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You know I was up late last night (Friday) blogging, so when Captain, the kid's big dog announced it was time to go out at 6:51, I was not amused. I took all the dogs out, in three shifts and attempted to get more rest. By 7:20, Devin heard Ellay, the kid's puppy, whining and generously offered to take the dogs down and feed them. Life is good.
Three minutes later I heard Devin yelling one of our dog's name and I knew her resentment towards me would escalate as each moment of my semi-slumber continued. As part of my retirement resentment avoidance program, I awoke to herd the hounds with my lovely wife.
Things were going really nice and we were actually enjoying a few minutes of Fox News. (Enjoying might have been an exaggeration. What's up with the penile catheter commercials on Fox?) Then Devin took the kids' dogs for a walk and then played Frisbee (That word is in every dog's vocabulary. When ever we say the Frisbee, our dog Jacee gets a look in her eye that makes you think of a canine serial killer.)
Then Devin got a call that one of her horses came up lame this morning. So off she goes to meet with the vet and I get to herd the hounds for myself. I thought about asking Jack for help, but his owner's manual said something about not waking him on the weekends before 9:30 am between the ages of 13 and 17. I even believe there is a Federal Law being considered that makes it a felony to wake children between the ages of 13 and 17. After all the government must control all parts of our life ya know.
So with a few (very few) minutes of quiet, I thought I would kick off the blog.
At dinner the other night with Coach Welch, he suggested a book called Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand.
I have just started it (Sorry Mr. Graham, putting Intelligent Investor aside a few days to enjoy this great story about a man who is relentless in his pursuit of survival.) and so far it is a real page turner. I can recommend it strongly. BTW, Hillenbrand also wrote Seabiscuit.
So we got back the Official NFL referees. I find it amusing that the press spent so much time discussing this issue and the US public got so riled because the game they were watching on televisions was poorly officiated, yet the US public takes all the poor officiating in our government as status quo?
If the US were a football team, it would look something like this. They would have had two team meetings since January (The President has had two Cabinet Meetings this year to discuss small business since he mentioned it his State of the Union. Nothing has been done, but they did have two meetings.) The great plays announced at the beginning of the season (one million new jobs and cost of medical care to drop 2400 dollars a person to name two) are not working in fact we have lost yardage on both with a negative net of 260,000 jobs (using the ever popular U3 number as the U6 number would estimate a loss of 2.8 million jobs since the President took office and the cost of medical is up 2200 dollars a person.)
Just like in the NFL, when a team wants to get something done they make a lot of promises like no citizen taxes to pay for the park, lower ticket prices, affordable parking and logistics, and when the approvals are done, none of it ever comes to fruition. (Artie Moreno of the Angels did keep the fireworks and lowered beer prices.) When "Team Change" was running for office we were promised to televise meetings about health care legislation, that has not happened. He made a "Sunlight Before Signing" pledge promising to wait five days between legislative passage and placing his seal on the law. The 2,400 page Health Care Bill was put before The Senate, signed in 36 hours and the Presidential seal was placed the following day. (They did have to print 5 reams of paper.) He also promised to shed light on how much government contractors had spent on lobbying before government contract are signed.
Now if you were in a football game and you saw the Quarterback sneak off the field for a few minutes every play and screw up each play, fans would be questioning what the heck is going on. So when the Washington Post (Not a bastion of conservative values) questioned Jay Carney about many high level meetings of government officials and influencers at a coffee shop blocks away from 1600, accusing the White House of holding the meetings there so the participants did not become part of the official White House Visitors Log, the forgiving national media never followed up.
BTW the White House Access records goes back a long time (I can't even find the origin's.). In 2009 the Obama administration made public these records with a waiting period of 90-120 after the visits with the proper wisdom that these people are probably addressing issues that are not meant to be made public.
Almost immediately, it became clear that of the 2.3 million visitors a year at the White House that the larger donors and lobbyist has the most frequent and easier access to top officials. The bold attempt at transparency by President Obama bit him back a while, and has created the situation where these meetings are now being held offsite.
Yet we do not have the press screaming and replaying the bad calls and we don't have viewers boycotting, we just keep watching the game as each team ignores the rules, make bad plays, and ignore screams from the fans.
Someone recently asked why I don't do more political statements, and before you tell me I was out of line, my criticism here is not about President Obama (Though I am not a fan and will not be voting for him.) It is critical of the press and our fellow Americans who get so busy with life they can't or won't make the time to find the facts and as a result its easier to listen to Madonna say "You better F#(&^$^&* vote for Obama." Or to listen to the left leaning national media or the ever growing conservative craziness from Fox News.
I don't do that much political statement because I always manage to annoy 50% of my audience regardless of what angel I take. I just had to observe our contempt for poor football officiating and wonder why we don't care as much about what goes on in Washington or Sacremento.
Saturday night, we had a special treat, as Dennis and Jerene and Mike and Patti treated us to a night at an old favorite place. We went to Antenello's restaurant, a hang out of my Dad and the gang at PADI for years. Devin and I got a warm embrace from most of the staff that has been there a while. I spotted Antonio, the patrone, and after a couple of glances he recognized us and I got a bear hug from the big guy.
It was a special moment and we thank our hosts for a nice night. I enjoyed a simple dish of Chicken Parmesan with pasta. I brought to dinner a special boittle of wine for the event. It was a 2005 Gaja Barbaresco.
I had opened it at 3:00 PM to give it a few hours to blow off some tannins. It was a little lighter in color than I was expecting. On the nose, you got some spice and florals. You also can pick up some of the oaky smell as well. It was fruity in the mouth and a bit minerally, like graphite and dirt, in a good way. It was not a thick and chewy wine, but was very good. I'd give it a 90-91 if I were rating it.
Green Green My Machine Is Green
Bissel makes a great device, The Green Machine. It is a portable steamer vac for around the house incidents. Today, my dog Max woke me by coming up behind me and making yacking sounds. It was about 7:10 so it must be time to wake up.
He stopped making sounds then did a canine version of Linda Blair and puked all over the floor as I put my foot down. Yes, I got barfy toe syndrome. I was a wake and it was time to herd the animals. After herding the animals, I got out the green machine and cleaned the carpet.
After a cup of tea, it was time to head upstairs and get my weekend reading done. There I saw 5 loads of cat barf. I got out the Green Machine again and went to it. Then I cleaned the Green Machine.
After I out the machine away, Devin asked me why I did not pick up the two piles of cat barf just outside the office? I got the Green Machine again. I love animals.
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Since 7/26/2012
