Liberal vs Conservative Philosophy

A young woman was about to finish her first year of college.  Like so many 

others her age, she considered herself to be very liberal, and among other 

liberal ideals, was very much in favor of higher taxes to support more 

government programs, in other words redistribution of wealth.

She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch conservative, a 

feeling she openly expressed.  Based on the lectures that she had participated 

in, and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for 

years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.

One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the 

rich and the need for more government programs.

The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth 

and she indicated so to her father.  He responded by asking how she was doing in 

school.

Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him 

know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very 

difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go 

out and party like other people she knew.  She didn't even have time for a 

boyfriend, and didn't really have many college friends because she spent all her 

time studying.

Her father listened and then asked, "How is your friend Audrey doing?" 

She replied, "Audrey is barely getting by.  All she takes are easy classes, she 

never studies and she barely has a 2.0 GPA.  She is so popular on campus; 

college for her is a blast.  She's always invited to all the parties and lots of 

times she doesn't even show up for classes because she's too hung over."

Her wise father asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's office and 

ask him to deduct 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 

2.0.  That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair 

and equal distribution of GPA." 

The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired back, 

"That's a crazy idea, how would that be fair!  I've worked really hard for my 

grades!  I've invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work!  Audrey has done 

next to nothing toward her degree.  She played whileI worked my tail off!"

The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, "Welcome to the conservative 

side of the fence."

If anyone has a better explanation of the difference between 

conservative and liberal or progressive or neocon I'm all ears.

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

If you ever wondered what side of the fence you sit on, this is a great test!

If a conservative doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one.

If a liberal doesn't like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.

If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat.

If a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone.

If a conservative is homosexual, he quietly leads his life.

If a liberal is homosexual, he demands legislated respect.

If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his 

situation.

A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.

If a conservative doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels.

Liberals demand that those they don't like be shut down.

If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church.

A liberal non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced.  (Unless 

it's a foreign religion, of course!)

If a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, 

or may choose a job that provides it.

A liberal demands that the rest of us pay for his.

If a conservative reads this, he'll forward it so his friends can have a good 

laugh.

A liberal will delete it because he's "offended."

Addiction

I can stop when I want
We're all addicted to something.  Whether it is something as simple as biting our nails or as serious as drugs.  The first step in any addiction, as they say, is admitting you have a problem. The next step is really about your desire to change.  If you have no true desire to change, you never will.

Wow
Take me for example.  I play video games.  It's my "hobby" so to speak.  I don't go to bars, or play poker, or anything of that nature.  My idea of a good time is putting on my headset, sitting down at my desk with plenty of snacks and drinks for some uninterrupted play time.  It's my release from my worries.  When I have one of those days where I say, I am going to kill somebody, I can actually go home and do that.  Fortunately they can resurrect their character and move on.  I've found it to be a great help, when done within reason.  I in the past had a very difficult time coming back out of that alternate reality back to my own.  I struggled with it for some time.  Once I learned how to schedule my time better I found that I actually enjoyed cutting down my play time.  I developed other interests, equally as nerdy but other interests.  Recently I've went back to my WoW account and began playing again.  It's not the draw that it once was.  Maybe it's because I lost touch with many of the people I "hung out" with all the time (shout out to StoneMullet, I miss that sexy Australian voice!).  Now it's just something to do if I really want to pass time.  Now that I'm a little older I find my time to be more valuable and not wanting to "pass" time but to actually use it to it's fullest.  I'm not there yet.  I'm still working on it.

Guess who's back, back again, X is back tell your friends

The End of Summer
The kids are in school once again, and so are our usual stresses in making sure they are doing well.
Speaking of stresses... My wife, contrary to popular belief, is my single best stress relief. (Not like that sickos!) What I mean is that she makes my life so very, easy.  We have our off days like any other couple but far more than those few our days are great.

Take it easy man!
For all the girls I've dated in my life, and there was plenty, I've always felt like I knew it wouldn't last.  I dated a girl for over 5 years and yet it took me about a year to realize that she was not the one but just the one right now.  It took me longer than it should have to get rid of that "safety blanket".  My Lorelei was the first girl that  I knew right from the beginning would be able to tame my raging, ahem, spirit.  She didn't just use her beautiful looks, or great intelligence (though slow on the uptake I must admit ^_^ ).  She one me over by allowing me to be me.  It's rare that I get "nagged" by my wife.  I'm a lucky man to just be able to say that.  I get away with a lot, because she allows me to.  It's this very reason that our relationship has flourished so.  I get asked to do something, not told.  She asks because she knows if she tells me my strong will takes over and refuses to do it.  She may have to ask multiple times, but I get it done.  It's so amazing to be able to accomplish my chores and such at my leisure rather than "NOW", like I know some women can be.  My wife is amazing for letting me be me.

Learning & Stress
Very soon Lorelei will be starting school again.  She'll be once again furthering herself, her career, and her family.  Now I need to step up and do the things that I normally am asked to do, without being asked.  I'm a fairly intelligent person, but I'm also a very forgetful person.  This doing without asking is going to take some thought into how I'm going to accomplish.  I think I'm going to use a Calendar based system.  Where I need to do specific things at specific times.  I believe that would work best.  Yes, I'm making a chore board for myself...now all I need is to figure out how to earn the gold stars...

The Boys
James...He is my spawn.  I say this lovingly!  He is me in so many ways.  If he is not constantly challenged he retreats into his own world.  The challenges he & I will face together cannot be foreseen, but I do look forward to them.  I just have to help him to break his fear of anything new & different.  When he becomes comfortable with something, it's very difficult for him to change it.  We're working on it, he still gives the best hugs! He asked me if he could bring his tooth to school for show & tell.  I thought that was such a great idea! I want to get him a hermit crab soon.  Not sure why he want's one so bad but, it's so hard to say no sometimes.

Logan...What can I say, he's two.  He still can't sleep with out his ba-ba (pacifier).  He has won the battles when we've tried to take it away.  His attention to everything everyone says and does is absolutely amazing.  He is a mimic like no other.  He does have his tantrums now and then (more now then, then).  We're working through it.  He looks up to his brother and though James may not believe it, Logan respects him in a lot of ways that are very visible.

Such great guys...now I just need my girl.  Hey, I can dream.

Case of the Mondays

[Originally written a while ago, but still applicable today]

Complaints
As of late I find myself complaining more than usual. Though I've nowhere near hit bottom, I'm not nearly where I once was either. In life I took 20 steps forwards and jump back 10. I'd say I'm living an average life (monetarily speaking here, I have an above average life family wise).

Do I smell bacon!?
For years I brought home the bacon. I was able to take what we had and increase it 3 fold. I was at a point where I was trying to talk my wife into just staying at home with the kids. We had it made. Then the hammer hit. The boss decided my position was no longer needed and poof went my glory days (remember I'm talking money here nothing else). We had a nice amount of savings built up and I used it to raise Logan and stay at home with him. That of course can only last so long. Interview after Interview were all a waste of time. No jobs were hiring for the positions I was looking for. In fact many were doing the same thing my old boss did and cutting back in preparation for what they knew was coming.

Mediocrity
So here I sit in a dead end job doing ten times more than I should for what I'm getting paid for. Stuck. Unable to move forward again and reclaim those lost steps. I need to work to an end. I need an end game...One day soon it will come.  I just hope it's the end I've always wanted.

Procrastination

I was going to write about Procrastination but I think I'll just do it later...

Solar savings

Fun in the sun
Solar Panels are becoming more efficient and less expensive every day. Living in Southern California (A desert) we have ample sun supply. There are coal, gas, hydro, nuclear, wind, and solar power plants all located within Southern California. Why then are we not cashing in on the solar side of it more in So Cal?

DOH
So I was going to write this long spiel about how I think that instead of building new power plants that have harmful emissions like this one going up in Vernon, CA. http://www.vernonworks.org/proposed-new-power-plant.html that instead SCE should buy solar panels and rent/lease them out to homeowners. Then I read this story http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-9904584-54.html . They are doing basically that, but for commercial companies only at this point.

Right track
I have to say that the government, in this case, is on the right track. If they expand this program they will easily recoup any upfront expenses within 5-10 years. With a lifespan average of 20+years on the panels it's nothing but profit after that time. I'd just like to see them bring this same program down to the residential level. I can understand why they don't. People move. Plain and simple. The contracts would be between the person and SCE. If a person moved out and the new owners moved in and decided they didn't want the panels SCE would be stuck with not generating panels. It definitely would take some logistical work and many lawyers to get it right, but it can be done. Will it though? We'll just have to see now won't we...

Soft spot for dogs

Differences
Took the boys to the park yesterday to give my lovely bride a much deserved rest. Being boys they always seem to hurt themselves one way or another. James fell trying the monkey bars for the first time and more or less just cried because he was scared when he fell. Logan, when he fell said, "Daddy, owie!" He made me kiss it then walked away as if all was right in the world. It's amazing how two sons can turn out so very differently. One, a daredevil. The other, well a scaredy cat. It's so great seeing those two evolve. They are two very distinct individuals.

Aye Chihuahua
So the kids are having a good ole' time playing on the playground when this long legged chihuahua comes walking up. She was very skinny and obviously very thirsty. Right next to the playground there is a drinking fountain. She kept jumping up at the drinking fountain trying to get a drink. So we gave her some water in a little cup and let her drink. She finished it all and so we gave her more. Poor little thing must've been running around for a while to have been that thirsty. I looked around for any signs of a possible owner. Then James called out, "Hey everyone! Did anyone lost a dog!" The other people around just shook their head and no one said anything. There wasn't many people around. The little dog had such a nice demeanor I didn't want anything to happen to her. We stayed at the park for a while longer and the dog sat up on the park bench with me while the kids played. She just sat there not bothering anyone. So when it came time to leave I decided that rather than let this dog run around and possibly get run over I'd take her to the pound.

The pound
We arrived at the pound to the sounds you would expect to hear. We walk in and I say, "I found this poor girl at the park. I hope you can help her get back home." The lady asked me where I found her and looked it up on a map. Then said that it was out of their area and I'd have to take it to the city shelter. I said,"But it's Sunday and they are closed today aren't they?" She said, "Yes." and then just looked at me.

Economics
Now let me try and lay out the picture here. I'm standing there holding a dog that's not mine at a pound and they are telling me that I can't leave it there. They said either take it home or put it back where you found it. Those were the options she gave me. What's sad is I know this lady is a good lady. I've dealt with her before when I picked up my previous dogs from this pound. The problem they have been having lately is that they have a much larger population in their pound then usual. The economic climate is forcing some people to just let their dogs go because they just can't afford them. I'd much rather a dog be euthanized humanely than have to live with diseases or lack of food or water. It becomes a quality of life issue.

Long story short (too late)
Zoey (the name Lorie finally let me call her, I believe this was her 6th name [my favorite was Olive Oil]) is sitting comfortably and well fed in our home. I'm not a huge fan of small dogs but her personality is nice. She's a good dog and I want to make sure she's taken care of. Even if it means we have to do it. Lorie's printing found posters which we'll post at the park and fax to the shelters, but if no one claims her we may just have a new member to the Conover family. Not the girl I was hoping for that's for sure!