes truth.

Gaston Pierre Marc, Duc de Levis, writer (1764-1830)

(I hope he's right - PAD)

Blessed School... School days are great, I get a little break from having to worry about the kids, I get to force myself to focus early in the day, I get more done... theoretically.

Lots of errands to run today... almost did 'em too,

Baldo and Cindy are at it again, they just can't leave one another alone... It's like being transported to another planet where it is everybody's job to torment everyone else. Conflict resolution is not allowed, reason is not allowed, compassion, understanding... nothing... just anger. Anyone trying to mediate is instantly turned into the enemy... they are awful.

Tuesday  April 12 , 2005

A man finds room in the few square inches of the face for the traits of all his ancestors; for the expression of all his history, and his wants.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

Interesting example presented for word of the day:

colporteur (KAWL-por-tuhr) noun: A peddler of religious books. ;[From French colporteur (peddler), from col (neck) + porter (to carry), from Latin portare, from the idea of a peddler carrying his wares in a bag hung around his neck. Ultimately from Indo-European root per- (to lead, pass over) that gave us other words such as support, comport, petroleum, sport, passport, Swedish fartlek (a training technique), Norwegian fjord (bay), and Sanskrit parvat (mountain).]

"By then, because a Seventh-Day Adventist colporteur had come into Croscombe selling religious tracts, his parents had joined that Church, and Hardy became a keen member of it."
The Rev Bertram Hardy; The Times (London, UK); Mar 27, 2003.

Christy taught "Love & Logic" at a Synagogue in Canyon Country, I did nothing of any consequence... today. Mrs. Morford came over and the kids invited her to dinner... the house was a shambles... grrrrr

Wednesday  April 13 , 2005

Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one's self-esteem. That is why young children, before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily; and why older persons, especially if vain or important, cannot learn at all.

Thomas Szasz, author, professor of psychiatry (1920- )

Monica has an 11:00 dental appointment... really a pain Lancaster to Valencia to Lancaster and home, then back to Lancaster to pick up kids at 1600... 193.8 miles... I wish I hadn't stopped to figure that out, now it's going to seem like a big chore...

Thursday  April 14 , 2005

It is human nature to hate the man whom you have hurt.

Publius Cornelius Tacitus, historian (c.55-c.120)
 

The guy from the Water Doctor came and fixed the valve in the Water Softener... it wasn't exactly broken, the spring that is supposed to close the valve when it  was too weak... now that it's back on and working properly it has become one more thing I have to check out every day... the price of progress and technology is the dread of it.

I managed to get to see some of the baseball game after finding out it was being held at the Pinecrest School in Palmdale instead of the Lancaster park...

I road my bike down to the ROF, Ed, the fella who was hurt in the train wreck a while back, and his wife Carmen were able to come, and one of my first bosses in ESS showed up also...

Friday  April 15 , 2005

Q: How many Bush staffers does it take to change a lightbulb?

A: Ten...
- one to deny that the bulb is burned out;
- one to clarify the denial ("The bulb is probably just dim");
- one to blame the bulb burning out on the Clinton administration;
- one to blame the bulb burning out on liberals in Congress;
- one to ask for a Constitutional amendment that will prohibit bulbs
from burning out;
- one to replace the bulb with a kerosene lamp;
- one to borrow money from the Japanese to pay for the kerosene;
- one former Reagan staffer to lobby his old colleagues now working
in the Bush administration for a special favor for the kerosene importer;
- one to cash the check for investing in the kerosene importer;
- and one to send the bill to the next generation.

Nothing much going on today Christy and I had breakfast at IHOP and did some shopping, she went into Newbury Park to get Christian and I putted around with the tractor... that was a chore, my get up and go got up and went a long time ago, I just don't seem to have any energy...

Friend John had the defective kidney removed on the 12th ... the surgeon is pleased...all is well,  (easy for me to say) The last, and only thing, I have heard he was still in ICU but that was on the 13th... my only link to John who is in England is through his cousin Fiona in Scotland and her PC is sickly.

Saturday  April 16 , 2005

On April 16, 1947, America's worst harbor explosion occurred in Texas City, Texas, when the French ship Grandcamp, carrying ammonium nitrate fertilizer, caught fire and blew up, devastating the town. Another ship, the Highflyer, exploded the following day. The explosions and resulting fires killed more than 500 people and left 200 others missing.

700 people dead or missing and I never heard of it...

Headline today:

President Bush even denounced the deal with Armstrong in January, saying, "Our agenda ought to be able to stand on its own two feet."

What these people are trying to get across to us is that any action, lie or deception is acceptable if it promotes your ideology [product]... it's OK in politics, it's OK in religion, it's OK in business...

There was a 5.1 earthquake about 75 northwest of us, I felt it shake the house a few times but the kids were outside and didn't feel it at all, Christy was in Palmdale and she didn't feel it either...

I was in the Acton Market and the mom of one of Mikes friends said "I have a 5 gallon yellow gas can full of Diesel fuel sitting in my drive way, the boys came back with it last night, they said when they told Mike that they were almost out of gas Mike put it in the back of their truck." It's mine...  I was supposed to meet Mike at the Acton Market to give him his allowance when he arrived I gave him the $10.00, hw said "Where's the other $5.00." He gets $25.00 a week, Christy gave him $5.00 yesterday and I gave him $10.00 last night... he was trying to scam me. I told him;  "I want my Diesel fuel back" He said "What diesel fuel." (That sort of pissed me off) I said "The Diesel fuel up at Austin's house that was stolen from in front of the motorhome..." he actually said, this is a direct quote "Why are you so upset, they didn't use it." He will be 18 on the 4th of November... if he is still here on the 5th it will be because I'm gone.

Sunday  April 17 , 2005

We all walk a narrow path in life and there are mountain ranges we will never explore.

Garrison Keilor

From Morons.com:

If only this much interest could be generated by Supreme Court cases where issues that affect all of us are decided...

Media obsession over celebrity trials makes me sad. Consider how many issues of greater importance are taking place in the world: there's a war on, the US economy is still in the doldrums, the dollar is weak, gas prices are high, and we're still sacrificing civil liberties and getting no real security for it.

But aren't you glad to know that when Michael Jackson's mother left the courtroom briefly on Thursday, she was only going to the toilet? Because first of all, some media speculation should definitely take place over her every move. And she should definitely have to defend herself when she has to do a toilet. Right?

I am very concerned for the country, we appear to be obsessed with everything that is shallow and superficial... I hope I am not alone in the belief that the people managing and making decisions in the Press are shortchanging us because if their decisions actually reflect the intelligence of Middle America we are in big trouble.

I am occasionally self obsesses and focused on the trivial and mundane drudgery of having to get through one day after another, and I enjoy escaping into the Daily Show at 8PM and watching a Motorcycle race, I even enjoy getting on my bike and riding like a 17 year old with a death wish... but I don't want the media to reflect those aspects of my personality. I want the media to focus on finding facts and reporting them. I don't want to be inundated by conjecture, opinion, bias, and sensationalism. Somehow the media has been seduced by the need to make a larger profit. Network News and AM Radio News are not any more responsible than the National Enquirer. The "God, aint it awful" stories of violence, scandal, sex, depravity fill the airwaves while righteous in depth well researched coverage of greed, corruption and graft get swept away by self absorbed celebrity pedophiles and the "All Pope, All the time" news channel.