The Game of Life

In good times and bad, we generally make it through. How we rise from the bad is what defines us. The past month of my life has been pretty crazy, with a great many good times, and only a few bad. Most of the good times have been over trivial things, simple pleasures. Most of the time, the simple pleasures are what contribute to general happiness and overall well-being, I think. It’s easy to sometimes get caught up in the things in life that can easily depress one’s mood. It’s been three weeks since my last post, and it took a little prodding from the family to get me in the mood to write a little something.

  The economy, for example, is one thing that can easily get me down if I don’t watch how much time I spend reading and studying the why and how. The current state of the economy of the United States, if you’ve been living in a basement playing Warcraft for the last couple of years or only worrying about which Iphone apps you don’t have,  is in a shambles. It is an absolute mess. I absolutely loath that, as a taxpayer, I am forced to take ownership in several, once publicly traded companies-General Motors being the most recently news-worthy example. Even though their bankruptcy isn't official yet, the government will soon own 70% of the once large and proud company. Unfortunately, I have no choice in this investment. I can’t trade the stock, I can’t buy or sell options, I’m just a pawn. All taxpayers are cogs in the big government machine.

The Obama administration has already manhandled the bankruptcy procedure for one of the other big three carmakers- Chrysler Corp.,  even openly and publicly chastising bond-holders in the process, denouncing them as “bullies” for not cooperating with the government’s plan to force them to take pennies on the dollar in exchange for what they legally purchased and owned with money they earned. It’s a shame, really, and there are thousands of people in this great country that have invested in our wonderful free market system that woke up one morning to discover the shameful fascist maneuvers by our own government. A government that is supposed to work for the people. What’s even more shameful is the fact that a very small percentage of people in this country even have a clue as to the extent of the machinations of our government. They’re too busy worrying about who is winning American Idol to be bothered with things that could affect the rest of their lives. Thinking is hard...

 I've talked about this guy in several past posts, and recommend him highly, because he is one of a small handful of people that sees through our current administration's shenanigans. I read it daily, and suggest that everyone educate themselves on what is going on behind the curtain that is CNBC and the mass media broadway show. This is another article from another web source that is shedding light on the huge problem with the government's "cooking the books" method of printing money they call Quantitative Easing:  Treasuries in Trouble.  The government is trying to take out loans (by buying it's own treasuries) on guarantee of future production. If the government can't afford the interest payment on these loans, who pays? Who collects on a foreclosure? We all lose, every single one of us, as citizens of this great country, if we don't wake up and say something about our out-of-control socialist government. I just hope the big picture at the end isn't as ugly as it currently appears. 

Now that I got the bad stuff out of my system, I think the people that bother to read my candid chronicles deserve some levity. 

I’m getting soft, and I don’t like it. My shins hurt because of playing a little basketball at a friend’s Memorial Day party. I haven’t done much in the line of physical activity lately, and I admonish myself for it. Even the Wii Fit over at Jason and Angie’s this weekend wasn’t kind to me. Apparently, I’m overweight and my Wii age is 43. Whatever. Since when is 6’1” and 190 pounds overweight? How does a little box on the floor determine my BMI?

The weather has been great, even though we’ve seen several monsoon-like days of rain this month. The temperature is perfect for outdoor activities, and I love to ride my mountain bike. The problem is, I actually have to get on it and pedal. The other problem is that I’ve been working feverishly the last two months to finish my Jeep project that’s encompassed the last couple of years. For both of these equally enjoyable endeavors, there is a small requirement, of which I find myself painfully short: Time.

You see, I like my Me Time. This is time I take for myself to enjoy my hobbies and such. Man Time is also a popular moniker, usually when referring to activities in the garage or shop. I also need to finish walling the interior of my shop and start framing a wall and door to enclose the sink and toilet. I don’t want to be wrenching on a vehicle or working on the bench, only to be forced to stop so that someone can relieve themselves. It is a toilet after all, a place for all things private. Having one in the shop is convenient, so I should pay proper respect.

Sorry for the derailment of my time explanation train, but as you can see, there are several things I both need and want to do over the years to come, and what I’ve talked about isn’t even the tip of the iceberg. There are always things one doesn’t include in the original equation, like helping the wife assemble a newly purchased chandelier, trimming trees, yard work, the list is seemingly endless. All of you reading this know the drill. 

I did manage to squeeze in a full Sunday of going ridiculously fast on two wheels (safely). A friend that I work with here at the shop is a motorcycle riding instructor at a local motorcycle race track. They teach you how to be a better motorcyclist while going progressively faster on the track. It was a really good time and I really didn’t need the fuel on the fire that is my never-dead passion for two wheeled vehicles. I’m currently without a road going machine right now, and only have my ’66 Norton that is in several pieces strewn about in various parts of the garage. I’ll get her going someday, but right now she’ll have to wait a bit longer.

I also managed to squeeze in a Sunday for more USPSA competition. I’ve written about it in the past, and my goal was to improve every month. I’ve achieved that goal so far, and the match two weeks ago was no exception. I felt really good throughout the match, only having one or two bobbles, and managed to make it through the entire match without a problem related to my ammunition. Reloading for plinking and reloading for competition are two totally different ballgames. You really have to pay attention to details on every round to guarantee a problem-free match. In the end, out of nine competitors in my division, I placed third again. This time, though, the top two finishers were veterans of the game. Fifty plus years between the two of them in combined competition shooting experience makes me feel pretty good about my finish. I’ve only shot competition in three matches now, but I admittedly have years of fun with guns under my belt. Maybe I can get to the point where I beat them once in a while. I’ll keep you posted.

 As for life in general, I just keep trucking on, accompanied by the most beautiful and understanding woman I know. I’m looking forward to many married years ahead, and I think I’ll do just fine in my attempt to stay away from getting soft. 

Turn Your Head

  It appears that in some areas, we are finally seeing bits of the mainstream media questioning the socialist machinations of our government. This is a very informative and very correct view of what is going on with the Chrysler situation.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=azVYi8YEXsAc&refer=home

There is also another blog I follow (that isn't mainstream by any means) that hit the nail on the proverbial head about the big automaker debacle of '09. 

http://market-ticker.org

It will be very interesting to see how these illegal activities and the situation with the New York Attorney General digging into what really happened with the Bank of America/ Merrill Lynch merger. There were some serious laws broken there...by people at the top. 

In other, much lighter news, I have been on a bit of a streak lately. I've been working to try and get more local businesses to cooperate with us and get a sort of grassroots movement going in order to have a more efficient local trade amongst businesses in the area. In this tough economic environment, getting customers any which way you can is important. We've started making flyers and communicating with our local brethren and I think everyone can do their part. 

Having said all of this, I think I'll start by promoting a friend's business because it's been on my "to do" list for some time anyway. I know my blog doesn't have a ridiculous amount of readers, but maybe there are more than I think. 

I can't say enough good things about Angie, so browse around and get something cool. She has mad skills.

http://www.moxiemae.com/

You're Damn Right!

"Obama’s goal of permanently renewing the ban appears to be a longshot"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30389664

Stupid laws are a waste of time and taxpayers' money.  Enforcing laws already on the books should be where our government spends it's time, effort, and our money. 

Great Information

   This is a blog I've been following for a few weeks now. This guy knows what he's talking about and is one of the many people on the internet that are speaking their minds about what the mainstream media doesn't report. Our government is up to no good, and people like Mr. Denninger can make a difference in making the general public aware of some of the things going on in our country. I hope something more significant comes of this before our newest administration takes even more money from us. 

Pay particularly close attention to the post "Again: Government Lawlessness". It's very enlightening. 

http://market-ticker.org/authors/2-Karl-Denninger

Here is the letter from Attorney General Cuomo to the SEC, Senate Committee on Banking, etc.;. It's a very interesting read, indeed. Quite a few illegal things going on in our government. Failure to disclose during a major bank merger? Are you kidding me? This should be a cut and dry case.

 

 http://www.oag.state.ny.us/media_center/2009/apr/pdfs/BofAmergLetter.pdf

CZ

Earth Day

Propaganda:  The spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person. 

The word idea is fitting and appropriate in this definition from the Merriam-Webster online dictionary. Hypothesis also comes to mind. It is Earth Day in many places across the globe today, and unfortunately, it’s also a day for media outlets to disseminate stories about something many of them refer to as “Global Warming”. This term, in the general use, is an inaccurate term. Any meteorologist worth his degree will tell you it’s impossible to get a general temperature for the world as a whole at one given point in time. You can get an average temperature for many places, over a long period of time, but who determines what places are used to get these temperatures? How many places and sources for these temperature readings would it take to get an accurate average? With a little thought, one begins to see the enormity of the problem of proving this particular hypothesis. 

To determine whether the globe is warming or cooling over a relatively short period (decades or even centuries) is a huge problem. It has been possible for years for modern scientists to study ice and sediment across the globe that shows, without a doubt, that there has been climate change. There have been long periods of very cold temperatures and very warm temperatures, generally, across the entire world. The Ice Age is a very obvious period that is known to most everyone with even a basic education. The earth has had several of these cycles and it can easily be “seen” by scientists now that study the earth and the climate on earth at given points in its history. (I encourage everyone to read that link for Ice Age.) The terms global warming and climate change have become synonymous in the minds of many people, but unfortunately, they are not the same. They’re not even close. 

Personally, I think it is the responsibility of everyone to educate themselves on what is hypothesis, theory, and fact. These are all very distinct terms in relation to our current environmental state, and to arbitrarily believe, without education or scientific process, is a failure on our part as members of the human race. Our success and survival as a people rests on our abilities to educate ourselves and make informed decisions. I think our efforts to be “green” and to think about our impacts on our planet are mostly genuine and sincere. I also think that many good things do come from our efforts to avert actions that can negatively affect our world and environment. Also, obviously good things like recycling and utilizing wind power for electricity have shown to minimize our negative impact on our environment. 

The one thing I would like to one day see is the end of the promulgation of stories and information not backed by scientific fact or processes. Stories and the compilation of information based purely on emotion is often the product of indolence. This lack of impetus to procure fact is our scourge and can, ironically, lead directly to everything that people try to avoid in the first place.

The following link is a story that's an unfortunate example of this, emblazoned on MSN.com’s front page today:

http://lifestyle.msn.com/your-life/living-green/staticslideshowgreenchan.aspx?cp-documentid=18995580&GT1=34129

 Education is progress.. Editors at MSN would be wise to heed this.

THANK YOU!!, Mike Knuble!

  His cross-check on Brooks Orpik toward the end of the overtime gave the Pens a 5 on 3 advantage that gave Bill Guerin the opportunity to put the puck into the back of the net for the winning goal last night. Man, what an exciting game. I LOVE playoff hockey..

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09108/963857-61.stm

Good Start

There's nothing that quite comes close. Yeah, the Steelers playoff games are awesome, especially Super Bowl games, but there aren't quite enough of them. Playoff Hockey just started, and it reminds me every year how much I love it. The Penguins had their first game tonight, against the cross-state rivals and much-hated Philadelphia Flyers. It wasn't exactly a nail-biter, but it sure was pretty. The Pens prevailed 4-1 in dominant fashion. I just hope we can reel off three more just like it to take the series.

I have been meaning to post for about a week now, but have been pretty busy around here. I had all weekend to work on the Jeep since Karen was in Pittsburgh visiting her sister Marie. They're not twins, but they are, if that means anything. We'll see her again this summer when we go up for a week. I'm hoping to catch a Pirates game, too, in the new ball park. It's beautiful, and I can't wait to chill out and enjoy a Pirate game, a beer, and a hot dog there in the mother land.


The Jeep is coming along really well. I actually got everything but the dash and the headlights wired up while I was home by myself. I was able to get both batteries hooked up, everything else wired, and the steering shaft and column installed so that I could turn on the power. I'm really proud of myself that I managed to wire an entire vehicle by myself, especially marrying a modified harness for a fuel-injected Vortec engine from a Chevy Silverado to a chassis harness for a CJ7. It's perfect, really. One of the highlights is this dual battery setup. I have a main battery on the left there, then another battery as backup that powers a few small things and is controlled by a microprocessor solenoid mounted there behind it where the red power cables converge. If my main battery goes dead while I'm in the wilderness, far from anyone, all I do is flip a switch on the dashboard to activate the solenoid and switch over to my backup battery. I'm drooling. Finally powering up was a big moment, falling only short of actually firing up the engine. Nothing burned, melted, and there were no other catastrophic events. Just the whirring of the little electric motors cycling a few sensors. She's getting closer.

The radiator is mounted, and I even got the hoses cut and positioned. I had to cut and place both radiator hoses (they were modified original 5.3 Vortec hoses) and transmission hose for the built in cooler in the radiator. Heat kills an automatic tranny faster than anything, so I did my homework and bought the nice four core radiator with the built in trans cooler. It also has a sweet electric fan that I wrapped up mounting and wiring. I'm going to get busy with the headlights and dash this weekend.

I've also got to mount the shifter indicator down on the transmission so that I can wire that part of the dashboard. Those few things and putting the fuel tank in the rear is all that is missing. I'm hoping for an initial drive time near early summer. I think I can make it.

I've been watching closely the economic woes of our country, but it's too disheartening to constantly blog about it. If there was a good thing that came of it, it was the fact that we were able to do a streamline refinance on our mortgage. It isn't final yet, but there shouldn't be any hurdles to us closing at the end of the month. After all is said and done, we won't save any money on a monthly payment (well, $14, but who's counting), but our note was cut from the initial 30 year to 25, effectively saving us thousands. We were already on a plan to pay it off in 23 or 24 years, now that should be cut to just under 20 with diligence on our part. I'm looking forward to being house payment free in my early fifties.

CZ
CZ