The Next President - Santa Claus

When looking for a prediction of the next president, I am the last person you want to believe.  I was confident Mitt Romney would beat Obama and avoid his disaster of a second term.  Nobody was more shocked on election night to see Obama, the worst president to ever hold the office, win handily.  While Romney wasn't a dream candidate, he wasn't Obama and that should have been enough.  And as we now know, Romney was right about the 40% who will vote democrat regardless of the candidate.  I suppose there is probably another 40% who will vote republican regardless of who gets the nomination.

This should be an election that throws out the party who controlled the white house for the past 8 years.  Obamacare is still widely detested.  Obama has low job approval and is not trusted by the majority.  The economy and unemployment are not healthy, regardless what the jiggered indicators show.  US foreign policy is a wreck.  US security and national defense is weak.  By all rights, the party in power should be punished.

But this year is different. Whether that difference costs the democrats the white house is unknown.  We know that New York and California will give all their electoral college votes to whoever has the (d) beside their name.  That is a tall hill to climb.  It means that whoever has the (r) will need to run the table in the South, pick up most of the Midwest, and get half the swing states.  And that just makes it close.

Would Trump be the best candidate to take those states?  How about Cruz or Rubio?  Maybe, but whoever the (r) candidate is, we know they will face Hillary (assuming she isn't under indictment).
Indited or not, Hillary is a seriously weak candidate.  She is irrevocably attached to Benghazi, Iran, illegal email servers, Clinton Foundation improprieties, serial lying, incompetent foreign policy, Whitewater, Barack Obama, and a philandering husband.  What a mess.  A mess that would sink any other candidate.  How she has a chance to get the nomination is, in itself, miraculous.

But what is our choice?  Trump, Carson and Fiorina are outsiders whose appeal is a belief they are different - outsiders not tainted by Washington.  But is that enough?  Insiders we send to Washington with a specific mandate seem to change once they arrive.  Remember Paul Ryan, the deficit hawk who camped out in his DC office creating a comprehensive plan to a balanced budget?  That was then.  This is the same Paul Ryan who as Speaker of the House just passed the most bloated budget bill ever, one that funds everything we sent him and others to Washington to stop.  Is there one choice that is different than another?  I am beginning to doubt it.

Recent national elections seem to always pit a conservative or moderate candidate against a candidate who promises the government will take care of everyone.  Essentially, the choice is between an adult and Santa Claus.  It is hard to beat Santa Claus.

I have a very intelligent conservative acquaintance who has offered to bet dinner that Hillary will be the next president. He doesn't like Hillary, but just like in 2008, believes Santa Claus wins over pragmatism.  If I just look at Hillary, I want to take that bet.  She is so flawed.  I did make the bet in 2008, taking Romney over Obama.  I paid up by buying dinner, as we both cried over our food.

The party of Santa Claus is at it again.  Trillion dollar plans are given to offer free college, a cure for Alzheimer's, tax cuts for the middle class, with no regard to how we pay for them other than taxing the rich.  Pure Santa Clausism (I just made that up).  When an adult provides facts and perspective, they are disregarded as unpopular or uncomfortable.  The following clip is a great example of how facts and logic are disregarded when countering populism.  Cavuto does a great job explaining why a free college education for everyone, student loan forgiveness and a $15 per hour minimum wage isn't feasible.





I am betting that Neil's message was lost on Keely.  I bet she votes for Hillary.

WhiteLivesMatter

The blog title alone is enough for some to cry racism. If so, why would BlackLivesMatter be different?  The reality is that AllLivesMatter, but as democrat candidates for president found out, this is not an acceptable response.  It's either BlackLivesMatter, or you are a racist.  But when you examine the BlackLivesMatter movement, you find much that is illogical.

First, the movement began during the unrest in Ferguson Missouri, when Michael Brown was supposedly shot in the back while surrendering to a racist cop named Daryl Wilson. The "hands up, don't shoot" mantra was repeated by demonstrators then, and still is by the BlackLivesMatter crowd today.  The premise was definitively proven to be false by a thorough investigation conducted by local law enforcement, the FBI and the Justice Department.  It didn't happen.  Yet, there is a group of people who continue to chant "hands up, don't shoot" in spite of the facts.  They are either off the grid, completely uninterested in facts, or hopelessly stupid.

Second, the movement seems to believe there is a significant problem in America with innocent young black men being targeted and killed by rogue policemen. The facts don't support this at all. Each year, police kill roughly 1,000 people.  Of these, approximately 12% of the victims are black. Blacks are 13% of the population in the United States. Doesn't sound like conspiracy to kill black men.

In business we are taught to tackle problems by breaking down individual issues into related categories, them attacking categories based on the contribution rates, highest to lowest. Based on FBI data for 2013, 90% of all black murder victims were killed by other blacks.  All other categories in total make up only 10% of the problem.  So if the BlackLivesMatter movement really believes that black lives matter, they should be spending their energy discovering why there is such a black on black crime wave in their communities.  That is harder, and thus less likely to get appropriate attention.  It also exposes difficult facts, such as the breakdown of the black family.

If the BlackLivesMatter crowd was trying to solve these problems:

• 72% single parent rate in black families
• 73% black births outside of marriage
• 30% of abortions performed on black women
• total abortion deaths greater than all other forms of black deaths combined

then they would convince me they are working on the right things.

There are huge problems and injustices in the American black community, but blaming minor contributors won't solve the major problems.  If BlackLivesMatter, the movement needs to prove they believe it.

Homeland

For much of the past 5 years, my absolute favorite TV show has been Showtime's Homeland.  The first episode of the current season, (season 5), contained a scene that I felt was one of the best from a series that has won Emmy's and had many great performances.  Every season has seems to contain plot lines that are ripped from current events.

Since this episode aired earlier this year, it has become prophetic.  The scene was probably written and shot a year ago, however the content seems to be a fresh as today.  I found the clip on YouTube and offer it here.

Quinn is a CIA agent called back from Syria to report to superiors on the progress of America's "strategy" there.  I apologize for the language.  Keep the volume low but make sure you can hear it.

Yes, I am a Denier

Much of the following blog was lifted from a great article titled "Embarrassing Predictions Haunt the Global Warming Industry" written by Alex Newman.

This week, while world leaders attempt to dictate regulations to save the world from climate change, seems to be a great time to describe why I proudly label myself as a denier.  It's really pretty simple.  Mankind, in it's pride, believes that we have the answers.  We don't.  The best proof is to look back on the predictions made by the prideful and see how they turned out.  Remember that in this case, past results are very indicative of future results. Paraphrasing the article referenced above:

I am old enough to remember the chicken little predictions of the 60's and 70's.  Back then, global warming wasn't the bogey man.  Instead, it was global cooling.  Dire global-cooling predictions were hyped and given great credibility by the mainstream media. According to the man-made global-cooling theories of the time, billions of people should be dead by now due to cooling-linked crop failures and starvation.

“If present trends continue, the world will be about four degrees colder for the global mean temperature in 1990, but 11 degrees colder by the year 2000,” claimed an ecology professor at the University of California in 1970. “This is about twice what it would take to put us in an ice age.” Of course, 2000 came and went, and the world did not get 11 degrees colder. No ice age arrived, either.

In 2005, the United Nations Environment Program warned that imminent sea-level rises, increased hurricanes, and desertification caused by “man-made global warming” would lead to massive population disruptions. The organization highlighted areas that were supposed to be particularly vulnerable in terms of producing “climate refugees.” Especially at risk were regions such as the Caribbean and low-lying Pacific islands, along with coastal areas.

The 2005 their predictions claimed that, by 2010, some 50 million “climate refugees” would be frantically fleeing from those regions of the globe. However, not only did the areas in question fail to produce a single “climate refugee,” by 2010, population levels for those regions were actually still soaring. In many cases, the areas that were supposed to be producing waves of “climate refugees” and becoming uninhabitable turned out to be some of the fastest-growing places on Earth.

By now, according to their scaremongering report for a 10-year time period, the world should be a post-apocalyptic disaster zone. Among other outlandish scenarios envisioned in the report over the preceding decade: California flooded with inland seas, parts of the Netherlands “unlivable,” polar ice all but gone in the summers, and surging temperatures. Mass increases in hurricanes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters were supposed to be wreaking havoc across the globe, too. All of that would supposedly spark resource wars and all sorts of other horrors. But none of it actually happened.

For well over a decade now, climate alarmists have been claiming that snow would soon become a thing of the past. In March 2000, for example, a senior research scientist, working at the time for the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, predicted that within “a few years,” snowfall would become “a very rare and exciting event” in Britain. “Children just aren’t going to know what snow is,” he was quoted as claiming in the article, headlined “Snowfalls are now just a thing of the past.”

The very next year, snowfall across the United Kingdom increased by more than 50 percent. In 2008, perfectly timed for a “global warming” legislation debate in Parliament, London saw its first October snow since 1934 — or possibly even 1922, according to the U.K. Register. By December of 2009, London saw its heaviest levels of snowfall in two decades. In 2010, the coldest U.K. winter since records began blanketed the islands with snow.

In early 2004, the several self-styled “experts” warned that skiing in Scotland would soon become just a memory, thanks to alleged global warming. “Unfortunately, it’s just getting too hot for the Scottish ski industry,”.  Another “expert,” Adam Watson with the Center for Ecology and Hydrology, predicted the skiing industry in Scotland had less than two decades left to go. Yet in 2013, too much snow kept many Scottish resorts closed. “Nevis Range, Ironically, by 2014, the BBC, citing experts, reported that the Scottish hills had more snow than at any point in seven decades. It also reported that the Nevis Range ski resort could not operate some of its lifts because they were “still buried under unprecedented amounts of snow.”

In 1988, a predominate global warming expert was asked by how the “greenhouse effect” would affect the neighborhood outside his window within 20 years (by 2008). “The West Side Highway [which runs along the Hudson River] will be under water,” he claimed. “And there will be tape across the windows across the street because of high winds. And the same birds won’t be there. The trees in the median strip will change.... There will be more police cars … [since] you know what happens to crime when the heat goes up.” In 1986, he then predicted in congressional testimony that the Earth would be some two degrees warmer within 20 years. In recent years, after the anticipated warming failed to materialize, alarmists have cooled on predicting such a dramatic jump in temperature over such a short period of time.

Separately, another prominent alarmist, Princeton professor and lead UN IPCC author, made some dramatic predictions in 1990 while working as “chief scientist” for the Environmental Defense Fund. By 1995, he said then, the “greenhouse effect” would be “desolating the heartlands of North America and Eurasia with horrific drought, causing crop failures and food riots.” By 1996, he added, the Platte River of Nebraska “would be dry, while a continent-wide black blizzard of prairie topsoil will stop traffic on interstates, strip paint from houses and shut down computers.” The situation would get so bad that “Mexican police will round up illegal American migrants surging into Mexico seeking work as field hands.”

Perhaps nowhere have the alarmists’ predictions been proven as wrong as at the Earth’s poles. In 2007, 2008, and 2009, Al Gore, the high priest for a movement described by critics as the “climate cult,” publicly warned that the North Pole would be “ice-free” in the summer by around 2013 because of alleged “man-made global warming.”

Speaking to an audience in Germany five years ago, Gore alleged that “the entire North Polar cap will disappear in five years.” “Five years,” Gore said again, in case anybody missed it the first time, is “the period of time during which it is now expected to disappear.”

Gore, though, was hardly alone in making the ridiculous and now thoroughly discredited predictions about Arctic ice. Citing climate experts, the British government-funded BBC, for example, also hyped the mass hysteria, running a now-embarrassing article on December 12, 2007, under the headline: “Arctic summers ice-free ‘by 2013’.” 

The following year, Gore made similar claims at a UN “climate” summit in Copenhagen. “Some of the models … suggest that there is a 75 percent chance that the entire north polar ice cap, during some of the summer months, could be completely ice-free within the next five to seven years,” Gore claimed in 2009. “We will find out.” We did.  It wasn't ice free.

Even more embarrassing for the warmists have been trends in the Southern Hemisphere. Of course, all of the “climate models” and “climate experts” and “scientists” predicted that rising CO2 emissions would increase global temperatures, which would melt the ice in Antarctica — by far the largest mass of frozen H2O on the planet. Indeed, the forecasts were crucial to many of the other predictions about surging sea levels and related gloom and doom.

The problem for global-warming theorists is that the opposite happened. Indeed, sea ice in Antarctica is off the charts, consistently smashing previous record highs on a near-daily basis. Sea-ice area in the south is now at the highest point since records began — by a lot — and the warmists are searching frantically for an explanation. 

In his second-term inaugural address, Obama also made some climate claims, saying: “Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires and crippling drought and powerful storms.” Ironically, all three of the examples he provided of what he called the “threat of climate change” actually discredit his argument.

As Forbes magazine pointed out last year, the number of wildfires has plummeted 15 percent since 1950, and according the National Academy of Sciences, that trend is likely to continue for decades. On “droughts,” a 2012 study published in the alarmist journal Nature noted that there has been “little change in global drought over the past 60 years.” The UN’s own climate alarmists were even forced to conclude last year that in many regions of the world, “droughts have become less frequent, less intense, or shorter.”

Regarding hurricanes and tornadoes, it probably would have been hard for Obama to choose a worse example to illustrate the alleged threat of man-made warming. Contrary to predictions by global warmists, hurricanes and tornadoes have been hitting in record-setting low numbers. “When the 2014 hurricane season starts it will have been 3,142 days since the last Category 3+ storm made landfall in the U.S., shattering the record for the longest stretch between U.S. intense hurricanes since 1900,” noted professor of environmental studies Roger Pielke, Jr. at the University of Colorado, who last year left alarmists who had predicted more extreme weather linked to alleged global warming silent after pointing out the facts in a Senate hearing. “The five-year period ending 2013 has seen two hurricane landfalls. That is a record low since 1900.” After adjusting the data for trends such as population growth and better reporting, it appears that 2013 also featured the lowest number of tornadoes in the long-term record.

Why does the gross incompetence of climate change "experts" matter?  Because their myth will cost the entire world much of our accumulated wealth and future earnings.  If the climate dictators get their way, all goods and services will cost more, much more.  The cost of energy will multiply.  

No one is opposed to clean, renewable energy.  Many are opposed to foisting technology that is neither mature or cost effective on Americans before it becomes economical.  Doing so fosters crony capitalism, where government decides which industries and businesses are protected, and which are punished.  That is the current Obama energy policy.

Should we change society dramatically to avoid the predictions they climate alarmists make?  Well, based on their track record, would you buy a stock based on their tip?  Would you bet the American or world economies?  I wouldn't.  

Especially Thankful

I like to think of myself as a person full of gratitude.  I understand that much of what I have was given to me.  I once heard than when you see a turtle sitting on a fence post, you can be certain he was put there.

This year I am especially thankful.  A year ago I was in a miserable situation, working at a job I hated and for a company I despised.  I recounted my supernatural experience of moving to a better situation in an earlier post found here.  Since writing that, additional God Things have occurred.

I found myself with a new job and an overwhelming list of objectives to accomplish.  Alone I would not succeed.  But a plan become clear and I began recruiting former direct reports who were highly knowledgeable, experienced and extremely productive.  Four took the risk to leave their current job to join me in implementing a ground-up program at a new company.  Seven weeks after coming on board, incredible progress was made and plans to expand the original scope are now underway.

In addition to the normal list of things to be thankful for this year - family, health, employment, food on the table, and a roof over my head - I add being thankful for peace.  Peace of mind. I now realize that my personal series of miracles brings with them an understanding that this would not have happened if failure was going to be the end result.

I am a turtle on a fence post.

Polarization

It seems that America is as polarized as it has ever been.  The left and right don't often agree on anything.  It is easy to blame the other side for not being reasonable.  Some of the blame is understandable and justified.  There are far too many people who rely on the opinions of those who share their belief system and never bother to think for themselves.

It seems that our current polarization is largely caused by either principles or partisanship.  It is partisanship that closes minds and causes gridlock.  Polarization caused by principles is a good behavior.  We all should have a core set of principles used to form our own opinions.

Looking at our current political environment, I find it fairly easy to categorize groups of people who hold specific beliefs into the principled or partisan groups.  While not 100% accurate, progressive liberals tend to be more partisan that conservatives.  Conservatives tend to be more principled.  Even so, contradictions exist.  A conservative principle is the value of life.  We use this principle to form our beliefs on abortion and euthanasia, but not so much with the death penalty.

Contradictions abound with the progressives who more often than not, side with their political party leaders on most issues.  And the party leaders form their contrary positions based on what conservatives are for or against.  There are exceptions. While I personally detest the progressive liberal philosophy, those who form their progressive liberal position based on principle can be respected.

For example, I have no doubt that Bernie Sanders truly believes that a socialist society would be better than our current form of capitalism.  We know because he doesn't try to hide it.  He is very honest and open about his belief.  There are others.  Bill Maher and Micheal Moore do not leave any doubt on what they believe, however detestable.

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are the opposite. They constantly attempt to hide their true beliefs, and if cornered, change their story.  Obama could never have been elected if he had been truthful with the American people in 2004 and 2008.  Just how far left Hillary Clinton is cannot be ascertained since she constantly shifts her positions based on polling and audience.

The press can be the worst of partisans.  They typically side with politicians who have the same progressive liberal beliefs.  Examples can be found daily.  The mainstream press will attack conservatives on climate without ever questioning the malfeasance occurring within the climate science community.  Ben Carson can be attacked on fund raising or his recollection of 50 year old events, however the Clinton foundation raising $2 billion is never mentioned.  Nor is Obama's past relationships with communists and black liberation radicals.  The bias is nauseating.

Knee jerk, illogical reactions are also a product of partisan polarization.  We now live in a society where the inanimate gun is an evil object capable of killing.  A society where those who question traditional values and the rule of law are labeled as racist, homophobes and xenophobes.  This name calling has become reactionary, and is not based on principle.

Maybe America has always been polarized.  I know that in certain times, such as the period leading up to the Civil War, polarization was intense.  I wonder if that is where we are headed today?

I long for a time when everyone would recognize their own principles and form their opinions independent of the press and populism.  We would all be much better off.

A day after publishing this post, a definitive proof point emerges on the Democratic National Committee website.  There is now a website called yourrepublicanuncle.com that coaches progressives on how to discuss current events with conservatives.  If you base your beliefs on principles, do you need to be coached by a political organization?  Not unless you base your positions on a partisan basis only.

Gay Marriage

This summer the Supreme Court issued one of the least thoughtful rulings in history when they ruled that all states must recognize same sex marriage.  The ruling effectively struck down legally passed amendments to state constitutions (do you know how hard it is to pass an amendment?) and laws passed by state legislatures banning same sex marriage.  The ruling was poorly made and leaves a multitude of unanswered questions that will require litigation for the foreseeable future.

The case of the Kentucky county clerk, Kim Davis, who sat in jail for several days, held in contempt for not signing same sex marriage licenses, is but the first of many to come.  Davis holds that she cannot do what is against her religious beliefs.  The Supreme Court did not provide exception for religious belief, but did cowardly acknowledge there would be challenges based on deeply held convictions.  How this case plays out will largely determine if religious liberty will continue in America.  Will Davis become an example intended to keep other public servants in line?  If so, wouldn't that be the same as excluding Christians from certain public offices? Isn't that in itself discriminatory?

I am somewhat torn by the Kim Davis case.  I acknowledge her bravery to go to jail for her beliefs.  I also acknowledge that she is not doing the lawful work required by her elected position.  There has to be an accommodation made.  Accommodations are made by business and government organizations every day.  Ergonomic chairs are purchased for those with back trouble.  Work hours are adjusted to accommodate child care needs.  The list goes on and on.  There has to be an accommodation for someone who, due to religious conviction, will not perform new work that was not part of the original job description.  Anything less is a direct attack on religious beliefs.

The Supreme Court ruling was a great win for the LGBT activists.  To their credit, they worked long and hard to bring the case to the highest court and to sway public opinion to their side.  Public opinions shouldn't sway the justices, but it did.  The cowardice of the high court should have been, and could have been avoided.

Marriage has historically been an institution defined by religion.  The Bible defines marriage as between one man and one women, and uses marriage as an example of the relationship between Christ and his church.  Marriages have traditionally been performed in a church and led by a pastor.  Only recently has government played a role in marriage by establishing licensing standards and providing preferential treatment for married individuals.  Ironically, state government became involved in marriage licensing to restrict inter-racial marriage, not to expand the marriage definition. The net take away is that marriage was defined and administered by religion long before the American government existed.

The high court could have taken a more reasoned approach that deferred to religion by establishing a government definition of same sex union that offered the rights and preferential treatment provided by government laws.  This would have effectively created a firewall between the Biblical and government definition of marriage.  The benefit would be that religious freedom would be protected while societal trends of acceptance could be accommodated.  But that solution assumes the LGBT community would be satisfied with equal treatment by government.  Their activist wouldn't.  They want something much larger than the "rights" they appear to fight for.  They want complete and unequivocal acceptance of their lifestyle.

They use the courts and the media to fight for thought control.  Every public official or merchant who attempts to use a religious exception will be sued and shamed.  This is the fight that will continue until they feel completely accepted as a normal lifestyle. Every challenge, public or private, will be shamed.  Those who do not accept same sex marriages will automatically be labeled as haters and homophobes.  This is already happening. How organized religion reacts to this new persecution will be interesting.

Already many Christians have taken a live and let live position. Same sex marriage is driven by the homosexual agenda.  Homosexuality is sin, jut like lying, cheating and stealing are sin.  Homosexuals need forgiveness just like liars, cheaters and thieves do.  Should Christians be accepting of unrepentant liars, cheaters and thieves?

Christians must not hate.  Regardless, we will be called haters. Thank you Supreme Court justices.

The Candidates

Based on the implosion of Hillary Clinton and the un-electability of the old socialist Bernie Sanders, I am optimistic for conservative chances in 2016.  But the repubs have stacked a field of 17 candidates. There is a risk they will eat each other and diminish the repub chances for winning the White House.

The surprise of the candidate list remains Donald Trump. The mainstream media continue to predict he will soon step in it and fade away, even though evidence seems to indicate the more he steps in it (by their standards), the more popular he gets. Other media channels are shocked that he is still leading all repubs in the polls.  It's really not that hard to understand.  All you need to do is remember and assess the mid term elections of 2010 and 2014.  Both were landslides for repub candidates, from national to local races.  Most were elected after campaigning on stopping Obamacare and stopping Obama's open border policies.  Conservatives sent these representatives to Washington for one explicit purpose - to stop Obama.

What did they do?  Nothing!  At every opportunity, the repub controlled house and senate failed to follow through on the campaign promises.  And we the constituents are upset.  Our support is gravitating to the only candidate that speaks our thoughts. Will it last?  Maybe.  It's still 5 months until the first primary, and 14 months to the election, so anything can happen.  If the repub leadership wanted to destroy the Trump candidacy (and they do), all they would need to do is follow through on their campaign promises. If Obamacare was defunded and the open border policies rescinded, if we were seriously building a wall, Trump would fade away.

I am still sorting through how I would feel if Trump became the repub nominee.  On one hand, he has the business savvy that Obama lacks and may be the right mix of pragmatism and business acuity that America needs. On the other hand, he has baggage that makes his commitment to conservatism questionable.  That baggage might prove embarrassing in a general election where his enemies could revisit his past.  Yet, to date, these issues haven't seemed to dent his support.

The one lasting change I would love to see as a result of the Trump candidacy, would be a pledge by all candidates to tell us what they really think. If that were mandated, we would not have lived though the worst presidency in American history.  If Obama had told us that he would ram Obamacare through in the dark of night with preferential treatment (bribes) to get the needed votes, if Obama had told us he would stop enforcing immigration law, if he would have told us he would light the White House in rainbow colors to celebrate the same sex marriage Supreme Court ruling, does anyone think he would have been elected?  I'm dreaming now.

Most surprising repub primary news has been that Ben Carson has solidified his #2 position.  Early Ben Who? was barely drawing a few percentage points of support until the first debate.  I think he was unknown until then, but now occupies the same "political outsider" turf as Trump.  Carson seems to be a good man with a great story, and conservative ideals. I could definitely support him as the nominee, but do question if he is prepared for the job.  The last thing we need is another 4 years of on the job training. 

If I were forced to vote today for one of the 20 candidates, 17 repubs and 3 dems, Carly Fiorina would be my choice.  If you have ever seen her handle a tough question, you have no doubt that she has a sharp mind with great articulation.  She is a bulldog that will challenge the media and make her points.  She is conservative.  My only concern is that some believe she wasn't that great of a CEO at Hewlett Packard.  That could hurt her later if she faced a polished politician with some executive experience.  

The primary goal of conservatives must be to defeat progressive liberals, Clinton, Sanders, Biden, and retake the White House without losing either legislative house.  Only then could real conservatism be implemented.  In the end, we may think that Obama was a good president in that he ushered in a new era of conservatives.  But I'm dreaming again.

New Job

Surprisingly, a friend told me a couple days ago that they miss my blog when I don't post for a while. I haven't posted for 6 weeks or so.  I know it is hard to believe that somebody misses my blog, but if I hadn't heard it with my own ears, I would not have believed it myself.  So I immediately began thinking of something to write about.  I have intentionally avoided political posts after realizing that I probably offend a few friends and family, but that can't continue too much longer.  The political current events are calling me.

For now, just accept that I still believe Barack Obama has solidified his place as the worst president in American history, liberal progressives (the democrats) are the vermin in American politics, and I will have more to say on these beliefs soon.  On a lighter note, I have a new job and the atmosphere is so unlike anything I have recently experienced, I will take a few minutes to describe it.

Remember where I came from.  My prior position was with a foreign-owned company that had no clue of how to keep an American workforce happy.  Their belief is that if you pay a competitive wage and offer good benefits, your employees will be loyal and happy no matter how often they are beaten.  Nothing can be further from the truth.  If employees are not made to feel valuable, if innovation is stifled, if bureaucracy rules and there is little to no autonomy, the work environment will become toxic and morale will submarine.  I know because I worked at that place for almost 6 years.

Without forgiving them, I will say I understand why they do stupid things.  They are part of a service business with ever increasing pressure to do more work for less money.  Knowing they could be replaced, they automatically agree to doing more for less whenever asked.  It's not a sustainable business model, but some publicly held companies only think of the next earnings release.  The result was that as a manager, I was repeatedly asked to motivate a workforce that was asked to perform heroic efforts daily, with no reward system.  The executive leadership would pass mandates down to management and let it be known that we should salute or be replaced.  In March, I left behind the most frustrating job I ever held.

Then after a 4 month "sabbatical" and PTSD recovery period, I stepped out of a time machine. Nearly everything I remember from my 15 year career in cable TV (19 years ago) was different in the cable TV world of 2015.  The technology had advanced by an order of magnitude, the company had evolved into what appears to be a well run corporate entity with mature HR and financial tools, and a host of support organizations that did not exist way back when.  And even though the new company is shareholder-owned, they don't seem to behave as if the next earnings announcement is the only priority.  Revenue and margins are healthy, and good projects get funded with minimal effort.

I haven't seen a single example of onerous expense control.  I have traveled twice with only cursory approvals.  I spent nearly a half million dollars in my fourth week justified only by my need for manpower to produce results.  I posted three job openings, then expanded it to 5 as an opportunity presented itself.  My only effort was to describe the need and the strategy to my leadership chain.

The result of this environment has been that a program the company had talked about implementing since 2007 is now making substantial progress.  All that was required of them is autonomy and resources, something that did not exist in the prior job.

Will my working bliss continue?  Who knows.  A lot is changing.  We expect to be purchased early next year by another cable company, and that is an obvious unknown.  But my mindset has also changed.  Regardless of my negative experience in the prior job, I know that all companies are not as clueless nor as constrained as my previous employer was.  Time will tell, but for now, leaving my prior job and accepting my new job were great decisions.

Old East Coast Cemetery

I was walking today in the Herndon Virginia area in search of a sweet tea which required nearly an hour and several plodding miles to accomplish. Along the way I spotted a secluded little cemetery and decided to have a look. 

From the sign at the entrance, I knew that it was on the grounds of the Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church that had moved a couple times while maintaining the cemetery.  Just inside the grounds was a special section where the former pastors of the church were buried.  One gravestone caught my eye. 

It seems that Reverend William L. Hill, who lived to the ripe old age of 89, pastored the church for 49 years.  In this day and age, that seems incomprehensible.  Who would put up with a pastor, or what pastor would put up with a congregation, for 49 years?  Most of the other gravestones in the area were illegible or not even

gravestones.  It was then I realized that I was unceremoniously traipsing over the graves of long dead paupers and possibly soldiers. 

The graveyard was obviously maintained and had a few new grave sites.  I could tell by the large granite slabs with names of the deceased and their birth and death dates, some of which were in 2015. But by far, the majority of the graves I had inadvertently walked on were only marked with a stone pulled from a nearby hillside. It got me thinking of the history of the place.  I am in an area that saw many Civil War battles, but an Internet search told me the original church was built in 1867 so the cemetery might not be a place where Civil War dead were interred.

But maybe it was.  One legible tombstone marked a death date in 1839, so maybe the cemetery came first followed by the church.  If true, I was standing on hallowed ground where Civil War soldiers were buried at sites hastily marked with rocks.  It was then I noticed that what I had thought were open walkways between rows of graves were also graves with much of the rock markers buried.  I suddenly felt irreverent walking on those graves and promptly left after taking a few pictures.

An obvious attempt was made at the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery to identify the dead, and a few modern markers and American flags were sparsely distributed next to a few of the rock markers, but there must have been hundreds of simply marked anonymous graves in this one cemetery.  I suppose there are hundreds of similar sites near Civil War battle fields across the country.  Each with scores or hundreds, or even thousands of rock markers.  A glimpse of, and a sobering thought of what it must have been like to live in America during the 1860's.

End of Sabbatical

It was 4 months to the day since I left my job.  Next Monday I begin a new job with Time Warner Cable, sort of going back to where I started.  I have greatly enjoyed my time off.  Over the past 4 months, I have observed many things personally and in current events.  One item has stuck with me as a new learning.  It is not an original thought, but once I heard it, it really resonated.  It can be proven true by looking back on recent events, and watching tonight's nightly news.

Americans have become too comfortable with thought control.

I'm not referring to the soft kind that advertisers use - buy our stuff and you will look cool.  Instead, I am referring to the full blown Orwellian 1984 kind where government and the media combine to control the way people think.  Just look back at the past few months.

Did you think a year ago that America has a problem with white cops shooting black men?  The idea cannot be substantiated with facts, but many people believe it anyway.  We hear the chant of black lives matter.  Yes they do, but why specify black lives? Don't all lives matter, white, black, brown, and police?  Hands up, don't shoot became a rallying cry and was completely based on a lie. Yet the media reported it, political figures repeated it and many people to this day believe it.  If you do not agree, you are racist.  It's thought control.

Five years ago an overwhelming majority of Americans believed that marriage is an institution between a man and a woman.  Even current champions of LGBT causes supported traditional marriage a few months or years ago.  But since then a massive media campaign has portrayed gays as lovable characters on TV shows, and courageous public representatives of a legitimate lifestyle.  The media campaign changed how gays are perceived, which by itself is not a negative.  But a majority of Americans still believe that same sex marriage is not natural and do not personally support it.  Yet, the judicial branch has forced same sex marriage irrevocably into law while the media plays a narrative that if you do not agree, you are homophobic.  It's government and media practicing pure unadulterated thought control.

Climate change has become the new religion of progressives.  The basic theory of carbon in the atmosphere changing climate has not, and cannot be proven, yet it is considered settled science.  The term "settled science" should be enough to discover the underlying thought control.  Is any science settled?  The climate change theory that came with a predictive graph showing future average temperatures has been a complete bust, yet the practitioners of the climate change religion continue to have faith.  Government labels those who challenge the theory as deniers and troglodytes, while the media provides cover for temperature data contamination, outright falsification, and alternative theories. It's thought control.

In just over a year, we will elect a new president. The media won't directly tell us who to vote for, but will enforce a bias that provides an unfair advantage to their candidate.  You will not need to look past the evening news to see certain candidates reported with a negative slant while another positively.  Video clips and still pictures will be carefully selected to portray friendly, caring shots of the desired candidate while others will look grim, unhappy or mean.  Harsh, inelegant quotes from unfavored candidates will be repeated during the 24 hour news cycle without consideration of the truthfulness of the quote.  Spectacular lies from the favored candidate will be ignored.

How was the Confederate flag changed from a Civil War symbol to the logo of racism?  Americans have become too comfortable with thought control.

God Things

Earlier this month, I read a blog post by a friend of a relative named Kelly Levatino.  That post can be accessed here.  In her well written and entertaining blog, she describes how God had provided her with a job opportunity that fit her skills and met a very demanding list of personal must-haves.  As I read the post, I realized that I too had the beginning of a very similar story.  That story is now ready to be told. 

2014: I was stuck in a job that I hated, working for a company that fostered bureaucracy and a toxic work environment.  Many times I wished that a job would fall into my lap and rescue me from the daily grind that was sapping my spirit and leaving me stressed out and possibly a little depressed. Beyond wishing, my prayer became "show me an exit and I will take it".

December 2014: I completed a regular and depressing manager duty of selecting the team members that I would lay off during the next cost cutting exercise.  This exercise had become a regular event over the past several years and never got any easier.  This time, we were planning the layoffs for January, February and at mid year.  The goal was to reduce the onshore employee ratio from 60% to as low as 20% in 2015.

This lay off was conducted much like previous lay offs.  As a manager, I would learn of impending layoffs months before they were executed, make my lay off selections, and then live with the knowledge of who was losing their jobs as I worked with them daily.  According to company policy, I could not share the information with anyone, especially the victim, lest they find other employment and bolt before the predetermined time.

The company would plan the layoffs as one might plan a surprise party - extreme secrecy right up until the victim was invited into a conference room where I would surprise and shock them with the news they were no longer employed.  It was an especially cruel and unusual way of ending someone's employment.  This is one tactic used to foster a toxic work environment. 

During the planning for the early 2015 rounds of layoffs, the company leadership made a late request to increase the number of people we would lay off in February.  This led to a late request of all managers to bring one more name to a meeting that would determine the final list.  I was already in a foul mood having selected 2 contractors and a 35 year veteran employee and friend for the January and February lay off lists.  Then it struck me.  This is the exit.  My prayer became "tell me if I this is not my exit".

That evening I spoke with Terri.  She was painfully aware of my unhappiness (such a weak word) and that I wanted out.  While concerned about things like health insurance and my ability to find new employment at 58 years old, she did vow to support my decision.  I would offer my name as the one more name for the February lay off list.  I felt comfortable with the decision.  This is the first in a series of God things.

January 2015: I let my two contractors go.  While depressing, contractors live with the knowledge that each day, even each hour, might be their last working on any contract, so as lay offs go, this one was fairly easy.  I still held on to the knowledge that my friend and coworker of the past 12 years, a person well liked and respected by my entire team, would be let go in February.  The anxiety was lessened somewhat due to the fact that my friend was in his 70's, and that once I laid him off, I would also be laid off.  I had become at peace with moving on.

February 2015: Violating a specific Human Resources directive, I turned the lay off of a friend and colleague into a retirement celebration.  He agreed to announce his retirement and the team was then able to celebrate a long career and relationship with a very nice guy.  The HR team had informed me to not handle the lay off in this manner since it might disclose the coming layoffs and ruin their surprise party.  I opted to do the right thing and ask forgiveness later if needed.  Fortunately it wasn't.

March 2015:  Because I was a manager with diverse responsibilities that would be difficult to absorb by another manager without a hand off, I was asked to transition my role during the month of March and "retire" on March 31.  On March 6th I announced my "retirement" to my internal and external customers via email.  As part of that email announcement, I listed who members of my team would report to after my departure.  It seemed like a courteous thing to do, and fit right in with the transition duty I was asked to accomplish.  But at a company so dedicated to secrecy, it was a mistake.

On Sunday evening, March 8th, my boss called to inform me that my email caused a security concern and was being investigated internally.  It see,s that I had disclosed organizational structure to an external customer. Until the investigation was complete, I was suspended and should remain home awaiting a call. He informed me that he understood the intent of my email and that it was quite innocent, but the outcome could range anywhere between coming back to work later in the week, to termination and loss of my separation package.  Without the separation package, I would lose health insurance the following Friday, and would need to find new employment quickly.  This is not how I envisioned walking though the exit.  I began to question whether the exit was really a God thing, but I could not go back.  The door had slammed shut.

On March 10th the call came.  The investigation concluded that my last day worked would be moved from the March 31 date to the 10th.  The planned separation package would be provided.  The net effect was that I "retired" 3 weeks earlier than planned.  Later I learned that powerful executives had wanted my separation package revoked, while my boss and a Human Resources manager (the same one who directed me to not turn a lay off into a retirement) argued that pulling the package was unjustified by the facts and would tarnish the "retirement" of a 19 year veteran.  Looking back, I would have never expected my boss and the HR manager to win that argument, but they did.  Another God thing.

So I had walked entirely though the exit without knowing what lay ahead.  My departure was called a "retirement" for the benefit of my team.  They needed to believe that I was leaving by choice and not as part of a lay off.  I would have loved to retire, but knew that I needed a least a couple more years to make the retirement financial plan work.  But I now had some time to find a job I felt competent in, and wanted to do.  I had no idea what that job looked like.  My plan was to take some time off and not accept a job during the first 3 months, unless a really nice one fell into my lap.  Since nice jobs rarely fall from the sky, I guess my plan was to take 3 months off.

I spent most of this time tackling huge jobs that I would not be able to complete while working a full time job.  Tasks such as painting my house inside and out, and helping my daughter remodel her bathroom and ready their house for sale.  It sold in one week.  Another God thing.  The buyers wanted to close before the end of June (less than 30 days) which seemed impossible since my daughter and her family did not have a place to move to on such short notice.  But their rental home had just become available and could serve as a temporary residence while they built a house.  It just needed to be completely renovated to be livable for a family of 5.  It needed new paint, new garage door, new floors, and a lot of clean up inside and out.  Since I was unemployed, I offered to help by painting and doing a few other odd jobs.  I thought I had until the end of June to finish, but things were moving much faster.  Let's review.  House goes on the market May 19th or so, a contract is signed on May 27th, entire family goes to Florida for vacation on May 29th and return June 6th, work begins on rental house the following week.  They move into restored rental home on June 20th and close the sale of their house the following week.  It still seems impossible.  God things.

With those tasks completed, I returned to my plan which was to begin to seriously look for work upon returning from vacation on June 8th.  I was either going to start submitting applications on every job that looked interesting, or attempt to make a living as a handyman. The later had appeal to me as it provided a great sense of accomplishment and gratification.  I was able to land a few jobs, but not enough to make a great living.  My prayer since leaving my prior job was "open the door" and smack me in the head if I didn't recognize  what it was.  On June 10th, I receive an email via Linked In from a former Sprint executive that I had worked for 7 years ago.  We had not communicated since he left Sprint in 2008.  He was now a Senior Vice President at Time Warner Cable.  He asked me to call him when I had a few minutes.

I called and we caught up on the past 7 years.  He asked me what I was doing and I responded that I had left my job voluntarily in March.  He was not aware.  He wanted to start a program at Time Warner similar to one I had work on at Sprint.  He wanted to know if I was interested.  Yes, a door was opening.  I flew to Herndon, Virginia on June 18th and 19th for what were called interviews, but actually weren't.  I met with several managers and executives who gave me their thoughts on the new program.  I left my location and salary needs with the SVP and returned to Kansas.

A job was posted at Time Warner on June 24th and I was encouraged to apply for it.  I walked through the open door.  On June 26th I was contacted and informed that I had been selected. The offer met my salary needs and would be located in Kansas City.  God things.

My scheduled start date is July 13th. I will be building a team and establishing a program that is roughly the same as a team I had built and managed at Sprint. 

My story is not as witty or as entertaining as Kelly Levantino's, but it is more wordy and just as supernatural.  

The Feel-gooders are Back

A feel-gooder is a person who will react to a problem in a manner that cannot possibly solve the problem, but since they are "doing something", they feel good.

Dylann Roof kills nine people in a Charleston church and predictably, the feel-gooders come out of the woodwork.  The shootings were no doubt a tragedy for the community and the families, but what happens next is just as much a tragedy.  This time we see the feel-gooders attempting to score political points on two fronts.

First is a new pointless feel-gooder demand - eradication of the confederate flag.  I am a Yankee and don't fully understand the devotion some southerners have toward the confederate flag.  To me it is a symbol that says "we lost".  But I understand that those whose ancestors fought and died for the confederacy might have a reverence that escapes me.  I also suspect that most who fly the flag do so more as a personal statement and not out of respect of Civil War dead.  It's a red neck rebel thing.

It is however, free speech.  Even red neck rebels have that right.  Inexplicably, the feel-gooders believe they would be doing society a solid by removing the right to fly the confederate flag by those who want to for whatever reason.  And how would fewer confederate flags flapping in the breeze bring healing to the families of the Charleston victims?  It wouldn't.  The feel-gooders are attempting to punish a group of people they do not agree with simply because Dylann Roof choose a symbol that group also associates with.  In the end, the demand is pointless and only diminishes free speech for all Americans.

Second, the well worn and predictable gun control discussion surfaces from feel-gooders libs and those who would blame the shootings on the NRA, the gun, or another scapegoat, anyone or anything but Dylann Roof himself.  Their gun control mantra is illogical and unnecessary.  To prove the idiocy, let's assume they are correct, that by outlawing guns, mass murders will end.  Let's pretend that gun ownership is now against the law.

There are millions, maybe billions of guns on earth.  Just as the guns didn't actually commit the mass murder, neither can they be expected to turn themselves in for destruction. So we are left with a world full of guns, regardless of how hard the feel-gooders wish it were not true.  It is reasonable to assume the next Dylann Roof will be able to obtain one of the millions or billions of guns and commit the next mass murder.  My question to the feel-gooders is "what would you do next?"  Since outlawing guns is as effective as emptying the ocean with a tea cup, maybe they should begin with whatever comes after gun control.

A reasonable approach to curbing gun violence and murders must start within society.  Guns and flags have never killed anyone.  Only humans have the ability and the will to kill another.  The deterioration of families, schools, churches, and morals are direct contributors to the conditions that led to Charleston, Newton, Aurora, Virginia Tech and others.  Until the feel-gooders are willing to do the politically incorrect and demand that morals be reinforced in schools, that government cease supporting programs that weaken the family, that God through the church again becomes the moral compass of the nation, and that life be held as sacred, there are many more Charlestons and Dylann Roofs in our future.

Chilling

Obama: I think that the effort to suggest that the poor are sponges, leeches, don’t want to work, are lazy, are undeserving, got traction. And look, it’s still being propagated. I have to say that if you watch Fox News on a regular basis, it is a constant venue. They will find folks who make me mad. I don’t know where they find them. They’re all like, “I don’t want to work. I just want a free Obama Phone, or whatever.” And that becomes an entire narrative that gets worked up. And very rarely do you hear an interview of a waitress, which is much more typical — who is raising a couple of kids and doing everything right but still can’t pay the bills.  And so, if we’re going to change how Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) think, we’re going to have to change how our body politic thinks, which means we’re going to have to change how the media reports on these issues, and how people’s impressions of what it’s like to struggle in this economy looks like. And how budgets connect to that. And that’s a hard process because that requires a much broader conversation than typically we have on the nightly news.

I like to Watch - HBO Now

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Terri and I have become fans of HBO's Game of Thrones.  Season 5, episode 1 premiered last night and I had inconveniently cancelled our HBO subscription just two weeks ago.  We had been on a 3 month free demo from DirecTV that expired.  We have watched prior GoT seasons on bootleg web sites.  I have always been willing to pay for quality programming such as GoT and Homeland if an option was provided that did not include bundles or subscriptions.

We switched to DirecTV in December due to the cable company's confiscatory and increasing monthly rate.  DirecTV is more economical, but still requires you to bundle if you want the best price on premium services.  I refuse to pay $50 a month for all movie services, or $19 a month for HBO standalone.  I have been waiting for an option that allows a' la carte, economical and non-contracted subscriptions.

HBO brilliantly released HBO Now the same weekend that Game of Thrones began their new season.  I decided to trial this new risk-free option.  The first 30 days are free and a monthly rate of $15 follows for access to all past and new release HBO content.  I suspect I was one of millions who signed up over the past weekend.

I expected to be able to subscribe over Apple TV, but could not.  Instead, I found the simpliest way was to sign up by downloading the HBO Now app on an iDevice, and setting up an account.  You can then go to Apple TV and use your new credentials to sign into the HBO Now app already present on the Apple TV home screen.

Once you are in, you are presented with a slick Netflix-style navigation menu where content is grouped by series, documentaries, movies, watch lists, etc.  It looks like all the good stuff is there going back to The Sopranos, Oz, Band of Brothers and other classic HBO series.

I sort of expected an option to view HBO live, but that isn't how it works.  HBO Now is not HBO Go that allows HBO subscribers to watch living streaming HBO programming.  Instead, content is made available on HBO Now simultaneously with airing on commercial HBO.  GoT season 5, episode 1 became available for streaming on HBO Now at the same time the program was aired on cable TV.  I think I like it this way much better.  There are no series recordings.  The content just appears when released.  Accessing the latest episode of GoT is as simple and straightforward as accessing the first episode of Tombstone.

I suspected that video quality could have suffered if the GoT premiere had enticed millions to sign up for HBO Now, but was pleasantly surprised.  The video was delivered on time, in HD and there were no problems with buffering, stalling or pixelating.  HBO seems to have gotten it right the first time.

New Loves

It's been 4 weeks since I became unemployed.  Yesterday I had lunch with a good friend and former co-worker.  He asked me if I had any regrets.  Within 2 nanoseconds I answered NO!  It has been a great 4 weeks of acclimating to a new calendar. 

My new calendar has Sunday followed by 6 not-Sundays.  The reality is that 2 of my not-Sundays are days when Terri works.  On those days I get up with her to make the bed and the coffee, and help her get out the door.  I am a swell guy.

During the 4 weeks off, I have developed a love for things that I once hated or took for granted.  One of those things is coffee.  I always liked coffee, but now I love coffee.  Getting up in the morning and fixing a steaming cup of Seattle's Best in the Keurig is something that I look forward to.  My coffee intake has not increased, but more than ever, I really enjoy the 2 cups I drink each morning.

I have also learned to love Sunday evenings.  Formerly, Sunday evening was the official end of the weekend and the unofficial return to the work week.  Anxiety and stress would slowly return starting just after Sunday noon, and build the rest of the day.  Now, the relaxed stress-free feeling of Saturday evening continues all day Sunday.  It's a great thing.

My not-Sundays continue to be busy.  I have completed about half the honey-do's on the list and taken on new tasks that were not on the list.  I have also entertained doing a side job for one of Terri's customers.  Last week I received great news from the realtor for my mother's manufactured home.  We always knew that selling the home without owning the lot would be an uphill struggle and it has been, but we received and accepted an offer.  Closing is scheduled for the end of May.

Missouri law governing manufactured homes seems to be ambiguous at best.  I learned yesterday that we could not get a duplicate title for the home because it was never titled 11 years ago after it was sold to my parents.  Having the time to develop personal relationships with the staff at the Missouri Department of Revenue has been a blessing.  I have spent the last two afternoons there and will need to return at least once more. One thing I will never learn to love is the bureaucracy of government. But at least now I have the time to navigate through it. 

I Like to Eat - Guy and Mae's Tavern

Today, Terri and I enjoyed good food and good company, traveling to Guy and Mae's Tavern for some of the best ribs in the KC area.  We have been there before.  We first went to Williamsburg, Kansas to eat at Guy and Mae's - (there is no other reason to visit the ghost town) - maybe 20 years ago?  From Overland Park it is a 45 minute trip.  From Basehor it is north of an hour.  It has been around 8-10 years since our last visit when we dined with Tom Watson - true story.  We were sitting at a table in Guy and Mae's one Saturday afternoon and a couple of hunters walked in.  As they approached, I thought that I recognized one of the individuals.  As he neared, I became certain it was Tom.  I can call him Tom because I once ate lunch with him (well I ate lunch within 20 feet of him).

From the outside the tavern appears to be a deteriorating building along a row of dilapidated structures in a town that hasn't seen much action in years.  The first visit, I hesitated before entering.  I expected there to be a gang of bikers or hillbilly rednecks gulping their long necks and waiting for the next city slicker to walk in so they could go all Deliverance on them.  Instead, I opened the door and was greeted with a couple of pinball machines and a pool table where two 11 year olds worked on their skills.  It's a tavern in a country town.  No reason to be concerned.  It's probably safer than at a mall in the golden ghetto of Johnson county.

 

The tavern is long and narrow with a seedy bar running half of the length.  A recent addition to the dining area are the hundreds of messages written on dollar bills and hung or taped to nearly every surface.  A nice touch that actually added class to an otherwise gloomy dining room.

Once seated, don't expect a waitress to stop by with a menu.  The menu is conveniently thumb-tacked to the wall at each table.  If you have a taste for French fries, pulled pork or burnt ends, too bad.  The place was built on ribs, so get the ribs.  They do offer a ham, beef, turkey and/or polish sausage sandwich, but trust me, get the ribs.  For sides, choose from a rich selection of slaw, tater salad or beans, each a buck and each served in their very own Styrofoam cup.  Want a coke?  They got those too, served in an authentic Coke can.  Draft beer is served one mason jar at a time.  Whatever combination of sides and drinks you decide on, get the ribs.  They are why you travelled to the back of beyond.

The ribs and sides come quickly.  They are wrapped in heavy foil and served on newspaper.  In the 20 years of so that I have gone to Guy and Mae's, the ribs are consistently flavorful and tender.  The meat falls off the bone - bad in a BBQ competition, but great for regular people dining.  The smoky flavor is not overwhelming, but a distinct hickory flavor is evident.  I have had better tasting ribs, but not many or often.  The sauce is typical Midwestern tomato-based, but much thinner than most others in the area.  It is served in a sealed mason jar with holes cut into the top.  The idea is to flood the ribs and surrounding foil with sauce and push the meat around in it before consuming.  I am not a great fan of the sauce, but I suspect the sauce was not intended to be the star of the meal.  The ribs are.  And the ribs definitely are.

With the rich selection of BBQ joints in the Midwest, Guy and Mae's is often forgotten.  Not because the ribs are easy to forget, but the drive is.  A full slab cost $19 and at least 2 hours of your life.  That is still a pretty good deal.

For a little history on the place, take a look at this recent KC Star article.

Obscure Universal Truths and Vacuuming

Over the past year or so I have documented a few obscure universal truths that are important to understand how the universe operates.  I don't capture the obvious ones, like "If you play with fire, you will get burnt".  I'll leave those to other philosophers.  My running list include these:

1. Those who badger others for being intolerant are typically the most intolerant humans on earth.
2. The only inhumane torture tactic is being forced to listen to Diane Feinstein.
3. The opposite of irony is wrinkly.
4. The attendance at your funeral will largely be determined by the weather.

This morning I have added a fifth.

Today is Tuesday. Since I became unemployed, Tuesday is vacuuming day.  My thought process began when my wife told me that if I vacuumed the basement, it would be my final time before our daughter moved in next weekend.  Thereafter she would be responsible.

My immediate reaction was one that every man would have.  If we are moving her in over the weekend, why vacuum?  I mean, we will be hauling in boxes and furniture.  Boxes and furniture have dust and other stuff clinging to them.  It is very likely that dust and other stuff will fall onto and ruin my freshly vacuumed floors.

My next reaction was to think about what was right.  Shouldn't I just say I vacuumed the basement knowing that after we moved our daughter in, nobody would be able to tell that I didn't?  Isn't that the right thing to do?  While I was vacuuming the basement, I began to ponder why tidy wives think this way.

This is not an isolated behavior.  It is closely related to other seemingly irrational actions.  Exhibit 1: If company is coming over, the wife will want to vacuum even though we both know the company will mess up the clean floors.  Wouldn't it be better to vacuum after they left?  Exhibit 2: There is an unspoken requirement to clean the house before we leave on vacation.  Won't we be bringing back half the beach and a couple suitcases of dirty clothes?  Wouldn't it be more logical to clean the house once we return?

There must be a good reason why tidy wives insist on vacuuming at times their men can't understand.  It was this pondering that led me to stumble on obscure universal truth number 5.

    5.  Vacuuming is more like filling a gas tank than cleaning.

We all can relate to occasionally filling our gas tank when we still have a quarter tank.  We do it so that we can drive longer or further before we must stop and refill. Or maybe it is more convenient to fill up now than wait until we must. 

Tidy women think the same way about vacuuming.  If they vacuum now, the house will stay clean a little longer than if they waited until it was obviously dirty.  Or maybe they are concerned it will be inconvenient to vacuum  when it is actually needed.

It all makes sense now.  I will notice this weekend the exact time when the basement will need vacuumed.  It will likely be several minutes later than it would have been if I hadn't vacuumed.  Imagine the gratification that I will feel during that several minutes. 

Beginning Week Two

Week one felt like a vacation week.  Except Sunday evening. Sunday evening is the true beginning of the work week. Even before the weekend was finished, my thoughts would return to the stress and struggles of the week ahead. Not this week. That was nice. 

On Monday I attended an orientation for a job search service I am entitled to as part of the separation package. The first survey question they asked participants was how long had it been since we last searched for a job. Answer selections started at 1 year, 2-5 years, etc.  They didn't have an answer for >30 years, so I selected "18 years or more". I guess that I have been fortunate. 

The following discussion exposed the dichotomy of my situation. I have manager skills and experience. I don't want my next job to include cube life. The trick of finding a job that I want to do will be selling myself as an experienced and capable manager for a position that will allow me to be active and not desk-bound. I am having trouble imagining that job.

Task one will be developing a new resume. I have maintained my resume during my entire career, but a recent review was disappointing. It screams "I want to be a mid-level manager for a Fortune 50-500 company" again.  I don't.

After the new resume is ready, my networking will begin. Fortunately I know a few executives in large companies. The job search consultant claims that nearly 80% of jobs are found through networking, so I might as well start there.

I am really enjoying the first week+ of my unemployment. So much that I wonder where I could find a job repairing decks, fixing power washers, painting walls, landscaping, vacuuming, preparing dinner, and all the other tasks that I have occupied myself with so far. 

Now That I Have a Few Minutes

In May it will have been 2 years since my last blog post.  Believe it or not, I have missed the routine of thinking about what to write and then committing it to a blog.  Hence, the title of this post - Now That I Have a Few Minutes. 

As of March 10th, I became unemployed.  Something that I have dreaded most of my professional career has become more of a relief.  Fortunately, my former employer provided a separation package that allows me to take some time and find new work that I find interesting.  Even so, brief periods of anxiety have met this milestone for no good reason other than I am unemployed.

I estimate that I have held a job continuously for the past 46-48 years.  My first job was the Kansan newspaper route in my neighborhood.  Every day except Saturday, I would receive a bundle of newspapers at the end of my driveway, roll and band or bag them, and set out on my bike to deliver each to a home on my route.  Once a month I would collect the monthly subscription from each customer and pay the Kansan for the papers and supplies.  I kept whatever money was left.

From there I graduated to Kansas City Star/Times delivery from a truck driven by the route owner.  Next was my dream job of bussing tables (for $1.60 hr.) at the brand new Red Lobster in town. I was able to buy a new car on that wage. The Red Lobster gig became a 4 year progression from busboy, to dishwasher, backup cook, fry man, broiler man and finally, the expeditor responsible for running the kitchen. 

From there I was hired by a property management company where I mowed, cleaned clubhouses, maintained exterior lighting and whatever else they wanted me to do. I briefly held a job as a draftsman at a professional custom electronics company.  Briefly because I had no training as a draftsman, but it took them 2 weeks to discover it.  From there, I painted houses before finding my first big boy job at the local cable company.  That job prepared me to join the large telecommunications company, for whom I have worked directly or indirectly for the past 18 years.

Now I am unemployed.  On day one I started my BIG honey-do list.  It will take a couple months to complete.  By then I hope to be actively applying and interviewing for a new job.  Since I have a few minutes, I plan to occasionally post a blog on my progress.