The End Is Near!

No, not the end of the world.  I mean the end of this @#$%& triple-digit heat wave we've had parked right over Texas for the past several months.  A quick glance at our 7-day forecast shows a cool front coming through tomorrow and temps falling into the upper 90's, and staying below 100 after that .  Yep, I said "cool" and "upper 90's" in the same sentence.  Absurd, isn't it?


It looks like we'll have around 65+/- days over 100 degrees this year, making it the second-hottest summer since The Big Bang.  It's also come to my attention that the 2011 college football season kicks off tomorrow night, too.  


Is it possible....I mean....could it be that God is a college football fan like me, and He's turned down the thermostat a few degrees so we can all enjoy the game?    ;)


Dinner out tonight with my daughters and a couple of the grandkids (with another "in the oven").  They all wanted Mexican food, which is fine with me, except it isn't exactly conducive to losing weight.  I'll really have to watch myself.  (We're trying to lose a few pounds and ramp up the exercise, getting ready to enjoy some outdoor activities this fall after being cooped up all summer.)  


S

"Hello, is there anyone out there?" (Pink Floyd)

Does anyone read this jibberish I write?  I'm beginning to think not, which is OK, no offense taken.  But if no one is bothering to read it, I'm not going to bother writing it.  I'll still read other's blogs because I enjoy keeping up with everyone, but topics that appeal to me don't seem to have much of an audience outside of my house.  Heck, even inside my house.  ;)


S

Ahh....the smell of tear gas in the air

I read a very interesting article by financial columnist Scott Burns in The Dallas Morning News yesterday.  In a previous piece he told of a scary scenario he called the "American Spring", complete with angry protesters and "tear gas in the air".  That's how disgusted Americans are with their present government and our abysmal economy.


He brought up the soon-to-be-broke Social Security system and how it came to be that way.  He reminded us that back in 1983 Congress initiated Social Security "reforms" allowing them to rob "appropriate" $2.6 TRILLION dollars from the Social Security Trust Fund and spend it on other "stuff" in order to please their respective special interests, replacing cash with IOU's.  Soon Social Security will need to start redeeming those IOU's to pay retirees, and guess what?   The government doesn't have it. They're backpedaling as fast as possible, throwing up excuses why there should be "means testing" for retirees, no cost-of-living increases, maybe reduced benefits, etc.  


Here's the point of his column:  There are 23 members of Congress still serving who voted back in '83 to pull this 'ol switcheroo, 14 Democrats and 9 Republicans.  THEY NEED TO BE SENT HOME!  PERMANENTLY!  They are:

Dan Burton (R-IN)

Max Baucus (D-MT)

Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)

Thad Cochran (R-MS)

Norm Dicks (D-WA)

John Dingell (D-MI)

Dick Durban (D-IL)

Chuck Grassley (R-IA)

Tom Harkin (D-IA)

Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)

Patrick Leahy (D-VT)

Carl Levin (D-MI)

Sander Levin (D-MI)

Richard Lugar (R-IN)

John McCain (R-AZ)

Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)

George Miller (D-CA)

Tom Petri (R-WI)

Charles Rangel (D-NY)

Hal Rogers (R-KY)

Richard Shelby (R-AL)

Pete Stark (D-CA)

Bill Young (R-FL)

 IMHO, they ALL need to be defeated at their next election.  And don't tell me, "Yes, but you don't know all the good stuff they've done."  A good guy robs a bank, and guess what?  He's no longer a good guy.  HE'S A BANK ROBBER!  Zero tolerance.

This could get interesting.  I've never smelled tear gas before.

S

Dogs and loyalty

I love dogs.  They ask so little of us, yet give us everything they have without hesitation.  This fact was brought back to me this morning when I read this in USA Today online:

At the funeral for one of the 30 Navy SEAL's recently killed in Afghanistan, the dog of a fallen SEAL refused to leave the body of his owner/friend.  During the service he walked up to the casket and lay down beside it.  Such loyalty is virtually impossible to find in the human world.

I remember a few years ago I was in bed recovering from having my tonsils out.  What misery!  My little dog Tara Belle (at the time about 13 years old and slowing down considerably) could sense I was hurting and somehow jumped-climbed-clawed her way up onto my bed and lay down beside me.  In normal times she couldn't jump that high if her life depended on it, but when she thought she could provide me some comfort, she was there for me.

Dogs don't ask or care what color you are, what zip code you live in, what labels are on your clothes, what kind of car you drive, or how influential your friends are.  All they want from you is a pat on the head, a tummy rub, someone to throw them a ball, some food...any brand will do, thank you...and of course your love.  Pretense doesn't exist in a dog's world.  In a dog owners world it does, but not in a dog's world.  

You know the old joke about "dog" really being GOD, just  spelled backwards?  Maybe it's not a joke.

S

Magical salad

Trying to eat better in order to begin enjoying a more active outdoor lifestyle (whenever it cools some), last night we went to Jason's Deli for dinner.  We both had the salad bar.  We sometimes have a small salad with dinner, but rarely do we have a salad as dinner.  We're carnivores and darn proud of it!

Since then strange things have been happening.  First, I took Emma Belle out for her last dootie call of the day and found it to be cool.  Again...I said COOL.  It's a relative term, I know, but compared to the 107 of late afternoon, 80 felt cool.  Strange.

Then I woke up at 3 am with an idea of how to build a balance board (improves balance and coordination) using inexpensive building materials instead of  paying $50 for a store-bought one.  But how big?  I got up and went to the internet and did several minutes of highly intense academic research and decided what I really wanted was a "wobble board".

 At 3 am.  Very strange. 

Finally at 6 am this morning, as I was throwing on some old clothes to take the dog out for her first dootie call of the new day, I heard it....thunder.  Then I heard....could it be?....rain!  Radar showed one tiny little shower right over my side of my town, right over me.  Beyond strange.  

I'm thinking it was the salad.  What else could it be?  It must have had some mighty powerful juju.  I promise I'll never make fun of salad again.

S

Where's FEMA??

So there's an earthquake in Washington, DC, and Wall Street responds by going UP 322 points.  Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but it almost looks like....  :)


S

Another day in Paradise...with photo

My beloved 'lil Audi is getting spruced up today.  "Detailed", that is.  It's pushing 5 years old with 83,000 miles on the clock, and in great mechanical shape, but in need of a shave and a haircut.  I get those Living Social emails daily (similar to Groupon) and not long ago they had an offer for auto detailing at 1/2 price. DEAL!


Another nice benefit of me cleaning up my car is the rain.  It's common knowledge if I wash my car it will rain.  A simple wash, a little rain.  With a full-fledged detailing, I'm expecting a LOT of rain.  Maybe not as much as my friends in Virginia and the Carolina's will be getting in a few days (and hopefully they'll all come through unscathed but just wet), but rain none-the-less.  If I don't see rain here within 48 hours I'm going back and asking for a refund.  Breach of implied promise, or something.


My birthday was a good one.  I heard from all my loved ones, even the little ones who can only slobber and mumble.  A new season of Top Gear was aired last night in my honor.  Thank you BBC.  :)  K and I had a nice dinner at home as we're going out with All My Children on Wednesday to celebrate.


Other than that, the days drone on.


Adios mi amigos,


S

Looks pretty good all cleaned up, huh?