Twilight Zone

I came into work a little early today, as I would like to leave early and do a couple of things with my kids before it is dinner and bed time.  It seems as if the entire month of June will pass me by, nearly a month into their summer vacation, and I will have only seen them for fleeting hours.

So I came to work, was sifting through various stacks of paperwork, answering emails, filing documents.  I turned my chair to reach for something and there sat my wedding ring, on a sheet of scratch paper.

I have no memory of taking it off.  I didn't wash my hands, or apply lotion.  I hadn't been doing anything that might require taking it off.  I don't remember any discomfort that would cause me to remove it.

When I reached for it, it was cold - so it sat there for a few minutes at least.

Growing older doesn't generally bother me.  I don't have any vanity about wrinkles or graying hair.  I recognize and accept that I don't have the same reflexes, flexibility, or hangover recovery time as I did twenty years ago.  But, losing my mind terrifies me.   And every time I lose something, or find something I forgot I lost, I wonder if one day I will wake up and it will all be gone.  Will I be blissfully unaware of the impairment, or trapped in a world that I know isn't right?

I would rather have some external force to blame for what is clearly my doing.  At least there would be an explanation.

Paying for pride

Why isn't 'trying to find the body of a long dead criminal' on the sequester no funding list?  It doesn't take a financial wizard to see the dollar signs associated with this story:

Federal agents searching for the body of former Teamsters chief Jimmy Hoffa believe they are about to crack one of America’s biggest unsolved mysteries.

CBS News has confirmed a suspicious concrete slab was retrieved by investigators from the Oakland Township field where they have been digging for any sign of Hoffa. It’s too soon, however, to know whether the slab is anything more than part of an old foundation for a barn.

The dig — the latest in what’s been nearly a 40-year search — is reportedly the result of extensive FBI interviews with former mobster Tony Zerilli.

Help me understand why this 'mystery' needs to be solved?  If he ain't dead, he is 100-year's old.  Our very own government declared him dead over 30 years ago.  Organized crime isn't the highly secret, covertly powerful force it once was - hell, we have reality shows about mafia families.

Why in the heck is it so important to find Hoffa's body?

This isn't a private venture, federal agents (= your tax dollars) are the ones doing the digging.  You and I are paying for the extensive interviews and backhoes.

Someone please tell me how this is in the public's interest?  Who authorized this expenditure?  How many normal Americans are on the missing person's list that aren't getting the benefit of a federal investigation?

Our government has got to be broken of their drunken sailor-type spending of other people's money.  It permeates everything they do.  Digging up a dead guy, just for the sake of saying you finally found him, should be left to a private entity, not the American taxpayers. 

FOD

Before jetting off to Ireland for a trip that serves as a prelude to his later-in-the-month Africa trip that will cost the taxpayers a bazillion dollars and untold amounts of humiliation, Blowie took the time to squeeze in a round of golf.

That makes 17 rounds this year, 128 since he became Grand Poobah.

While the leader of our nation jets around the world, the governor of my state visits the coasts and records commercials meant to entice businesses to move to Texas.  It seems to be working.  I am not particularly looking forward to an influx of left-coasties, but will offer up this handy translation guide for those moving to our great state:

Dad's Day

Happy Father's Day to all of you that claim the title.

My father is in heaven, but has been there long enough that today isn't sad, or even bittersweet - I loved the man, I am grateful for the time I had with him, and I remember him fondly, more than miss him painfully, on days like today.

I know some pretty wonderful dads - and I hope that each of you is getting pampered or treated to your favorite things today.

Pick your Syria idiom

This week Blowie officially recognized that Syria really, really, really did use chemical weapons, so his magical red line has been crossed.  Now American military troops will be put in harm's way to aide a rebel force that might have had a snowball's chance in hell months ago.

In typical leading from behind and gutsy call = no game plan style, Blowie made a big announcement about how the U.S. will now assist the losing rebel force, after 90k people have been slaughtered, and with no discernible end game.  Who will lead Syria if the rebels miraculously prevail?  My vote is on Blowie or John McCain.

Though I have already used a couple, I will leave the rest up to you.  Pick your favorite idiom/cliche/euphemism to describe Blowie's action on Syria.  More than one will apply:

Wag the dog
A day late and a dollar short
Dead squirrel
Red herring
Waterloo
Moving the goalposts
Beat a dead horse
Two wrongs don't make a right
Slippery slope
If by whiskey
Kettle logic
Bite off more than you can chew
Throwing good money after bad
Hanlon's Razor
Occam's Razor
Chewbacca defense
A fool and his our money is are easily parted
Drastic times call for drastic measures
Hell in a handbasket
Pig in a poke
Screw the pooch
The bigger they are the harder they fall
Charley Foxtrot
Snafu
Fubar

That's all I can think of...

#41s89th

You might have seen the stories about people around our nation celebrating George H.W. Bush's 89th birthday by wearing colorful socks.  Common folk and name-brand fold took to Twitter, Facebook and other social media outlets to show off their colorful socks and wish the former president a Happy Birthday this past Wednesday.

Some folks you might recognize:

 Some you might not (Roger Williams TX-25):
 

The "RNC Team"

 And 41 himself kicked it off with a FB photo with his new great-granddaughter:

And for some background:

Celebrating bad decisions

Each week when I drive Bang to his Boy Scout meeting, we pass by the grounds of what used to be an unwed mother's home.  The 'business' sold and moved on about 10 year's ago, but in its heyday was the sort of place where young women (and children) could come to live during their pregnancy, and they were provided with food, shelter, an education, recreation, and, of course, options for self-sufficiency or adoption upon the birth of their child.  It is quite the place, with a large home, some smaller living quarters scattered about, a pool, a school building and a large gymnasium, on probably 30 acres, surrounded by ranch land - well out of the casual passerby-eye.  Today it is used as a camp facility.

I am certainly not saying that we should take pregnant teens and hide them away, but I am left wondering, how we went from a society that tried to quietly and discreetly handle accidental pregnancy in a way that likely improved a young woman's life, to a society that makes teen mothers reality television stars.

It seems as if it is almost a rite of passage in some areas, to be a baby momma or be a baby daddy. 

I wouldn't impose my morals on others, but, sheesh, is it too much to ask for some of these families to be a little bit restrained?  I am not suggesting that we return to the days of sending a girl away for nine months with a fanciful story about school abroad or something, but I also have little appreciation for those that demand we accept - and celebrate - their teenager's inability to use birth control. 

I coined a new word, moronironic, a mash-up of moronic and ironic, to describe this group of people that, as a societal demographic, vote for those who fight long and hard to give them the tools to abort and prevent (the morning after), but tend to also be the ones that have the most out of wedlock children.