Eighteen!

May 25, 1991

Seems like a ways back, but it's always fresh in my mind. It was an 80+ degree, 95% humidity day. The Cleveland Cavaliers were in the playoffs. My buddies and I were sneaking off to find a TV showing the Cavs playoff games. But it wasn't the temperature, the humidity or the Cavs that make that day special.

May 25, 1991. Eighteen years ago, it was the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. This year, May 25 is Memorial Day.

Lots of things have changed since then. Beer commercials show guys sneaking off during parties to find a TV showing their sports games. The Cavs are back in the playoffs on a consistent basis. And the Cleveland temperatures still reach the mid- to upper-80s with a significant dose of humidity added.

Eighteen years ago, I was in a limo with my brother and buddies, sneaking a peak on the limo TV of the Cavs playoff game. A mere hour earlier, I was sweating like crazy through my shirt, cumberbun, and jacket, being wed to my wife in a very hot and muggy church.

One thing hasn't changed. That is the love, adoration and admiration I have for my lovely bride. The Cleveland weather may change every fifteen minutes, but not Marie. She is the most consistent, stable and supportive person I know. She is simply amazing. Marie runs our household, home schools our children, knits like no one else I know, and puts up with me, 24x7. Whether it's ranting and raving about work, talking politics or bands, or just figuring out where we want our life to go, Marie is always there for me. I couldn't have asked for a better helpmeet if I had designed that person from scratch. Who says God doesn't know what He's doing?

Happy Anniversary, Marie. Thank you so much for a wonderful eighteen years. I can't wait for the next eighteen to unfold along with you, side by side. I love you!

The Repetition of Life

If I were to tell you what I did on a daily basis - oh, yeah, I have several times throughout the course of this blog - many of you would find it boring, mundane. Many times, the job is not that exciting. What you think about the job, though, doesn't matter to me. To me, it is satisfying and financially accommodating for my family. It enables me to pay the mortgage, pay bills, put food on the table, and still have time to engage in community and recreation activities as I choose. You would never see my profession made the key character in a b-grade movie, let alone a marquee production.

With those thoughts in mind, I introduce you to Animal Crossing: City Folk, available on Nintendo DS and Wii.

My brother and sister-in-law bought Animal Crossing for our kids for Christmas. It does not disappoint. If you are looking for high-energy, action-packed activities, this game is not for you. But, if you want your children to learn about our common, everyday existence - you know, the one TV doesn't show any more - this game is great.

You start by moving to a new town. In that town, you first meet the proprietor of the community store - Tom Nook. He gives you directions to follow before you can officially settle in with the game. You need to meet everyone in the town, work for him, and select the house you are going to purchase. After you work for Nook, then you are on your own. Yep, you are an employee for your first hour or so in the city, then you are a sole proprietor. Good luck!

How do you win in this game? You don't. It is not a "game". It is a simplified version of life. You earn "bells" by fishing, harvesting fruit, digging for gold, and other various ways. You have a mortgage, and can start a savings account which eventually earns you interest. And after you've paid off your first mortgage, you automatically get upgrades requiring a second mortgage. There is even the equivalent of a stock market - they call it the "Stalk" market, and you buy and sell turnips that have a fluctuating market value - but we haven't figured out how to use it yet.

You also continually run into the characters you met originally before you settled in. They often ask you to deliver packages for them, or they want to buy something you have. They have events you can attend - I attended the flea market and the fishing tournament - and you can visit the city for shopping and entertainment. You can also donate items to the city museum and recycle tin cans, boots and tires that you catch while fishing; the recycle bin is located conveniently in the Town Hall, which is also where you pay your mortgage and conduct other banking activities.

Whenever you decide to stop playing Animal Crossing, you retire to your bedroom. And the weather approximates our seasons because the game tracks current date and time. For example, there is finally no snow on the ground! Spring is here! (Okay, not really.)

You can send letters and gifts to other characters. If your Wii is internet-connected, you can even invite other friends to your town.

Marie and the kids have been playing since Christmas. I just started a couple weeks ago. Marie is on her fourth home improvement, and now has a basement. She has also planted several peach trees and is harvesting her bounty. The Artist is on her third home improvement, and the Engineer on his first, just like me.

I kept waiting for the game to get fun and exciting. You know, to have something really thrilling happen. Then I realized that the game is like life, especially for us who believe in the Lutheran definition of vocation. All four of us in the Quipper household have our preferences in home decor, how to earn bells, how much to spend and save, and how to contribute to the community itself. All along the way, you inherit the responsibility for paying down a mortgage and earning your keep. Mundane? Yes. Pertinent to your existence? Of course!

If you get annoyed with the entertainment industry constantly bombarding you with rock star type lifestyles, where you've failed if you only live a clean, safe, orderly, respectful life, and raise responsible children, then I strongly recommend Animal Crossing. It will give your children a good view of the day to day activities that we all conduct regardless of our vocation and talents.

What is the Cloward-Piven Strategy?

If you think the latest attempts at reviving the economy through the politician stimulation plan (a.k.a. the stimulus bill) and the mortgage plan make President Obama and Congress look like total doofuses, then you are looking at their activities through the wrong lens. See, you are thinking only of your own self-interest, and not of the politicians' self-interest. They know exactly what they are doing.

If you've never heard of the Cloward-Piven Strategy, it's worth reading. This is all organized chaos, and happening according to plan.

Hmm...

Looks tantalizing...doesn't it!

How to get that day off work...hmm....

Change You Can Count On Not Happening

Last week, Marie and I stopped into our local second amendment support center and picked up some new hardware. The gal assisting us happened to be the owner of the business, and spoke freely about anything and everything. (She was very helpful, too.)

She started talking about how both Bush and Obama blew it. If they really wanted to help the economy, they could have taxed guns and ammo an additional 5%, and they would be in tall cotton. I thought she had a good point there. Not that I liked it, but that it was a good point.

On the way home, Marie and I started talking about this. We came to the conclusion it would never happen. Why, you ask? That's easy: Democrats and RINO's would never, ever formally admit that the gun industry is a significant part of the consumer economy, and would never knowingly support it by depending on taxes from it. That would be like a Christian knowingly and purposely supporting the porn industry.

So, instead, Obama will increase regulations on things like foreign manufactured guns and ammo, and put wholesalers and American manufacturers in a position of not keeping up with demand. If you haven't heard yet...yes, that is the plan. That way, Obama can say he will defend the Second Amendment but still eradicate our ability to use the arms we now own.

This One Is Too Easy

How is the Democrat-led recession affecting you? Go here to let our beloved federal leaders know. Be sure to use terms that let them know. Like "Democrat-led recession".

I wonder if "transparency" means letting us see all the stories, even the ones that include phrases like "Democrat-led recession".

The anti-socialist/big brother side of me says you may want to set up a separate yahoo, google or msn e-mail address and use it. We all know that Google is already in bed with the lefties, so why push it?

The Propensity to Lie, Then to Increase the Lie

If you live in Ohio, you've no doubt seen or heard the annoying "get your Congressman to change their 'no' vote to a 'yes' vote on the Obama Plan" commercials. In the first place, anyone who has paid attention to politics for longer than, say, the last Presidential election cycle, knows that the ads lean far left.

For those of you who haven't followed politics that closely, let me explain. One of the sponsoring groups for those ads is Americans United for Change. If you go to their About page, then Wiki on their leader, Brad Woodhouse, you'll see very plainly that this is a progressive organization that is all about the "little people". I don't use that word to judge those less fortunate, but to give my take on how that group of people is viewed by libs, progressives and Democrats - but I repeat myself.

Spread the word that these ads, which are full of lies anyway and getting more fallacious by the day, are not for the benefit of the working class, but for the benefit of the Democrat leadership class.

Oh, and by the way, if you would be willing to help support a third party or two, many of these folks would change their stripes in a heartbeat. They will follow the money as long as they can, since they are all money whores anyway. (Sorry, had to use that word to make my point.)

Freedom is Dead

In his first public speech after the 9/11 attacks, President Bush said, “Freedom was attacked.” How right he was.

Now, a mere eight years and five months later, freedom is dead. Well, at least in the United States. The Partisan Democrats were joined by three Bipartisan Republicans to pass the largest socialist reform in America since, well, since, I don’t know. I haven’t done the compare/contrast to the New Deal to know for sure. I can say that thanks to the traitors in both parties, nationalized socialized health care is a certainty.

I hope none of your parents are past their working years and in need of an organ replacement.

I hope you don’t have kids just starting a practice in the medical profession.

I hope you don’t pay taxes now, because you’ll only pay more.

I hope you don’t home school, because that implied right will probably be taken away when the U.S. adopts the UN Rights of the Child contract.

We are who we elect. We let this happen to us because race, emotion, and “getting along” were more important than doing the right thing. We are lazy and selfish, and know better how to boss others around than to discipline ourselves.

Sounds just like our Congress and their puppet leader, The Jerk:

The only things left to do now are to lay waste to this concept of a consumer-based economy by spending no more than we absolutely need to, saving or investing the rest, letting the house of cards continue to fall until only the resourceful and self-sufficient remain, and teaching our kids about the “outdated” priniciples of civility, respect, responsibility and accountability.

Oh, and voting these idiots out of Congress in 2010 would go a long way to resolving this problem, too.

(This post is cross-posted at So Many Idiots, So Little Time.)

Then End of an Office

I think tonight's press conference pretty much makes it official. The President of the United States is no longer a leadership office held by people who swear to uphold their presidential oath. Nope. It is now the highest-ranking sales position in the United States.

To say the press conference was narcissistic is an understatement. A person who takes accountability for their responsibilities does not blame past employees for current problems. Or, if they did, they would at least hold the right people accountable. The Jerk blamed Republicans for the current financial fiasco (geez, wasn't it the Republicans who tried to call attention to the Fannie Mae and Freddit Mac problems?). Then he says only government can solve the current problems. Then he lends his credibility to certain non-news "news" agencies by calling on them as though their representatives are really reports. Way to turn "fairness" on its head.

So, President Bush realized that playing cheerleader wasn't the way to go. Now, The Jerk has decided that he needs to make everybody feel bad for the country's current economic situation. All so his party can pass the socialism-in-a-single-bill plan.

And some people STILL wonder why I voted third party in the last election. The Republican idiots are complicit. Oh, and have you heard about the Daschle brain-child in the bill? Don't get old, it will kill you.

Clowns to the left of me, and jokers to the right? No, not really. They are on a much more sinister plane than I could ever be on.

Birds of a Feather

Hey, for those of you who are loathe to support the big box political parties, be sure to stop in at Coup d'etat. I stumbled upon her (Rani's) blog when researching the term 'Revolution 2010' for my shirt line - you'll quickly see why when you look at the shirts. Be sure to drop her a comment, and let her know who sent you.

Blurt Shirts - Phase Two Begins

The evolution of Blurt Shirts continues. Not only have I added several new lines of shirts - more athletic, music and Lutheran shirts to come soon - and reorganized the store a bit, but I officially started my Blurt Shirts website.

This site gives opportunity to link to my store at CafePress, but it also gives me a place to post blogs that are specific to Blurt Shirts material. Some of that stuff may occasionally overlap with material from this blog and SMISLT, but we'll see how that goes. I'm sure an idiot of the week here or there will give me fodder for a new shirt design.

And for those of you who are wise in the ways of website development - not necessarily the techie component, but layout and placement - I would greatly appreciate your feedback about the site. (Yes, a couple of you in particular know I am talking about YOU!!!)

The blog feature is RSS capable if you'd like to subscribe. Also, my storefront offers the ability to subscribe to the my "Monthly Blurt" newsletter, courtesy of CafePress.

Stop by the site and the store, come back often, and buy something if you like what you see.

Thanks,
Rick

Now, back to your regularly scheduled rant...oh yeah, I think I'm a day or so behind on my Idiot of the Week post. Someone mentioned a possible candidate, but I can't find the link....