The Economy

I work for a financial institution. I see firsthand what the economy is doing. I hate turning on the news and have some talking head tell me that he economy is in the dumps. I have family members that sing that song quite often. I ask them two questions, Have you gone out to eat this week? And When was the last time you went to a concert? The answer I usually receive is, Yes and sometime in the last three weeks. Have any of you been out to eat lately? Or gone to a bar or concert? Been to a professional sporting event? My point is this; chances are that the last time you did any of those thing, it was crowded.

If the economy is so bad, why do I have to wait two hours to get a table at Texas Roadhouse? Why are all the concerts here in the Denver area charging an arm and leg for a ticket and selling out? If the economy is so bad, why do athletes get million dollar contracts? Where is all this money coming from if the economy is bad?

I love talking to people, especially older people. I listen to their stories about growing up during the Great Depression. No where in their stories did they eat out. I grew up during the recession years of the late sixties and early seventies. We lived paycheck to paycheck and hardly ever went out to eat, let alone go to a concert. We just didn't have the money. I didn't have the most expensive shoes on the block. My mom made a lot of our clothes. I grew up thinking that the first four words at a family reunion were "K-Mart Blue Light Specials". My parents made due with what they had. They made what little money we had, go as far as it could.

These people that moan about how bad the economy is, have never had it bad. I have a great job that pays me a decent salary. I work hard for my paycheck. I use that money to pay for things that my parents never had. I give my children opportunities that I never had. And I am grateful. I am grateful that they never have to go to bed hungry like the kids in the depression. I am grateful that I can afford to buy them new clothes for school each year. In my opinion, and it is just that my opinion, the economy is clicking along just fine. Stop the whining and eat out.

Personal Responsibility

I am a computer NERD. I work on computers for a living. I am part of a three man IT department at my work. We support forty nine end users at our work. I generally take the support calls for general everyday common problems, like documents not printing, not being able to sign on to the computer, stuff like that. Now in order for me to fix a problem, I have to know what exactly led up to the malfunction. I usually ask people, What did you do, meaning what were you doing when the flames started shooting out of your monitor. I'm not accusing people of anything, I just really can not think of anything else to get the most information out of the user. One of my pet peeves is when I am told, nothing, that's their answer, nothing. Me:"What were you doing when the computer started shredding your tie?" User:" Nothing, I was just sitting at my desk doing nothing. I didn't even touch the darn thing." Now you know and I know that's not the truth. Why do people find it so hard to accept responsibility for their own actions?



When we were all kids, we all used the "Not me" response to our parents. When we were caught red handed with the pair of scissors in our hands and the curtains are all in shreds, we all answered "Not Me" when our parents asked "Who did this?" But we were kids then. Somewhere in our maturing process we should have learned that no matter how complex you weave the story, end result is you are going to have to answer for your actions. What I want to know is this, when did that end? Who was in charge of sending out that memo? I didn't get mine. I know that if I order a cup of coffee it's going to be hot. And if I happen to spill it on myself because I can't juggle me cell phone and laptop while drinking coffee, it's my fault. Not the kid behind the counter that sold me the coffee. Not the company that employed the kid. Not anyone else's fault but mine for being a clutz. I shouldn't be allowed to sue a restaurant for providing me with something that I knew was going to be hot.



When people don't take responsibility for their actions, it's the rest of us that have to pay. Have you ever read some warning labels and said to yourself that no one is so dumb that they would iron a shirt while they are wearing it. You would be wrong. Not only did they do it, but the sued the manufacturer of the iron for not warning them. The rest of us pay with higher costs of goods because manufacturers are scared of stupid lawsuits. I'm not saying that if you buy a defective product it's your fault. But what I am saying is if you dump the gin and tonic down the back of your monitor and flames start shooting out. When I ask you what you were doing, I don't want to hear Nothing, honest I wasn't doing a thing.

My Political Views

I want to state right up front that I am a Conservative Republican. I was raised to respect and honor family. I am a Christian. That being said there are some points where I differ from the preconcieved notion of what you might think of me.

I am a very Patriotic American. Now notice I said American, not Hispanic-American, not Irish-American, not German-American. There was no hyphen involved. I am a non-hyphenated American. I happen to be of Irish and English decent and I am proud of that. But I am Prouder still that I am a citizen of the greatest country in the world. I have defended my country in the past and I will defend her in the future if I am called upon to do so. Do not come into this country and expect people to make allowances for you. When my mothers ancestors came to America from Ireland, they HAD to learn English. They did not expect King Soopers to post all their signage in Gaelic and English. They did not demand for people to make them comfortable speaking their language. If you want to live here, learn the language. And for everybody who will write and tell me that Colorado used to be part of Mexico, I call B.S. They lost it, if it ever did belong to them. Get over it. Learn to speak English.

Church and State: People have used the seperation clause to much and incorrectly. All it states is that the government shall not promote on religion over the others. It doesn't say that if you happen to wear a shirt to school that says "Jesus Loves You" tha you should be put in detention. It doesn't say that the lady down at the DMV can't wish someone a Merry Christmas, last time I looked I didn't see Santa Claus in the Bible. The majority of Americans identify themselves as Christians. But we have let a small vocal minority shout us down and stripp away some of our rights. We need to stand up for what we believe and not give in. I hear people all the time tell me that we need to respect the religion of others and I'm fine with that, as long as that does not disrespect my beliefs. I will fight to death to secure your right to celebrate Yom Kippur, Ramadan or whatever. As long as you give my religion the same respect. Do you really think that it makes you less of a Muslim, Jew or Wiccian if you just let me celebrate Easter the way I want to?

Abortion: I think that, for me personally, Abortion is wrong. I do not think that the government should have to subsidize this industry in any way, shape or form. That being said, I also do not believe it should be a political issue. Hair plugs, Nose jobs and Tummy tucks are not a political issue. If I want to get hair plugs is noone else's business in as much as if Susie down the block wants to get an abortion. If we can pay for it ourselves we should be able to get the procedure done. I would think about getting my hair plugs done if I couldn't afford it. Why do people think that we need Abortion on demand? It kinda goes back to the theme song of the Berrata show back in the 70's, Don't do the Crime if YOU Can't do the Time. Don't have sex if you don't want a kid. Don't ask me to pay for your going out and getting drunk and making a poor decision. Not my fault. If you want someone to pay for your mistake, talk to the person in the mirror.

Gun Control: This going to be short. Fear the Government that fears your right to bear arms. Every American citizen should have the right to purchase and own a handgun or rifle if they choose and can afford it. End of story.

A little bit about me

Okay here is a little bit of my history. I am 43 years old. I grew up in Thornton Colorado. When I was a Senior in High School my Mom, Dad and I moved to Casper Wyoming. I moved back to Denver the week after graduating. I joined the Army and was in the 82nd Airborne Division. After two years, eight months, three weeks, and four days, I was medically retired from the Army. I have tunnel vision, not only for real but also in a lot of my personal views. After getting out of the Army I went to the University of Colorado in Boulder. I was of the wrong political party to survuve there. While I did my time in the Republic of Boulder I was amazed by witnessing firsthand the indoctrinization of the American youth. These 18 year olds would sit in class and unquestioningly just accept as gospel what the Professors would spew forth. Never once calling BS. I called BS and was persauded that I might want to rethink my educational calling.

I got a job installing alarms and got to travel this Great Nation. To date I have been to 49 states. I only need to get to Hawaii to get the Upgrade. Working for the alarm company got me started in Electronics. After the company went defunct, I decided to take my bonus miles I earned and go to Europe for awhile. At twenty five I spent some time hitch hiking around Europe before coming back to the USA.

When I got back, I moved to Grand Junction Colorado. I met and married my wife there. My first son was born there. I got a job at 84 Lumber and was moved to Rock Springs Wyoming. This is where my second son was born. We then were transferred to a store in Alamogordo New Mexico, where my daughter was born. My wife decided that three kids was enough so off I go to get fixed, OUCH. (As a side note, to any guy that is going to get a vasectomy bring along a friend and a baseball bat. Have the friend hit you senseless so you do not have to be awake while they cut open your, you get the picture.) We were the transferred to El Paso Texas and my relationship with 84 Lumber ended. We moved back to Grand Junction and I could not find a job that would pay enough to support the five of us. So we moved back to Thornton.

I got a job at Pepsi and worke there for almost a year before I was injured on the job. Now let me state for the record that the Workman's Comp system SUCKS. It is not set up for the worker. I spent three years in the system. I had a closed head injury. The effects were that I couldn't talk correctly, stuttered bad, Blinding Migraines, some personality changes and a stiff neck. After two years of speech therepy, I could talk. After two years of going to a head doctor, the agreed I wasn't making any of it up. And after three years of being in the system, I was free.

While I was doing my time in the system I went to a Novell sys admin course. Here I am with a head injury, can't remember my name half the time, and I'm going back to school. I guess I was crazy. I got a job for a Technical School as their Sys Admin. Then after a year I got a job with a major aerospace company. Then I went back to a different Technical School to teach. From their I started with the company I am currently with. I have been with the company for seven years and still find my work challenging.

Now you are up to speed on my past.

First Post

Good morning. Just trying out blogging. I feel I am an average American person. I lean towards the right. I take responsibility for myself. I expect others to ake responsibility for themselves. And I do not expect the government to hold my hand 24/7. I do not understand where this division and extreme hatred of opposing views has come from. A Conservitive can not voice thier views without being shouted down by the extreme left, and a Liberal can not voice theirs either without the extreme right shouting them down. Where did this all come from? I ask that question and know I wil get a bunch of people telling me that it's all George W's fault. It's not. This goes back even further the eight years. I can remember growing up in the sixties and seventies when the Presidential campaigns would be alot nicer. There were no personal attacks. Now you have all this money being spent by the extremist on both sides and the candidates feel that they have to cater to these wackos. You have the Ultra Left Moveon.org applying pressure to the Demorcrat candidates to vilify the seated President. You have the Ultra Conservative Focus On the Family exerting pressure to the Republican candidates to absolutly adhere to their platform. And somewhere we, as Americans, loose the actual person as a candidate.

I can not understand how a person who supports one side or the other would say If candidate so and so get's the nomination, I'm telling my orginazation to just not vote. Now does that make any sense to anyone else? Isn't that a lot like cutting off your nose to spite your face? If the party I support nominates some who supports half of what I believe in, and the opposing party nominates someone who doesn't support anything I believe in. Why would I give my vote to the other party? How can they not see this as being an absolute stupid theory? If I'm a Demorcrat and George Sorros tells me that just because the candidate my party choose to nominate for does not support an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, I should not vote for them. Or if James Dobson tells me that because the candidate the Republicans have decided to nominate does not support the repel of Roe v Wade, I should just throw my vote away. I always was taught that one of the hallmarks of what made this nation great, was our Independance. Our ability as an individual to think for ourselves. I am amazed by the state of politics today. Thank God I got over that stupid dream I had when I was younger to become President.