Ranting and Trying to be Positive (Really)

I hope everyone is having a great day. Here we are, the last day of July, and I'm starting to feel like the grasshopper that fiddled all summer. Maybe I just expect too much from myself and other people. I am the type of person that has high expectations. Yes, that has caused me much misery in my past. Maybe I should be more like my brother. He tells me that he expects the worst from other people, and is pleasantly surprised when it doesn't turn out that way. I am an optimist. My glass is always half full, never half empty. Yes, I know, that kind of thinking can get you into real trouble. Well, I can't help it, that's just the way I am. I can't say that my attitude has hurt me in business ventures, but I can say it has wrenched my heart to pieces, in the romance arena. Anyway, it's Sunday and I like to start out by listening to something inspirational.....

I have a bit of a rant, today. I received the following in an e-mail, and I have to tell you, I feel the same way. Remember the Gray Panthers? I put on my activist hat when it comes to Social Security. At the end of this year, I will be old enough to apply for 'early' Social Security. I have every intention of doing just that. I'm sorry, but I don't trust our government, especially when it comes to matters of the public trust. They have let us down time and time again. Social Security began as a forced savings program to allow those that live long enough, to have some income. Why on earth did  we let those bastards steal our money?  Makes me feel like screaming "To arms! To arms! The Bureaucratic Morons are coming". Read this, then tell me how you feel.....


WHAT IS WRONG WITH US????

.


Remember, not only did you contribute to Social Security but your 
employer did too. It totaled 15% of your income before taxes. If you 
averaged only 30K over your working life, that???s close to $220,500. If 
you calculate the future value of $4,500 per year (yours & your 
employer???s contribution) at a simple 5% (less than what the govt. pays 
on the money that it borrows), after 49 years of working (me) you???d have 
$892,919.98. If you took out only 3% per year, you receive $26,787.60 
per year and it would last better than 30 years, and that???s with no 
interest paid on that final amount on deposit! If you bought an annuity 
and it paid 4% per year, you???d have a lifetime income of $2,976.40 per 
month. The folks in Washington have pulled off a bigger Ponzi scheme 
than Bernie Madoff ever had.


Entitlement my ass , I paid cash for my social security "insurance"!!!! 
Insurance is what they called it, but, if any insurance company handled 
your money the way the US government did, the State regulators would 
shut it down and the executives would be charged with fraud.


Just because they "borrowed" the money , doesn't make my benefits some 
kind of charity or handout !! Congressional benefits, aka. free health 
care, outrageous retirement packages , 67 paid holidays , three weeks 
paid vacation , unlimited paid sick days , now that's charity, welfare, 
and they have the nerve to call my retirement ??? entitlements ??? 
Someone please tell me what the HELL's wrong with all the people that 
run this country!!!!!!
We're "broke" & can't help our own Seniors, Veterans, Orphans. We are 
about to cut their benefits to save money.
Yet, in the last months we have provided aid to Haiti, Chile, and 
Turkey. And now Pakistan, the country that gave sanctuary to bin laden. 
Literally, BILLIONS of DOLLARS!!! Our retired seniors living on a 'fixed 
income' receive no aid, not even annual COL increases because their 
fudged numbers show the there has been no inflation for, how many now, 3 
years????) nor do our seniors get any breaks while our government and 
religious organizations pour Hundreds of Billions of $$$$$$'s and Tons 
of Food to Foreign Countries!


They call Social Security and Medicare an entitlement even though most 
of us have been paying for it all our working lives and now when its 
time for us to collect, the government is running out of money. Why did 
the government steal, I mean "borrow" from it in the first place?


We have hundreds of adoptable children who are shoved aside to make room 
for the adoption of foreign orphans.


AMERICA: a country where we have homeless without shelter, children 
going to bed hungry, elderly going without 'needed' meds, and mentally 
ill without treatment -etc,etc.


Imagine if the GOVERNMENT gave 'US' the same support they give to other 
countries.


SAD?


YEAH, OK, SO WHEN DO WE GET ANGRY ENOUGH TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT?????

I think it's time we start a revolution. Give us back our country! Now! What has happened to common sense? What has happened honesty in government? Do you really understand what Social Security was meant to be? Click here. Okay, who's up for some revolution?

Once again, I want to thank you for leaving comments. It means so very much. I also want to say, God bless you. I hope everyone has a happy and productive week and that you get all the rest you need today. I know I'm not the only one that has some stress concerning a lifestyle change. Here is something I want you to watch. I think all of life's answers are contained within this piece of literature.

A little ranting and raving is good for the soul, isn't it?


Michael

TT and the O (this, that and the other)

Hello my friends. How is everyone today? I'm having some problems with my Internet connection, so I'm doing an experiment, of sorts.  I am writing this without the convenience of an Internet connection, and will going find some free Wi-Fi, and will post by way of Live Writer. I will look at this as practice, for when I'm out there boon-docking. I am up for a little bit of experimenting today. Isn't this what you do, when you don't have a connection?


I had a bit of encouragement, yesterday. As you all may remember, I am in the process of purging out my possessions and getting my house ready to sell. My house is on the waterside, and I don't expect too much of a problem in finding a buyer. Right down the street from me, is another big, two-story house. I noticed it had a for sale sign. After a flush of worry and discouragement, I decided to be proactive and look up their listing. This particular house is a little smaller than mine, and they are asking well over $100,000 more. 

my house $365,000

the other house $475,000

Am I setting my sights too low? I don't think so. I would rather have a quick sale, rather than delayed around another 12 months, waiting for my place to sell. For obvious reasons, I feel like I am in a race. It does 
bother me, somewhat, that it seems like summer is coming to an end. It's hard to believe with all these 100° plus days. As you know, I have called Lubbock, Texas, home for the last one quarter century. I know it is been hot here, but didn't realize how hot, until I saw this video.......


http://www.koco.com/r-video/28679432/detail.html

I will do what I've always done, I will turn to the magic of music for inspiration. Did any of you seen the movie, The Harder They Come? Jimmy Cliff, a rock 'n roll Hall of Famer, made some of the most positive music I've ever heard. Try these on for size.....

                                                   

                                                    

                                                   



Isn't he absolutely amazing? I remember going to see the movie in 1973. It wasn't even in a first run theater. The Harder They Come is now a classic movie. It speaks of the struggle with class and position in life and how one man overcame his difficulties and rises above the working and criminal class. For some reason, it reminds me of myself. Not the struggles with poverty and drugs, but the struggle to free myself of my conventional home and to get out of limbo and finally on the road. It all depends on my house sell. I am sure I'm preaching to the choir because many of you have gone through the same struggles. Right?


If you can read this now, my trip to the free WiFi was a success. I started at McDonald's but soon left for the local coffee shop. All is well and I'm caffeined-up. Back to the house to continue getting it cleaned out and put on the market. 



Thanks again for your interest and comments. They really do keep me going. I need inspiration sometimes. (don't we all?)


Michael

Got Snakes? or Skunks? Me Too!

Hello everyone. I hope you are blessed with a productive and uplifting Sunday. This week has been rather mundane for me. It seems like all I do is purge, reorganize, and prepare. I'll be really honest with you, this transitioning to the full-time RV lifestyle is not only a lot of work, it can become a soul-searching, spiritual exercise. One of the things that has kind of gotten to me is when I found my mom's old family Bible. Mother has been gone for 14 years, and I miss her. The soul-searching part, with the Bible, is all of the funeral flyers that mom had a habit of keeping in her Bible. Wow, I had forgotten I knew so many dead people. It was almost macabre to look at the list. I promise this isn't going to be a downer post, so have a listen to this. Here's the uplifting that I needed......

I think that is one of the most uplifting things I have seen in a long time.
Did you read my last post about guns and the Second Amendment? I have one more video on gun control, gun safety, and smartass husbands playing pranks on their wives. Although I wouldn't want to be the brunt of this joke, I laugh out loud every time I watch this video....

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I want to show you some photographs. These were taken by my friend, and it always makes me laugh out loud. She was elected by her cats (she has dozens that depend upon her) to be the "Cat Lady" of her neighborhood. She has a pet door that she leaves open to feed all her feline wards. As you can see, there is an imposter in their midst. 

 

Just a couple more chuckles and I will consider my work done for the day. I think most people are just as afraid of skunks as they are of snakes. What do you think?

                                                       


In closing, I will show you some snake pictures. I took the following pictures and I think they are about as creepy as anyone could imagine. These were taken in the public restroom of the water district I worked for........

I will continue working on my new job, this week. My whole job focus will be on getting this house ready to sell. I have my dream firmly in mind, and I will get it done. I have a secret weapon that will help me sell my house in these dire economic times. FAITH!!


Once again, thank you for stopping by. I have to admit, sometimes your comments are all that keep me going.


Michael

Come On!!! Make My Day......Really!

Did you ever just have one of those days? I'm sure you have. One of the reasons I am pursuing a full-time RV lifestyle is to try and eliminate stress. Here's how the dictionary defines stress.(here) I have several ways that I deal with the stress my life. One of my favorites is this video.....

                                                  

Sig p220 .45, .22 revolver, 14 shot .45

Do any of you have guns? I do. I only have one rifle, a .22 that I've had for about 40 years, but I like handguns. I have a Texas Concealed Handgun License, and I put my Second Amendment rights to full use. The calibers that I have are from, .22, .25, .380, 2-.38's, .357, 9mm, 2-.45's(my other favorites), and a Judge Public Defender that fires .45 long Colts and .410 shotgun shells. That's quite an arsenal, isn't it? 


To be quite honest, I have never drawn my gun on anyone.(and I hope I never have to). You have to remember that I was born and raised in Texas. I am not a violent person, but I will defend myself and the ones I love. When I get overly stressed out, I like to go to the gun range and 'bust some caps'. If you have no idea what those caliber numbers mean, watch this...
                                                                                                                                              

                                                     

                                                     

                                                    
          

My favorite
NAA .22 mag

Here is my favorite personal protection weapon. As a holder of a Texas CHL, we have reciprocity with 32 other states. What that means is, my license, for me to carry a concealed handgun, is legal in these other states. (here). I know some of you are afraid of handguns. The only handguns I'm afraid of are the ones in the hands of perpetrators and criminals. I have been asked by some of my friends, "You are a Christian. Would you shoot someone?" I had to head to the Internet and find out how God and Jesus stood on this matter. Here's what I came up with.... 
                                  biblical self defense

As they said back in the Big One, "Praise the Lord and pass the  ammunition"......  

                                                                 


I certainly hope I haven't offended any of my readers. I will tell you I've been a member of the NRA since I was 10 years old. I don't believe in going out looking for trouble, but I do believe in being prepared if trouble comes your way. When we go on our Harley rides, most of my friends, almost without exception, have their CHL's and we are certainly well armed. I really enjoy it when our buddy Jake goes with us. He is a federal agent with the ATF. And just so you know, in my last 'real' job, part of my duties were being in charge of our police department. But I'm going be honest with you, I am so glad that I retired.

Once again, thank you so much for stopping by. It means the world, to me. See you next time my friends.


Michael

Progress is Being Made....Finally!

Today has been busy, traumatic, semi-satisfying, and having a happy ending type day. I did the right thing this morning, got up early and got with it. Today was moving day. I went to the corner where you can usually find some workers. I did the same thing yesterday, but it was a little later in the day and no one was there. What? Have they all gone to work? I was determined for that not to happen again. I drove downtown, and to my amazement, no workers. I finally asked a lady that was coming out of the building on the corner, and was told that management had run them all off. "Where did they go?" I asked her. "I don't know and I don't care." was her reply. I was determined to get something done with all the furniture that needs to be moved. Down the street, on the edge of the City Park, I saw a large gathering of men. Maybe that's them, I thought. When I pulled up, I was rushed by 30 guys. "Backup fellows, don't crowd me" I said. "I only need two strong men." After looking them all over, I picked two of them and took them in the car with me. We drove about 25 min. to my house, at the lake. I explained to them what I wanted them to do. For the next two hours, all of us sweated and worked.

!st of seven couches
Why the heck did I have
so many?

After the first load, we set by my fireplace and took a break. That was when I had my traumatic experience. Somehow or another, Toby jumped off the fireplace and hurt himself. He started screaming. I picked him up and tried to examine him, and he went into a little seizure. If you knew me, you would know I am very much concerned about the welfare of my dogs. I told my two big boys, come on-you're going with me. My vet is located about 20 min. from here. We made it in 10. About halfway there, I could tell he was improving. Of course, I had him snuggled against my chest and was holding him, between my arm and my chest. I had him immobilized. We got to the vet and were seen, immediately. The vet decided he had sprained his back. He got a shot for pain and a Provo and distemper shot. I will take him in the morning and get him another pain shot.(steroids). What a relief that he wasn't hurt any worse. We got back to the house and started loading the trailer again. After five hours, I took the guys back to town and paid them. I still have some more to do, but I know where the workers hang out now, and I'm well over 70% done with the moving. It won't be long and my house will be on the market. YES!!!!

Toby looks better and
the den is empty!

Yep, all better.

It was another scorcher here today, 105°. That's all right. I got my work done and now I'm sitting in what is left of my living room, having iced tea and thinking about how long it will be until I make My Great Escape. My hope is that wherever you are, it is somewhere that you want to be, and you are enjoying yourself. Oh, anyone need some great used furniture? I can describe it to you....it's HEAVY!


Michael

This is great! Listen to all of it!

Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page

Ode to the Great Escape!

Hello my friends! Too bad I don't have a picture of a great big corncob, because this post is kind of corny. I wrote a poem about my transitioning to the full-time RV lifestyle. 

ode to escaping

i will slip the mighty bonds of conventional thoughts and actions

sail to adventure, recapture enthusiasm

find new love, pursue dreams

break the chains of broken schemes

set my course, remove restraints

ponder truth in family bonds

 

Don't say I didn't warn you, corn is alive and well, over here. Today, I started doing something that I knew would herald the end of living in this house. Look at the following picture, and tell me what you see.

 

The ol' Water-bed

 

If you look carefully, you will notice the drain hose.That's right, I'm draining the water bed. I had it on craigslist and did not get one single phone call. It looks like Good Will is in the future for my old pal, the waterbed. My dear Sweet Mary suggested that I have it bronzed. Funny.

Here's another working picture. Yesterday, I borrowed a trailer to start moving furniture to the storage unit. I'm not real crazy about moving everything to a storage unit but, you have to do what you have to do. Right?

I really need some inspiration,

Good ol' Texas boy

Steve Miller

fits the bill.....

                                   

What keeps me going! 

Isaiah 40:31

³¹but they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.

What I will do when my house sells!

I really want to thank everyone of you for your kind comments. They keep me going, too. Please have a wonderful day and realized that you are loved!


Michael

People Are Awesome….

It has been a burden on my mind to pen a purposefully positive post. Alliterations aside, isn't it great to be alive? Besides the fact that we are surrounded with negativity every day, I present to you my essay on positive thinking, positive actions, and offer you some video proof. Let's start with this one......

What a diverse planet we have!

The video that we just watched, literally amazes me. It puts me in mind of some of my early Sunday school teachings...


Psalm 139:14
The Message

13-16 Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
      you formed me in my mother's womb.
   I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking!
      Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
      I worship in adoration—what a creation!
   You know me inside and out,
      you know every bone in my body;
   You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
      how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
   Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
      all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
   The days of my life all prepared
      before I'd even lived one day.


I don't know what your beliefs are, and it really makes no difference to me. Let me assure you, I have enough of a challenge just figuring out my own life, I'm certainly not going to interfere with you or your beliefs. I feel like that is very personal, between each individual and their Creator. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I am a pluralist. I do not believe that you're bound to Hell, just because you don't believe the way I do. Now that that's out of the way, I want you to watch these individualists do some amazing feats...

I love this one.

Once again, all I can say is, "how on earth did they do that?". I hope I didn't alienate any of you because of my beliefs. I will say in all sincerity that I do believe in God, and I do believe in Jesus. The point I'm trying to get across is that it's a great big diverse world. I don't believe it's any of my business what the people on the other side of the earth worship.(or here on this side, for that matter). I believe each individual is responsible for his/her own thoughts and how they approach God. ( I would have done poorly in the Holy Crusades). While I'm on the subject, some of my 'far-out beliefs' (my mother's opinion) have come from many diverse sources. I will tell you now, I believe our life consists of books we have read, movies we have seen (including television), and experiences we have had. If it weren't for the books I have read, and the movies I have seen, and my travel experiences, I would be a very different person. Here is one book that I really enjoyed and would encourage the open-minded to read it.                                                 
                                    
"Come out of the shadows, Christine. You've spent far too much time hiding in shadows." The man who spoke to her was gorgeous – long sable hair, faded T-shirt, black motorcycle jacket – all astride a 1340cc Harley-Davidson, mysteriously parked on a moonlit beach near her home. Christine was inexplicably drawn to this stranger – who seemed to know everything about her – and as a sweet serenity settled over her, she surrendered to his words. "We have a lot of work to do, but it won't feel like work. It will feel quite wonderful."
So begins Christine's journey, a voyage of the spirit that frees her to appreciate each precious moment of life – and reveals to her six wondrous precepts that lead to the deepest peace and fulfillment we can ever know. For every woman whose heart has ever been broken, but who believes in her soul that real happiness can be found, God on a Harley has arrived. Need a lift?


That was a book review and I personally recommend this to anyone that wants to expand their spiritual horizons.




In my own guesstimation, I think there are 4 million full-time RV'ers. If you search on the Internet for an answer, I don't think anybody really knows. In my research last night, one person said "I am not homeless, I'm houseless". What a great and insightful answer. Would you care to take a guess? Here's one video I found as I was researching.............

He said 1,000,000 in 1937…hmmm.

Love the film and the message

I love the old trailers…see!

Today, I am endeavoring to continue on marching towards my dreams. I have started to feel like I'm living in a nightmare, instead of the dream. Now, instead of how the world sees reality, (I won't believe it until I see it) I am going to step out in faith and let the following statement be my new mantra.


Now that I believe it, I’m going to see it!


My dear sweet Mary tells me, if you can hold in your mind, you can hold it in your hand. I sincerely believe that. And no, I'm not an existentialist.(well, maybe a little) I have two videos on the subject of dreams. One is by a band of friends (Arc Angels) and the other one is by a West Texas legend. I never got to meet him, but I did meet his widow.

My friends....too good!!

Roy's widow told me that whenever good rock music is played,
     Roy is there. Cool, huh?

It's a beautiful day and I have wasted enough time watching the Casey Anthony trial results. I think I did write a positive post and I hope you think so, too. And one more thing, I hope God blesses you up abundantly today.


Michael

10 on the 4th.

1. Congress can't make any law about your religion, or stop you from practicing your religion, or keep you from saying whatever you want, or publishing whatever you want (like in a newspaper or a book). And Congress can't stop you from meeting peacefully for a demonstration to ask the government to change something.
2. Congress can't stop people from having and carrying weapons, because we need to be able to defend ourselves.
   
3. You don't have to let soldiers live in your house, except if there is a war, and even then only if Congress has passed a law about it.
   
4. Nobody can search your body, or your house, or your papers and things, unless they can prove to a judge that they have a good reason to think you have committed a crime.
   
5. You can't be tried for any serious crime without a Grand Jury meeting first to decide whether there's enough evidence for a trial. And if the jury decides you are innocent, the government can't try again with another jury. You don't have to say anything at your trial. You can't be killed, or put in jail, or fined, unless you were convicted of a crime by a jury. And the government can't take your house or your farm or anything that is yours, unless the government pays for it.
   
6. If you're arrested, you have a right to have your trial pretty soon, and the government can't keep you in jail without trying you. The trial has to be public, so everyone knows what is happening. The case has to be decided by a jury of ordinary people from your area. You have the right to know what you are accused of, to see and hear the people who are witnesses against you, to have the government help you get witnesses on your side, and you have the right to a lawyer to help you.
   
7. You also have the right to a jury when it is a civil case (a law case between two people rather than between you and the government).
   
8. The government can't make you pay more than is reasonable in bail or in fines, and the government can't order you to have cruel or unusual punishments (like torture) even if you are convicted of a crime.
   
9. Just because these rights are listed in the Constitution doesn't mean that you don't have other rights too.
   
10. Anything that the Constitution doesn't say that Congress can do should be left up to the states, or to the people.

Just in case you had forgotten. This is the kid’s version from Kidipede.net. I have strong feelings about several of those rights. Here is my take on #2….

I got a little carried away with the Kid Rock, but it's not all about rights, and survival. You have to have love. I thought the message was good, and in a whole lot of ways,  that's what modern love has evolved into. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. Perhaps it's better to enter into those type of situations with the blush of innocence bashed away.

Tomorrow starts another work week, around here. It will be time for me to try and get the ball rolling, again. I hope you had a happy and safe holiday and all is well. Thank you for taking the time to stop by here. I sincerely appreciate it. Happy Independence Day!

Michael

ps... If you're not offended by swear words, here's one more. It's pretty rank in some parts, so be careful now…

                            Kid Rock....Amen.

Mr. S. O. Teric is in the House!

Yep, he’s here, and so is his cousin, E. Klectic. What have they been doing?  Tripping out on YouTube. It started when I was looking at patriotic music to celebrate the impending weekend. I did relive lots of 4th of July memories. I don’t know why, but the 4th has a lot of memories for me. My only brother was born on the 2nd of July, back in 1964. I was in 7th grade and really liked the idea of a brother.(I still do!) The next event was buying my home, 24 years ago, today. Time really does fly, doesn’t it? After a lot of 4oj music, I was just fascinated by this…..

this one just led to this next work of art!

What a voice

Naughty LeAnn…

She’s a cute li’l home-wrecker!

As I ruminate  the many 4th celebrations, I think of those no longer with us. Waylon was my friend for many years and opened doors to experiences that I will never forget. This is one of his best…

My hero and friend..Big Hoss. His mother called him “Waylee”

Time has a way of softening the blow of harsh reality, doesn’t it? Thank goodness for that.  In my remembrances is the wedding of 1995.(on July 4th).  And yes, I was one of the participants. What was to last a lifetime ended in only three months. I have decided that there are two kinds of romantic love. There is the lasting kind and there is the hurting kind. I seem to gravitate to the second kind of love. We had a really cool wedding, though. Here is one of the songs the band played….

Now, just a heart-breaker song from the past

In my 1/4 century of living here, the district has always sponsored a fireworks show. If you live in Texas, no fireworks this year. I found a friend’s video that sums up my feelings on the draught situation, the water district, and most of my residual feelings from my 90 day wedding. Caution: contains liberal use of the S-word!

really a song directed to Nashville music scene!!

I hope your sense of humor kicked in for the last offering. Do you know Ray Wiley Hubbard? click. He is considered one of the elder statesman of the Texas music scene. I will include one more group of famous Texans. I really like this song. It kind of reminds me of fireworks…

So cool from the Coolest!! (Billy has been to my house.)

I have many more 4th of July memories that I will spare you from, today. I do sense a new wind blowing this fourth of July. I feel a mighty change in the air. My dream is actually unfolding, right before my very eyes. I am letting go. Yes, I'm letting go of the past, so that my hands will be free to grab a hold of my future. And like The Book says, no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him. I really do believe that. I know and believe that the pain and struggles I am feeling, are nothing more than just birth pangs. It won't be long now before my dream bursts forth into my life of RV freedom. Am I up to the challenge? You better believe it, because I do.

Another time, another universe…another life…for those who REALLY love!!!! (manic)

Did you figure out my two guests that mentioned at the first of this post? How about..... Esoteric and Eclectic. Thank you so much for taking the time to read what I sometimes call dribbling drool. I hope your holiday is blessed with good friends, good music, good food, and a whole boat load of good vibes. Thank you, my friends!


Michael