Pretzel-Wrapped Hot Dogs

At the dining room table I sit, laptop in front of me, empty plate to my left, and to my right, a one-year-old boy munching on a pretzel.  My wife ordered pretzel-wrapped hot dogs, and they are absolutely phenomenal.  Just thinking about them makes me hungry again.

Anyway, my son Scott is a little over a year old now (his birthday was last Saturday).  It has been an absolutely amazing year, watching him grow, become aware of his surroundings, recognize people, and more recently he has found his voice.  He doesn't yet know what to do with it, except to use it to create high-pitched shrieks early in the morning until someone gets up to make him a bottle of milk.

A few months ago, this kid couldn't chew because he had no teeth.  Now he has seven teeth, and even more growing in.  We have completely taken Scott off baby food, because we now prepare him real food which his mom mashes up and stores in tupperware containers for dinner.  So far, his favorite dish seems to be pasta and tomato sauce.  I've never seen a baby try so hard to pick up and eat slippery pasta with his bare hands before.  That's another thing.  He hasn't learned how to use a utensil yet, so anything big that he gets fed usually gets chopped into smaller, more baby-friendly pieces.

While I'm sitting here typing this, he's next to me, gnawing away at the pretzel-wrapped hot dog I gave him -- or, rather, just the pretzel part of it.  The pieces of hot dog are just laying on his tray getting colder, and every few minutes I stop typing and sneak one.  I'm not a bad guy for doing it.  It just seems as if he doesn't like the hot dog bit.

I don't know why, but when he's cranky, nothing -- and I mean NOTHING -- calms him down like an episode of Dora the Explorer.  He literally would stop everything he's doing just to watch this show.  I don't get it.  But he seems to really enjoy "¡No hicimos!" (means "We did it" in Spanish).  I just hope his first word isn't in Spanish.  But if Dora isn't the show of the day, we usually go through other shows on my Xbox 360's Netflix app.  Most of the time, Dora is the winner.

Anyway, that's all for today.  I have to go change Scott's diaper and then he and I are gonna sit back, relax with a bottle of juice, and drift to Never Never Land for now (And no, I don't mean THAT Never Never Land....sickos).

So Yay, or Something

Barack Obama has been elected President of the United States for 2009-2013. I use next year because if you forgot, he doesn't start his term until 1.20.09. I'm glad Obama won. What I'm NOT happy about is the fact that CONGRESS is Democratically controlled, as well. President-elect Obama spoke about bipartisanship, or NO partisanship. He didn't want Republicans to turn down policies he proposed simply because he's Democratic. He won't have to worry about that now, because majority vote in House AND Senate is Democrat. That definitely eliminates partisanship, I think. Without a healthy balance of Dems and Reps, whatever the President proposes to Congress will undoubtedly be approved, because they're all as left-wing as he is. I don't mean that in a bad way, I'm just saying that we've thrown off the balance.

Most people I've spoken to about this agree: They only knew who was running for President, and then just voted down the line for whoever was in the same party. I just don't understand what the mentality is. "Obama for change...that must mean Democrat is BANGIN' this year!!"

No. They are not "bangin'". There are many Democrats that belong in prison, and they've been reelected to office. I'm not anti-Democrat, but I'm not pro-Republican either. I am independent of any political party, because I make my decisions based on fact, not bias. I can't help but wonder...if McCain had won, would it be the same way for him? All Republican Congress?

All I'm saying is that it's going to be a lot easier for preposterous bills to be passed in Congress, especially if they were drafted by the President. Not suggesting that President-elect Obama might do something outrageous, but the concern is there all the same. I just wish there were some way of knowing if we made the right choice. I guess we'll find out in the next four years.

Til then, party like it's President Bush's funeral!

Get Over It Already!!!

I am so sick and tired of hearing about these whiny parents, religious fundamentalists, and overall dunderheads complaining and conspiring to ruin things that have been around for years and years and years.

A couple years ago, a rabbi had Christmas decorations removed from an airport. Shortly after that, Christian extremists tried to stop the production of the NINTENDO WII simply because its Internet browser, if parental controls are not checked and altered, can surf for porn. A few weeks ago, the mother of a child who was frightened by a skeleton in the window of a library they were passing by had it removed. A couple days ago, another parent complained to their municipality about a neighbor's Halloween decorations on their front lawn being "too frightening".

I really am tired of this bullshit. Why is it that when I was a kid, everyone was more chipper during the holidays, but nowadays, people get offended by a DAMN CHRISTMAS TREE!!!! They don't call it "Christmas Break" anymore. Now it's "Holiday Vacation". More and more people are becoming "aware" of the "dangers of Halloween", and to keep them satisfied, local governments lower the trick-or-treating curfew earlier and earlier.

Here is what I have to say to any of you whiny sons of a bitches who may read this: You are fucking worthless. Get over yourself. Just because you don't like something, it doesn't mean you have the right to ruin it for everyone else. No one cares what you have to say. STOP FUCKING UP OUR HOLIDAYS!

That's it. This year, I'm protesting Thanksgiving because I believe it is a bigot's holiday. We are celebrating our first successful winter in the country before it was a country with Native Americans who we later slaughtered or forced from home. Or, how about FUCK Martin Luther King Day! Let's abolish the 4th of July because we're doing exactly the same thing to Iraq that Britain tried with us.

Sounds a little out of control, right? How do you think NORMAL people feel when you try and fucking ruin THEIR good time with your useless bitching? Get over it, let your kids know fear, teach them the difference between real and fake, and move on with your sad, pathetic life. Making a big stink about something that isn't even worthy of a good stink.

It seems that nowadays they'll give ANYONE their fifteen minutes of fame if they make a big stink about something. I'm gonna start a movement against people making a big stink.

I say FUCK the First Amendment. No one understands what it means anymore. They think that they can just start shit just because. I hate people. I wish you would all just die and let the rest of us be happy. NOTHING pisses me off more than bitchy people.

...except when there's nothing good on TV.

Romeo and Juliet

I heard on the radio, AND read in the news today that something tragic (and yet somehow romantic) happened at my own community hospital.

An elderly couple ended their 65-year marriage to each other. The wife, Helen Mason, 87, of Holiday City South, suffered from diabetes and several other ailments. When she had a stroke, it made everything worse. She became bedridden in Community Medical Center. Neighbors said her husband, Charles, 88, went to visit her there every morning and wouldn't come home again until late in the afternoon. Finally, Mr. Mason decided to end his and his wife's suffering. Early yesterday morning, he went up to her room in the hospital, shut the door, and stare at his wife. Her whole right side was paralyzed, she had a broken leg, and her other previous conditions had worsened. He had seen about all he could take of her suffering before he finally reached into his pocket, pulled out a gun, and shot her dead. Shortly after he shot her, he turned the gun on himself and ended his life.

Some people might see this as a ghastly act of euthanization. I see it as a modern-day Romeo and Juliet story. This couple had been married for 65 years. That means that they had been married since 1943! To be with the same person for so long, it's hard to imagine the person you married in such a sad, debilitative state. I know that on several occasions, I had told my wife that if she died before me, I would die there with her. Perhaps Mr. Mason had said something similar to his wife early on in THEIR marriage. When you know you met the right person, you just know. If you can picture yourself getting old with this person, having kids and growing gray and dying with this person, that should be the dead giveaway right there.

This man did not want to see his wife suffer anymore. Quite frankly, I wouldn't either. I wouldn't outright shoot her, but if she was in neverending pain, constantly suffering with no hope of recovery or even relief from her pain, I could see why he did it.

He loved her, and to see her suffering so badly, it must have broken him inside. I hope that one day, if faced with a similar dilemma, my wife would do that for me. I don't want to live without living, and I doubt she did either. He loved her. He didn't want to see her suffering anymore.

Then again, perhaps he saw it as his chance to finally get rid of the old bat.

Even Little Kids

To avoid any confusion, this post is simply my opinion based on facts that I read about and is in no way an attempt to persuade people to change their minds. Many have already made their decisions. I am just stating what I read to enlighten people. If it happens to change their minds, great. If not, oh well.

You wouldn't believe the article I'm reading as I write this. In a local elementary school, 200 4th- and 5th-graders participated in a mock Presidential election, in which Senator Obama won. 10-year-old kids voting for Obama and McCain in a mock election. Some of the reasons they gave for their choices seem too sophisticated for a 4th-grader to learn on his or her own. Then again, maybe kids today are smarter than we give them credit for. Let me provide an example of what one child said when he told reporters who he was voting for:

"I am going to vote for Sen. Obama because I think he will pull out our troops from Iraq," said Jonathan, a fifth-grader. "I am against the war because so many people are dying and we are not getting anything accomplished over there. I also like Obama because he provides us with something new.

"McCain has been in a lot longer and he will do routine things, while Obama might have a new spin on something." (Asbury Park Press, 30 Sep 2008, app.com)

Does this sound like the banter of an overactive youngster with ADHD? No, it sounds like a decent educated reason for wanting to cast a vote for Senator Obama.

Honestly, is it so obvious that Obama is the better choice that even little kids get it? One child cast her vote for McCain. She said simply, "He has more experience than Obama." Doesn't McCain have anything else on Obama?

What I gather from this is that Republicans and their little sprouts are more drawn to someone who spent more time in politics. Granted, throughout his career, McCain has TRIED different policies for things such as anti-smoking campaigns, trying to stop pork barrel spending, etc., but if you know your political history, you would know that damn nearly EVERYTHING McCain tried or supported or voted for FAILED. Sure, he's been there longer, but he sure doesn't see how the outcome might be. Just from reading SOME of the things he's supported, it would occur to me that Senator McCain does not look at the things he supports in the long run. Sure, it sounds good at the time, but will it LAST? Is this the kind of guy you want in the Presidency? Pretty much Bush's terms for another 4 years? If you're interested in reading about John McCain's "accomplishments", simply search his name on www.wikipedia.org.

Now, to be fair, I must bag on Obama. It's up to you, the reader, to decide who to vote for.

Barack Obama. Well, while he was in high school in the '70s, he'd tried marijuana, cocaine, and alcohol. Now, don't act so shocked. He openly discussed this at the 2008 Civil Forum on the Presidency, and whenever else that came up. In college, he studied political science and international relations. After that, he worked for Business International Corporation and then at the New York Public Interest Research Group. He also was elected the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, a campus newspaper at Harvard, where he supervised over 80 editors. Later, he moved to Chicago where he was offered a fellowship at the University of Chicago Law School. He directed Project Vote, a program designed to encourage African-Americans in Illinois to vote. He succeeded, getting 150,000 of the 400,000 registered African-American voters to actually vote. In 1993 he became a lawyer and focused on civil rights and neighborhood economic development. (By the way, this is all BEFORE he even got near Senate.) In 1996, when he was elected to the state Senate of Illinois, he got support from whites and blacks alike for legislation reforming ethics and healthcare. He sponsored a law increasing tax credits for low-income workers, negotiated welfare reform, and promoted increased subsidies for childcare.

Yeah, Barack Obama is such an dumb, inexperienced guy. All of the above information is spanned from Obama's birth to just before he started thinking about running for US Senate. If you'd like to read about his accomplishments while in US Senate from 2005 to present, simply search "United States Senate career of Barack Obama" on wikipedia.org. (I know, it's bad to cite a website that can be edited by anybody, but recently more creditation has gone to the site since its reform of just who can revise and edit certain pages.) Wait...I bagged on him, right?

All in all, it's a no-brainer. Each candidate has pros and cons, but consider the success rate of each Senator. Who has more insight to know which bills will be good in the long run for the country, and which ones which would only provide temporary headache relief from a brain tumor that needs to be removed? (Good analogy, right?)

Well, that's all from me. Voters, it is getting closer and closer to E-Day. Exactly five weeks away, You don't have very much longer to make your decision. Please don't consider this to be anti-McCain and pro-Obama. I'm simply stating the facts. The decision is up to you.

Starting with the $700 Billion Rejection

Today, the House of Representatives voted against the bill that proposed a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry, defiant of the pushing of the President and the House party leaders. The bill required 213 votes to pass, but only received 205, whereas 228 representatives voted against it. A majority of Democrats voted for the bill, but a stunning majority of Republicans voted against the bill. Now that the bill has been rejected, House party leaders have called for a reconvening on Thursday to discuss a different strategy for getting the economy back on its feet.

Stock markets plunged as it appeared that the measure would go down to defeat, and kept slumping into the afternoon when that appearance became a reality. By late afternoon the Dow industrial average had fallen more than 5 percent, and other indexes even more sharply. Oil prices fell steeply on fears of a global recession; investors bid up prices of Treasury securities and gold in a flight to safety.

Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr., appearing at the White House late Monday afternoon, warned that the failure of the rescue plan could dry up credit for businesses big and small, making them unable to make payrolls or buy inventory.

All of the projected economic failures would have a devastating effect in the global economy, slowing commerce in most of Europe.

Now, what are we as hard-working middle class Americans supposed to do to cope? I personally already am having a hard time recuperating from poor financial decisions on my part. I'm just getting back on my feet and now that this whole situation erupted, who knows when I will be able to build my credit back up?

There seems to be nothing that we can do in time to save the economy. The one thing that would have done anything at all was disapproved by Congress, and now we're doomed to further recession.

See what happens when you take out a loan you can't afford to pay back? Congratulations to everyone living in a home more expensive than they can afford. You all just destroyed the economy for the whole freakin' world.

[Updates as they develop, or as I find them.]

One

I had a very boring day at work. Just the normal hubbub, only a few interesting things, and I counted down the time until I could leave to go home.

I love my cat. He's small, strong, and orange. His name is Finn. I don't know why his name is Finn. My wife named him that.

I watched the McCain-Obama debate tonight. I tell you, I have never seen such a squabble between politicians in the entire 10 years that I became interested in politics. I support Senator Obama 100%, and tonight's debate just reinforced that. Despite what all the media is already saying about what was discussed, and who said what, and what that means to them, I could barely watch Senator McCain without either flipping him off or screaming at him or laughing my ass off at the strange faces he was making. If you missed them, chances are you'll see them Monday night on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. It was such a one-sided debate that it's easy to see why John McCain tried to get out of it. He had no real descriptions of anything he was explaining, no details for what he planned to do to make this great country a better place to live, and he took a lot of what Obama said and either turned it against him or tried to make it seem as if it were HIS idea. I almost felt bad for Senator McCain because he seemed so ill-prepared to answer any and all questions he might face, whereas Senator Obama answered each lead question and followups intelligently and diligently. He did end up on the defensive with the cracks McCain made about him and his "lack of experience", which seems to have been proven a useless attempt at discreditation simply because of the fact of how prepared and well-versed Obama was, compared to John McCain, who seemingly just didn't do his homework. A monkey sniffing his shit-stained hand could see that McCain was sweating the whole deal, and his cheap shots were making everyone a little displeased.

I hate watching good movies on network television. All of the good parts are either extremely edited or cut out altogether to fit the time slot. They should abolish network television movies, or kill all the censors who make them crappy on TV.

I think it's funny how there are so many individuals, companies, and corporations trying to abolish the illegal downloading of music, but then the cell phone companies that they own or endorse release products that enable users to put their illegally downloaded music and movies right on their phones for on-the-go entertainment. Makes a whole lot of sense, right?

The best thing about weekends is that you can pretty much do whatever it is you gotta do, or just have a good time. The worst thing about weekends is that they end too quickly. Go to sleep Friday night, wake up Monday morning. It makes me try to appreciate weekends more, especially since I have probably one of the crappiest jobs available to legal working citizens of the country left.

I like to look around a lot. I like to see things, and I like to imagine things that I see from different angles, colors, and sizes.

You're probably thinking by now I'm just trying to fill up space. You're right. But what should I write about? It's not like there's a world of news out there. I can't just look out my window and say, "Hey! There's some newsworthy shit right there!" Although driving home from work today I DID see some bonehead driving down the road with a bag of Arby's food actually sitting on the rear bumper of his car. I managed to take a decent picture with my cell phone (yes, I did it while driving. I know, I know. Shame on me.), but I figured for comedy's sake, I wouldn't tell him about it.

Well, this concludes the post. I hope you enjoy reading it MORE than I enjoyed writing it, because I didn't really enjoy writing it that much. But then again, I don't have anything really to write about until I actually go and do something. Can't do anything if I don't have time, and if I don't have time, I don't have a life. If I don't have a life, I have nothing to write about. It's a vicious cycle that never ends. Hopefully I wear a hole through the cycle soon, though. I'm going crazy.