When All Is Said And Done

What is happening to this country? With each passing day I get more disgusted while at the same time resign myself to the fact that this country is no longer a government of the people, for the people, and by the people. It's a country of business executives, for big business, and by business. 

There are proposals to do away with mortgage interest and property tax credits. If these credits are eliminated then the glut of empty houses we currently have now will look like a drop in the bucket. Fewer Americans would want to buy a home and can you blame them? It's no longer the American dream to buy a home, it's the dream of banks and mortgage brokers who make obnoxious amounts of money off your mortgage. The same banks and brokers that helped create the current economic crisis I might add.

Republicans claim taxing the rich at the same level as the middle-class will create jobs. These so called wealthiest Americans start small businesses that will help the unemployed find work and won't be able to do that if they pay more in taxes. Yet, unemployment still stands at roughly 9% and the rich are effectively paying the same tax rate as people who make far less than they do. Yet another line of crap out of the mouths of our politicians. Let me help you decode this into two words if you haven't already...big business.

The Supreme Court is a joke. Republicans like to use the term "activist judges." Well, our current majority in the court is just another example that can be used to support that term. It just so happens that instead of the term being used to describe liberal judges I'm using it to describe conservative judges. A friend once told me that an activist judge is easy to define...it's a judge that doesn't vote the way you like. Ruling that corporations, the largest and richest source of campaign contributions, can donate unlimited sums of money to candidates is just another example of how to make sure big business wins in this country.

It's time America woke up. The vast majority of so called conservative Republicans don't care about  family values and morals.  They use your beliefs to lie to you so that you'll vote for them. This is supposed to be the greatest country on earth (at least that's what been shoved down our throats for decades.) Why then are we moving backwards instead of forwards? History shows us that moving backwards is never a good thing...unless you learn history in Texas where they rewrite it to their liking, then you'll probably think everything I just wrote is wrong.

There is a certain feeling I think every homeowner gets when a project is finished. For me it happened this morning after three hours of work by a very competent and patient contracting crew. I had provided them with a laundry list of things that needed to be done and from the moment they arrived they got right to work. Most of the things were small but there were two bigger things we needed done, namely re-wiring two ceiling lights onto their own switches and the hanging of a medicine cabinet in our guest bathroom.  The medicine cabinet was hung swiftly with no problem while the re-wiring turned into a bit of a fiasco. After basically running new wire through the ceiling to one of the switches on the other side of the room they flipped the different switches at alternating times and voila...success!

There are a few other projects we'd like to do...some small and one big one (the master bath) but I feel good about what got accomplished today. Now onto those damn shower doors...

I leave you with a pic of one of the finished projects.

Sometimes

Sometimes words are not enough.
Sometimes pure feeling can move you to tears.
Sometimes a new discovery can bring back memories from long ago.
Sometimes what you think will be negative turns out completely opposite.
Sometimes an unexpected adventure can occur.
Sometimes you decide to try something scary and find it's not.
Sometimes the simple feeling of warmth on your skin can change your whole demeanor.
Sometimes a simple hug makes it all better.
Sometimes you find yourself when you aren't even looking.
Sometimes you do what you have to do.

Some Sunny Day

It should come as no surprise to anyone that we had a wonderful vacation on Maui. What's not to love about an island in the middle of the pacific? The little distraction they called a tsunami didn't make the trip any less enjoyable for me. I can't wait to go back in September!

While we were away there were some major changes at work which I experienced today. I understand the reasoning behind it but in my opinion it could have been implemented differently. There are parts that are so confusing to me.

I've said it before in a few different posts but I'm completely over winter. I'm not sure how many more I'm going to be able to take. Spending a week in shorts and flip flops with hardly any humidity has me thinking about our future living arrangements.

The Lonely Street of Dreams

After two failed attempts at vacationing in Hawaii we are off to Maui tomorrow morning. This time I know it'll be a success! I'm not discouraged by the fact that it's been pouring there for days now and it isn't supposed to let up most of the time we are there. The fact that it will still be warm and won't be snowing with ice covered sidewalks and I won't have to wear numerous layers of clothes just to go down the street is all that matters to me.

A Skinny Bear

Yesterday at work I had a conversation with a co-worker who had different feelings on politics than I do. She is a fan of Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee. I'm a fan of almost anyone but those two. She is a strong believer of less government and vastly reduced spending both at the state and federal levels.

We discussed everything from the situation in Wisconsin to who we thought would run on the Republican ticket in 2010. While we disagreed on many things we found we were able to have a constructive conversation without anger.  I told her that I feel a lot of conservative Americans come across as hypocritical when discussing certain fiscal and social issues...such as public assistance programs, abortion, and gay marriage. I went on to explain that you can not demand that the government stay out of your personal life completely and stop almost all but essential spending but at the same time file an unemployment claim. She asked how I felt about abortion and I told her that I  A) Don't have a uterus and B) Have never been in a situation where an abortion would be an option. I said it was my understanding that no government funds go towards paying for abortions and that if you didn't believe in abortions then don't have one. I asked her what right she had to decide what another adult does with their body if it didn't directly affect her? She agreed that while she is still Pro-Life she understood where I came from and my opinion made sense. As for gay marriage she kept her mouth shut. I think she knew better than to open this can of worms with me. I've said it before and I'll say it again...It doesn't affect you in ANY way. Who I marry has no bearing on your marriage and if you think my marrying Adam will weaken "traditional" marriage then you have problems in your marriage that you need to address instead of sticking your nose into my business.