My son is taking woodshop...Woodshop 1. Tonight he asked me what his project should be. A nightstand, some kind of shelf...I wasn't paying attention...a grandfather clock? The last one caught my attention. I would love to have a grandfather clock. I'm a grandfather and I deserve a clock. Don't mind that every room has at least 2. So I started paying attention. It will only cost $700. $200 for the wood $500 for the guts.
When I was in woodshop it was in 7th grade we got to make a shoeshine box. I worked on that really hard but trying to smooth out one of the grooves for the tongue and groove...I managed to go all the way through to the otherside. I was highly embarrased. I got a B on the thing but I was the son of a home builder. How could I ruin such a thing, plus the band saw stuff never came out smooth. I was proud though when I brought it home. The wood putty that filled the offending hold stuck out (still does) like a sore thumb...but I've had that box for a million years...unless the kids have ruined it...which is likely. I have to admit I haven't seen it around lately.
$700 for a Grandfather clock...sheeesh...and he didn't think anything about it. He's never had wood shop before...though he is maticulous. Still I just can't imagine a first timer woodshop student and a grandfather clock...$700 no less. I know you can't buy one for that. But $700 for a first year student grandfather clock. Hickory and Dickory would have a blast running through the gouged holes. I've also never known a clock you put together to keep time anyway. $700. My younger son said...well why don't you pay $500 and he can pay $200. It still is $700 for an amatuer grandfather clock. Synchopation isn't the half of it. I'd die before the clock was finished and it would never run.
He's already hit me for $300 to go to Seattle for a Band trip. He hasn't left yet though. Maybe those guys who throw the fish up there can slap him with a salmon and knock some sense into him...the fish is probably $700 though.
For $700 he could make a bunch of night stands and sell them. Or those shelves he could make, would be a great addition to his room. Get some of the junk on them. Which reminds me the shelves I built a couple of weeks ago for my wife still need painting. He helped me with those. I saw how he used a saw and swung a hammer...$700...
Of course there is also the football camp he went to and the cell phone I end up paying for every month for him, and gasoline he uses in the cars, he did pay for his basketball league, He can do all that for less that $700. And he quit the football team. They wouldn't let him play...it was his first year ever playing football, so they went on to win the state championship without him...He's too short really to play high school basketball, but he is not too bad. He's no John Stockton, but he's not bad. Until he comes up with $700 for a grandfather clock.
If he really wants to build me something that will last in his woodshop 1 class, how about a nice casket. He's going to kill me about the same time he bankrupts me. $700!!!???!!!
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Old Geezers
I admit it I'm getting older. I'm feeling it too. It doesn't help that my potasium levels make me ache all over most of the time, but age is starting to creep in. I feel it everytime I stand up and as I walk away from the chair it takes me several steps to straighten up. I was doing that one day and somebody thought I was having a real problem. Nope just the good old lower back. Lower back muscles just don't play fair. Will someone tell me how you're supposed to exercise them so they don't hurt and avoid not being able to walk the next day. I had a hernia operation several years ago (a sure sign of an old fart)...and I can't get rid of the back pain and I think it is pinching the sciatic nerve.
So with all the woes what does it mean to get older. First of all your kids start talking to you slower and louder, thinking you either can't hear or understand. Then when you're hair shows signs of gray of course it isn't a bad thing...its dignified. Of course behind your back they're all talking about how much time is left. When they start claiming things for their inheritance is when I hold a garage sale and make sure I mark those pieces down. The least they could do is wait til I bif it before they start to haggle over the stuff. Getting old means when you scan the obituaries you're seeing more and more of those your age showing up. What's even more disturbing is you actually start reading the obituary. I don't know if you hope you'll get some good material for the future or if you just want to make yourself feel better that it isn't yours.
Obituaries have gotten really strange in recent years. I heard of one guy who filmed his own reading of the obituary for the funeral. What a great way to get back at some people..."and to my brother in law with the whining kids and no backbone to discipline them, I hope you join me soon and give the world a break from your weenie way of raising kids." That could be fun.
I keep waiting for someone to give me the senior discount. I'm not there yet, but I'm not too far from some of them. I just wish AARP would quite sending mail. It gives the post office the wrong idea. Who wants the mailperson to know you're no spring chicken? I mean they control the mail that gets in the box and if they think you're old you'll start getting Ensure samples in the mail. If I'm ever to the point I have to drink that stuff...Please I'd rather have a V8.
Of course there's always those dependable jokes about aging, and no I don't want to wear them. If I'm going to be old and grumpy I don't want to do it diapers.
In fact as I get older I look meaner. I like that part. People steer clear of you and just kind of shake their head knowingly. "Poor fellow, must have gas today." If you get someone who wants to present something stupid as an old person you don't have to say much just shake your head and say something like "yes, I'm sure with your inexperience that sounds like a great idea, it was when we tried it too." Then just sit there and frown. The Frown lines around your mouth get really cool looking as you get older...Of course my generation all liked to wear mustaches and some beards...a really good mustache groomed so it points down is a great assett when you want to really frown. It doesn't hurt to leave the gray in it either.
So getting older itself isn't bad it's all the physical pain it creates. Mentally I'm great...and my voice is still taken as belonging to someone much younger..which in my job helps. I can sound my age or sound like a kid and get away with it. Credibility with the person on the other end of the phone depends on what they imagine you to be. Now if I could just perfect an Indian accent, people will think I'm stupid and ask for someone else. See age does come with its priveleges of sarcasm, cynicism and just plain meanness. It sure beats trying to impress everyone.
So with all the woes what does it mean to get older. First of all your kids start talking to you slower and louder, thinking you either can't hear or understand. Then when you're hair shows signs of gray of course it isn't a bad thing...its dignified. Of course behind your back they're all talking about how much time is left. When they start claiming things for their inheritance is when I hold a garage sale and make sure I mark those pieces down. The least they could do is wait til I bif it before they start to haggle over the stuff. Getting old means when you scan the obituaries you're seeing more and more of those your age showing up. What's even more disturbing is you actually start reading the obituary. I don't know if you hope you'll get some good material for the future or if you just want to make yourself feel better that it isn't yours.
Obituaries have gotten really strange in recent years. I heard of one guy who filmed his own reading of the obituary for the funeral. What a great way to get back at some people..."and to my brother in law with the whining kids and no backbone to discipline them, I hope you join me soon and give the world a break from your weenie way of raising kids." That could be fun.
I keep waiting for someone to give me the senior discount. I'm not there yet, but I'm not too far from some of them. I just wish AARP would quite sending mail. It gives the post office the wrong idea. Who wants the mailperson to know you're no spring chicken? I mean they control the mail that gets in the box and if they think you're old you'll start getting Ensure samples in the mail. If I'm ever to the point I have to drink that stuff...Please I'd rather have a V8.
Of course there's always those dependable jokes about aging, and no I don't want to wear them. If I'm going to be old and grumpy I don't want to do it diapers.
In fact as I get older I look meaner. I like that part. People steer clear of you and just kind of shake their head knowingly. "Poor fellow, must have gas today." If you get someone who wants to present something stupid as an old person you don't have to say much just shake your head and say something like "yes, I'm sure with your inexperience that sounds like a great idea, it was when we tried it too." Then just sit there and frown. The Frown lines around your mouth get really cool looking as you get older...Of course my generation all liked to wear mustaches and some beards...a really good mustache groomed so it points down is a great assett when you want to really frown. It doesn't hurt to leave the gray in it either.
So getting older itself isn't bad it's all the physical pain it creates. Mentally I'm great...and my voice is still taken as belonging to someone much younger..which in my job helps. I can sound my age or sound like a kid and get away with it. Credibility with the person on the other end of the phone depends on what they imagine you to be. Now if I could just perfect an Indian accent, people will think I'm stupid and ask for someone else. See age does come with its priveleges of sarcasm, cynicism and just plain meanness. It sure beats trying to impress everyone.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Flags
I have some friends in Scotland who are appalled that every where they turn when visiting the United States they see an American Flag. So they grit their teeth and enjoy everything the flag represents, but think it is boorish to display the flag so prominently and especially at retail establishments. Though they have a point of sorts, especially at retail outlets where it now seems to be a requirement to have a flag in front of the building, I find their complaint out of place.
If a place wants to put up a flag as long as it is kept clean and in good repair I like seeing them wave in the breeze. I'm patriotic enough, and enjoy the sight of the flag itself, but I like to watch them flutter. It is fascinating to watch what the breeze is doing to the flag. Sometimes it is just straight out and few wrinkles...other times it just kind of flops around, kind of like the politicians that keep arguing about whether it should be protected with a constituional amendment. I understand how important it is to those who fought under it. I've pledged allegience to it as one nation under God...and will continue to do so.
What I won't do is frequent businesses who are so stupid they don't know how many days are in a 30 day time frame. When a president dies the morning period is 30 days. It has nothing to do with the president's politics and how it meets your own personal agenda. When Nixon died there were a number of places that refused to lower the flag. When Clinton Dies I would have the same thoughts...but it has nothing to do with the politics, it has everything to do with the mourning the country is in when a president dies, regardless of their politics. We fight wars under that flag, we play baseball games, we shop under it, we freely elect officials because of it, when a president dies the flag goes to half staff, for 30 days, not a week, not 15 days...not 28 or 29 or whenever the janitor decides its been long enough. Businesses and others who fly the flag at full staff during a period of mourning not only show disrespect, but their own ignorance, and don't deserve anyone's reciprocal good feelings or money.
I mean the next time your mother-in-law passes on how wonderful for you when some guy gets up at the funeral and does a comedy roast on the state legislature. That's how inappropriate a full staff flag is during a period of national mourning. Ford was not in the class of Washington or Lincoln, but he had a place in history, some of it good, some of it controversial, some of it stupid (WIN buttons), and some real bloopers (Poland comes to mind), but he was the president elected or not. He died. We are in national mourning for 30 days...and that doesn't end on the 17th of January. I was on vacation when I heard of the death, but I know it was after the 25th, so it looks to me like there are some real stupid people out there who can't count up to 30.
I pledge allegience to the flag of the United States of America
And to the politicians who hide behind it
One nation with an attention span under 30 days
divisible by bipartisan bickering
With liberty stolen and morals legislated for all.
If a place wants to put up a flag as long as it is kept clean and in good repair I like seeing them wave in the breeze. I'm patriotic enough, and enjoy the sight of the flag itself, but I like to watch them flutter. It is fascinating to watch what the breeze is doing to the flag. Sometimes it is just straight out and few wrinkles...other times it just kind of flops around, kind of like the politicians that keep arguing about whether it should be protected with a constituional amendment. I understand how important it is to those who fought under it. I've pledged allegience to it as one nation under God...and will continue to do so.
What I won't do is frequent businesses who are so stupid they don't know how many days are in a 30 day time frame. When a president dies the morning period is 30 days. It has nothing to do with the president's politics and how it meets your own personal agenda. When Nixon died there were a number of places that refused to lower the flag. When Clinton Dies I would have the same thoughts...but it has nothing to do with the politics, it has everything to do with the mourning the country is in when a president dies, regardless of their politics. We fight wars under that flag, we play baseball games, we shop under it, we freely elect officials because of it, when a president dies the flag goes to half staff, for 30 days, not a week, not 15 days...not 28 or 29 or whenever the janitor decides its been long enough. Businesses and others who fly the flag at full staff during a period of mourning not only show disrespect, but their own ignorance, and don't deserve anyone's reciprocal good feelings or money.
I mean the next time your mother-in-law passes on how wonderful for you when some guy gets up at the funeral and does a comedy roast on the state legislature. That's how inappropriate a full staff flag is during a period of national mourning. Ford was not in the class of Washington or Lincoln, but he had a place in history, some of it good, some of it controversial, some of it stupid (WIN buttons), and some real bloopers (Poland comes to mind), but he was the president elected or not. He died. We are in national mourning for 30 days...and that doesn't end on the 17th of January. I was on vacation when I heard of the death, but I know it was after the 25th, so it looks to me like there are some real stupid people out there who can't count up to 30.
I pledge allegience to the flag of the United States of America
And to the politicians who hide behind it
One nation with an attention span under 30 days
divisible by bipartisan bickering
With liberty stolen and morals legislated for all.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Tuesday
It's Tuesday, which is nothing to brag about, but its cold and there are a lot of things bugging me. Aside from having to throw out a full mouse trap, and trying to keep everyone happy with the heat, life continues as a rather hum drum affair at the moment. But I did listen to Hannity today and he was talking to Cindy Sheehan. She has a point but it seems as simple as Bernard King's "Can't we all just get along," mentality. As nice a thought as that is it is simplistic. Hannity pinned her down on what she would say if she was talking to the Iranian dictator, and in essence all she said was I would ask him to stop the fighting and lets talk about it. Isn't that nice. We were forced to watch 24 the last two nights by the kids...and when that nuke blew it kind of blew her arguements too. Something like that is in the works you can be sure.
Then there was that kidnapping case in Missouri. I listened to Mike Reagan on the way home from work last night and he told the story of his own sexual abuse. He was quite angry when discussing the media's complaining that the older one didn't escape. I really don't like people making a judgement in the case. Over the last year I've learned that the justice system is not one that is friendly or helpful to the accused. It is not innocent until proven guilty...but guilty until you prove your innocence...and you are treated that way in the system. When the person is completly innocent of the charges, which we've experienced this past year, you have to spend a ton of money on lawyers and in our case polygraph tests and psychological examinations. Then when the Family Service folks get involved you have to do it all over again just to get the accused's name of their list of people not worthy to live in their eyes. I'm into this about $15,000 and 1 year now, and it will probably go on another year to get the mess cleaned up.
So to Cindy, and the media who want to hang people for things based on surface observations, try living in something more than a superficial, shallow world. Try understanding it and deal with it in the way it presents itself. Sometimes that means we have to topple dictators, sometimes that means the justice system has to admit that it messed up and stop foisting more costs onto innocent vicitims...So media remember just because its a sensational story, doesn't mean you can or should make the value judgements, before the facts are known. In some cases folks it's better that we don't know. I really don't want to know what those kids went through because I'm sure from their perspective it could really be an embarrassment. The boys and the older one in particular broke no laws. They are the victims...leave them alone. Let them heal.
Let the rest of us heal and rejoice in something positive for a change. We can ask questions, sure and in time there will be some Dr. who will come out with information that will explain what happens in such cases. In fact this isn't a first. That kid named Stephen in California was a similar case. Too many people don't remember or even know that story.
Well its time to go seperate my 17 year old from his mother's vicinity to keep the peace in the house..."can't they just get along?"
Then there was that kidnapping case in Missouri. I listened to Mike Reagan on the way home from work last night and he told the story of his own sexual abuse. He was quite angry when discussing the media's complaining that the older one didn't escape. I really don't like people making a judgement in the case. Over the last year I've learned that the justice system is not one that is friendly or helpful to the accused. It is not innocent until proven guilty...but guilty until you prove your innocence...and you are treated that way in the system. When the person is completly innocent of the charges, which we've experienced this past year, you have to spend a ton of money on lawyers and in our case polygraph tests and psychological examinations. Then when the Family Service folks get involved you have to do it all over again just to get the accused's name of their list of people not worthy to live in their eyes. I'm into this about $15,000 and 1 year now, and it will probably go on another year to get the mess cleaned up.
So to Cindy, and the media who want to hang people for things based on surface observations, try living in something more than a superficial, shallow world. Try understanding it and deal with it in the way it presents itself. Sometimes that means we have to topple dictators, sometimes that means the justice system has to admit that it messed up and stop foisting more costs onto innocent vicitims...So media remember just because its a sensational story, doesn't mean you can or should make the value judgements, before the facts are known. In some cases folks it's better that we don't know. I really don't want to know what those kids went through because I'm sure from their perspective it could really be an embarrassment. The boys and the older one in particular broke no laws. They are the victims...leave them alone. Let them heal.
Let the rest of us heal and rejoice in something positive for a change. We can ask questions, sure and in time there will be some Dr. who will come out with information that will explain what happens in such cases. In fact this isn't a first. That kid named Stephen in California was a similar case. Too many people don't remember or even know that story.
Well its time to go seperate my 17 year old from his mother's vicinity to keep the peace in the house..."can't they just get along?"
Monday, January 15, 2007
welcome
As you can see I'm very new to blogging. I'm not new to writing a column but never in this outlet. I am bored stiff after finishing my MBA and I'm looking for a job that means something, primarily money. Life is funny that way, you get smart then you have to figure out how to use it so you can make the investment pay off. The problem is I figure I've had so much experience in so many different jobs I don't know where to focus. I know I'm tired of answering phones. I wouldn't mind bossing a few people on the phones around...but in the end I want to do something that means something to somebody...something that makes a difference. At one time in my life I wanted to run for political office. Thought that isn't totally out of the question, the experience I had with it convinced me it is such a sleeze bucket of people stabbing everyone in the back to get what they want I really don't want to do that. Especially when you consider you have to raise money most of the time. I'm not good at asking people for stuff. So this is going to be my random ramblings...some of it nonsense, some of it just my observations about life, and my opinions. There is no real theme here. I suspect that in a blog others post stuff in your blog if you catch someone's interest. I don't care if you do, just keep it clean. I'm not concerned about what anyone else thinks about any of this. It's just my own little outlet. If you like it great, if not...thanks for your time...see ya. I'm not going to argue with anyone here...this is just my own little world...hope you like it...if you can contribute something worthwhile and clean great...if not please just go away.
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