February 2004, Week 3
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February 2004, Week 3
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Monday February 16 , 2004 A bit beyond perception's reach I sometimes believe I see that life is two locked boxes each containing the other's key. Piet Hein, poet and scientist (1905-1996) I lost some of this page some how, I have been working on this PC all day, Outlook was hanging, the PC was working it's butt off and nothing was coming on the screen... exasperating. I finally ended up reloading Office ,,, grrrr I took the kids to see a movie,,, well,,, some of the kids, Autumn doesn't do movies, she gets bored after about 30 seconds and there is no holding her still so she stayed home as usual. I took "B", Cindy & Monica. the girls saw "50 First Dates" and "B" an d I saw "Barbershop 2", It was pretty good, I would be careful who I recommended it to but Cedric The Entertainer is worth the price of admission. He reams everybody... I wish he would enunciate a little better.
Tuesday February 17 , 2004 To be able under all circumstances to practice five things constitutes perfect virtue; these five things are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness and kindness. Confucius, philosopher and teacher (c. 551-478 BCE) "B" had another appointment with Dr D.. "B" is still unable to understand why we are upset with him. Conversations with him are so surreal that sometime I wonder if he understands English. I tried to explain that we can forgive him for the stupid stuff he does but we can't forget... that would be insanity. He has repeated the same behaviors over and over to think that his apologies and protestations were viable would mean that we are as delusional as he is... Wednesday February 18 , 2004 Anger is a tool, not a master. Anger is meant to be tapped into and drawn upon. Used properly, anger is useful. Sloth, apathy, and despair are the enemy. Anger is not. Anger is our friend. Not a nice friend, not a gentle friend, but a very loyal friend. It will always tell us when we have been betrayed. It will always tell us when we have betrayed ourselves. It will always tell us that it is time to act in our own best interests. Anger is not the action itself. It is the action's invitation. JULIA MARGARET CAMERON, (1815-1879, Photographer) Working on my taxes today... no fun, just when I think I have it all together they pop something new in there for me to have to dig up... exasperating. I finished about 2100, I will review it tomorrow and send it off... I remembered the Self Employment Tax this time... but I note that I neglected it for 2002 too, so the IRS will be calling again... damn. Mike asked us yesterday if Mark could come over and spend the night... we said, rather emphatically "NO!". At about 19:30 he came in and said, can you go down to the dirt road and pick up Mark. Unbelievable!
Thursday February 19 , 2004
Mr. R. Wringer That's probably a bit harsh for some but it certainly reflects the viewpoints of at least 4 of my Conservative friends... The Liberal Press strikes again!!!! The LAT announces above-the-fold: "KERRY LOBBIED FOR CONTRACTOR WHO MADE ILLEGAL CONTRIBUTIONS." The head of a defense firm and his employees gave Senator Kerry about $25,000. Kerry along with a few other legislators wrote a series of letters to the Pentagon and some members of Congress advocating the guy's project, which would employ people in Massachusetts. (Kerry wrote at least 21 such letters.) The contractor has since admitted that he made employees give campaign donations and then reimbursed them, which is illegal. The Kerry story flags some caveats up high. First what Kerry did isn't that unusual: "Members of Congress often write letters supporting constituent businesses and favored projects." That doesn't make it right, but it does put more weight on the "illegal contributions" part of the story. Here's what the article concludes about that: Investigators "said there was no evidence Kerry or other members of Congress would have known" that the contributions were illegal. Given that, is the LAT's headline fair? I went to see my GP, Dr. K, He is very pleased with me, Cholesterol is down, Blood Pressure is normal, Glucose is with in limits, He gave me a Tetanus shot and drew blood to test my Testosterone and a long range Diabetes blood test I can't remember the name of. Christy and I went to a Placement IEP, they determined that taking steps for an more restrictive placement was premature. I am not sure I agree, but they are the pro's. I made it known that they need to be far more proactive when dealing with "B", Zero tolerance for cussing and intimidating behavior. After School Detention, or Saturday Cleanup for breaking the rules.
Mike refused to go to see the Kaiser drug counselor, B. J., that means he's done some 'pot' lately because he is tested . He said; "From now on I am making my own f**king decisions. I'm doing what the f*** I want to do. You can't tell me where to go and what to do any more... and on and on... pointing his finger and yelling and giving me his intimidating "I'm a black man from the hood" look. Well, sure does simplify my life... I wish he'd said that a long time ago. He's right, I can't make him do anything he doesn't want to do, but it's a two way street, he can't ask us for anything either... he's 16 now, most kids in the world that live to be 16 have been on their own for 3 years or so... I am rapidly losing all feeling for him. He's close to burning the last bridge with me. (How many times have I said something like that?) Friday February 20 , 2004 In a time of drastic change it is the learners who survive; the 'learned' find themselves fully equipped to live in a world that no longer exists. Eric Hoffer
I took Mark Home, Mike was pissed when he got home but that's life... We let Mike go to Marks... not sure why but I think it's just better than letting him hang around here glowering at everyone all weekend... While I was at it I got Autumn's medicine, talked to Cycle Rider about putting the Suzuki on consignment and bought some snake food. [They are called "feeder rats'... hate that, like buying one pet to feed to the other] I put a sign up on the board to give away Mike's Ball Pythons to a good home. Saturday February 21 , 2004 If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is "God is crying." And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is, "Probably because of something you did. Saturday Night Live, Jack Handey, "Deep Thoughts " Raining again today... damn, I wanted to ride over to see the bike... I took "B" and Monica in the car and went over to see the Bike... it's beautiful... I bought it... well, I put down $500 to hold it till Monday... I just about had a heart attack when two other old dudes showed up and the guy selling the bike, Bill, said these must be the other guys interested in the bike... I whipped out my check book so fast I almost dislocated my shoulder. John Martin showed up and looked over the bike, he said it looked OK to him... I'm content. I have not been so excited about buying something since I was 22 and I bought my first car. Kids have a basketball game tonight, I am staying home with "B" Cindy and Autumn... George McGovern said; "I'd have preferred Clark, but Kerry's momentum was too strong," McGovern said. "I would have endorsed Kerry had he not voted for the war (resolution). But I don't think that'll be a problem for him. It was Bush's resolution." Sunday February 22 , 2004 I have been hearing a lot of negative comments about Teresa Heinz Kerry, they are laughing at some of the things she says, most of the "quotes" I have seen are out of context and some of the stuff they are calling "Ditzy" sound pretty reasonable to me. She believes there is comfort in some of the eastern philosophies and so do I. The media says Americans appear to prefer being presented with First Lady's that sit demurely, utter lame platitudes and smile. The air-head Jackie clone, and not the in-your-face Hillary clone. If Teresa gets to the White House then she's going to break all the molds. She is very outspoken and doesn't pretend to take a back seat to anyone. Old Ralph "The Republican's Friend" Nader has joined the fray... damn. After all his work and genuinely laudable accomplishments he will go down in history as the man who guaranteed George Bush the Presidency in 2000, He took enough votes in two states to have made a difference... provided those voters would have voted Democrat if he wasn't in the race. I doubt that he can do that again though. If Kerry wins the delegates he needs it is going to be a nasty race, lots of Super Patriots hate him because he is "Anti War" but most of those voters are Republican and wouldn't vote for him anyway. I am very concerned about the passions welling up in this race. The Republicans I know are biting on all the one-liners demonizing Kerry in particular and Democrats in general. They are not looking past RNC Propaganda machine to see that the BS they are spreading is all half truths, lies and spin. The Democrats don't seem to be able to focus on attacking Bush, they are still in defensive mode. Kerry is just shining all the negative PR on, with some justification. I get two or three anti Kerry e-mails a day and they are all shrill, threatening and nasty. You know me, I check out everything and I have yet been able to find a shred of truth in any of them. And the Democrats I meet here (There are a few of us still alive) don't just dislike Bush, they hate his guts.... Yup, this is going to be a nasty race.
I saw this on www.smirkingchimp.com It's a little crude but I have said much the same thing, though not quite as well, several times.
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