Good food, old friends and good memories.

     Back in my insane days at Troy State University in Troy, Alabama I had several very good friends who shared some pretty amazing adventures with me.  You have heard me talk about one of them before (Wave at everyone Benjy) but another one was a madman I call TC.  We attended SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) events together and just generally hung out together.  (He is one of the few people who has seen me running around in full Tartan in freezing weather and not been driven catatonic from the sight of my extremely hairy legs.)  Like most of that circle of friends, after we graduated we drifted apart. 
     Fast forward 20+ years and the magic of Facebook and the Interwebz.  I reconnect with a dozen or so friends from that time and friendships are renewed.  (Wave folks I am talking about you.)  Now except for the aforementioned Benjy (See above), I hadn't managed to physically reconnect with any of them.  We decide to go on Vacation to our condo in Orlando (Yes I own a condo and a nice one too) and I mention it on FB.  Turn out TC lives just minutes away from the restaurant that my wife wants to visit.   So we make arrangements to meet there, eat and get to know each other.  What followed was an amazing two hours. 
     First of all, if you have not tried BD's Mongolian Grill then you really need too.  The food is fantastic, the prizes are reasonable and the service is excellent!  We ate there with me going back for a second bowl plus drinks soups and salads for about $25.00.  The people bend over backwards to be entertaining too.  It is worth the visit.
     Second, I got to spend two hours introducing my wife to an old friend.  We regaled her with stories from our college days that ranged from computer pranks to a man running up someone's door shield.  During that time, I realized that despite 20+ years, I still knew this man as well as I did back when.
     By the time we were done, I was about as happy as a guy could get.  I felt 25 all over again for at least a short time and I knew that a friendship I forged decades ago was still strong.  If that is not an excellent vacation event, then I don't know what is.  I sit here later in the evening drinking coffee from my awesome new Disney mug with a big grin on my face.  Thanks TC.

A Holiday gift a little early...

Weather Forecast

Open hearts, open doors: From Georgia to Colville

December 11, 2012

By

Sophia Aldous

sophia@statesmanexaminer.com

Ben and Jesse Baker

Hunters during deer hunting season, or any other hunting season for that matter, hardly garner more than a glance from passersby on the street or in a store or restaurant in Stevens County. It’s business as usual in one of the most verdant and popular hunting regions in the Northwest.
So not very many people may have paid much attention to a middle-aged man making his way around Colville and Loon Lake with a 16-year-old boy in tow, both dressed in warm clothing and hunting apparel.
The pair was Ben Baker and his son, Jesse, who had journeyed all the way from Ashburn, Georgia so Jesse could hunt the elusive White Tail deer.
So why come so far?
Diagnosed with Down Syndrome as an infant, Jesse had never been outside of his home state before. He has hunted his whole life with his father and wanted to try his hand at harvesting a White Tail buck.
But with costs for transportation, lodging, meals and the proper Washington State hunting licenses, it was easier to dream the hunt.
Ben and Jesse’s community held fund-raisers to help with the travel expenses when it just so happened that Colville resident Chris Van Kempen came across an article online from The Wiregrass Farmer Newspaper, where Ben is editor.
‘I would like to shoot a big deer…’
Van Kempen contacted Ben and said he would like to help raise money for Ben and Jesse’s trip. With the help of folks in Colville and neighboring communities, Van Kempen was able to raise around $1,500 for the outing. He also donated a guided hunt to the prospective guests.
“They are awesome people,” Van Kempen says of Jesse and Ben. “I think our community needs to do more of that; getting the youth and the disabled in the great outdoors so they can enjoy it.”
Ben says there are deer in Georgia, but they are miniature, don’t yield much meat and their antlers are smaller than either a White Tail or Mule deer.
“It’s fun,” Jesse says of his trip to Colville and the surrounding areas. “I would like to shoot a big deer.”
The father and son team spotted over 50 deer during their weeklong stay recently, but unfortunately, they were not able to shoot one (Washington State law requires that harvested White Tail bucks have a minimum of four-point antlers in order to harvest). The lack of a kill did nothing to diminish Jesse’s spirits though. As long as the pair was outside and not hunting, Jesse would pelt his father with snow (something they don’t see in southern Georgia, acknowledges Ben).
Besides the opportunity for some father and son bonding, complete with snowball fights, Ben says one of the best aspects of their stay in Stevens County has been the people that live here.
“Southern hospitality hasn’t got anything on you folks,” says Ben. “People have been wonderful to us (see Letter to the Editor from Ben in this week’s S-E).”
Ben adds that he and Jesse hope to come back some day and bring Jesse’s younger sister, Susan, who wants to hunt a bear.
“Jesse has really loved this,” Ben states. “Being outside, being able to take time off from school to have this once in a lifetime experience has just been great. We’re very thankful and we won’t forget it.”

     For those who do not know, let me give some background information on the subjects of the above article.  I have known Ben Baker for decades.  He is one of the few people I consider a true friend.  The kind of guy that if you call him at 2am in the morning and say, "I just shot and killed someone" that his only question would be "Do you need help hiding the body?"  I proudly call him my Brother and would literally lay down my life for him without thinking.  His wife is one of the most amazing women I have ever known and if you need a snapshot of normal, well adjusted kids look no further than his son and daughter.  Susan is incredibly intelligent and multi-talented and Jesse is an energetic, fun loving boy who wins your heart with just a smile.

     So many people (I'm proud to add myself and my wife to that list) worked so very hard to make this dream trip a reality.  People donated their time, their money and their hearts to get it all done.  People that didn't know Ben, people that had no reason to care about Jesse did so much that it makes even a Cynic like me hopeful for the human race.  

     I had the distinct honor of picking Ben and Jesse up at the airport on their return and words cannot describe the look of boundless joy and love on Jesse's face.  (Keep in mind that words are how I make my living so that is saying something.)  Nor do I have the words to describe the look on Ben's face where exhaustion, pride and joy beamed out from his usual dour countenance. The truly exultant and mellow feelings filling my little car on the trip back was much more payment that my tiny little contribution deserved.

     So I offer this article and the story behind it as a sort of early Christmas present to all of you who sit and wonder if there are good people left in the world and kind deeds still done.  The answer is Yes.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanzaa, Festive Yule and Happy Holidays to all of you!

Just in case I don't see you before.

Hack...cough...wheeze!

Anybody got a tissue?

      So here I sit just weeks before Christmas with a nasty cold.  My head hurts, my chest hurts and I can't breath very well.  This is not that uncommon an occurrence for me over the past few years.  Contracting Diabetes pretty much shot my immune system to hell.  Now I am not "always sick" like my wonderful wife likes to claim, but I do get sick a lot more often then I did when I was younger.  Much like I usually do when I am sick and miserable, I am pondering the world around me especially since the is the "Gimmee gimmee Season."

     Now before anyone starts to grumble about me kvetching about greedy people forgetting what the season is supposed to be about, don't panic.  I already did that blog on my Sometimes Its Okay To Be An Ass blog site.  If you want to hear the griping, go over there.

     Ponder this holiday season for a minute.  In the span of one month, you have three holidays.  One is very old, Hanukkah.  One is middling old, Christmas.  One is fairly new, Kwanzaa.  (Yes I know, the traditions of Kwanzaa can be dated back a very long time, but the actual Holiday was first created in 1966 which makes it younger than me by 3 years.)  All three of them have radical different origins, but really all three of them are basically about the same thing.  They all celebrate life, faith and renewal.  (Also presents, don't forget the presents!)

     People love to focus on all the things that make us different.  They cry that people will never really get along because we have no middle ground.  Pundits and Critics say that (Insert Religious/Racial Group here) will never be accepted because they aren't like everyone else.  Everyone seems to focus on differences and completely ignore the ways we are alike.

     This season, we have three excellent examples of just how alike we are staring us right in the face.  Three oftentimes radically different cultures all celebrating life, the universe and everything during the same time.  If we can all party at the same time once every year, isn't it just possible that we could manage it the other 11 months of the year?  

         

Happy Chrisnazaaakah Everyone

Riches beyond the dreams of Avarice

Quick back story to frame this properly in your minds.  Most of you know I am a Diabetic.  Thanks to Insulin, Meds, loads of exercise and the grace of God, my condition is basically under control.  Much like anything else, I have good days and bad days and HOLY CRAP days.  Friday was essentially one of the last kind of days.  It was probably one of the most stressful and scary days in my life (Minus the time I was dragged behind my Granddaddy's truck for 3/4s of a mile when I was six.  Long story and if you guys are really interested, I will tell it in a future post.)

I was scheduled to run out of insulin Friday, but wasn't worried because the payment on our card that we use for expenses was supposed to go through Friday morning which would have given me plenty of time to get the new Insulin Pens by dose time Friday night.  Keep in mind the payment has always gone through on Fridays since we started paying it.  This time the payment did not go through till Saturday morning.  This left me without a dose of 60 units Thursday.  By 7ish that night, my blood sugar was spiking at 400+ (Healthy average is between 80-120), I was suffering from horrendous leg cramps, was jittery as hell and was crankier than you could possibly imagine.

Now needless to say (Since I am sitting here typing this) I am still alive.  My blood sugar is back down to the levels it is supposed to be and I feel fine.  I did wake up with all the symptoms of a hangover and withdrawal this morning since my body has not contained that much sugar in three years, but I feel 100% now  A very scary moment in a long life of scary moments (Boy could I tell you stories!) is over and every thing is Hoopla!

Which brings me to the actual point of this blog.  I posted a little funny post on FB about what happened not even really thinking about it.  Tonight, when I logged into FB I found responses from SIX different friends on FB telling me that I should never run out of Insulin and that if I needed them to they would loan/front/out right give me the money I needed to get doses.  Now three of the offers came from long time friends (College/Professional Colleagues) who I have known for a HUGE chunk of my life.  Those surprised me (Shouldn't have, but they did).  The other three were literally FB friends that I had never met, never spoke to or interacted with in anyway besides FB.  (For the record, they play Farmville so who says games are bad?)

It is a very wealthy man who has such friends.  To say I was touched would be the understatement of both the past and present Millennium. I may never be rich in money or possessions, but today proves beyond a shadow a doubt that I am wealthy in every that counts.  I won't risk embarrassing these friends by putting their names here, but I will say Thank You.

If you don't vote, don't complain (2012 Edition)

As I have said in the past, the very first piece I was ever paid for was a tiny little article in the old GRIT paper entitled "If you don't vote, don't complain."  It was inspired after listening to my Daddy and my Uncle Thomas talk about the current local election.  Neither man liked either candidate, but Daddy said, "If you don't vote for somebody, then you don't got the right to complain about the mess."  I took that message to heart even though it'd be 3 more years before I could vote.  I wrote the piece, earned myself a whopping $35.00 and have done my best to vote in every election since then.

Now, while battling insomnia (with insomnia winning three falls out of five), I was listening to Internet radio and happened to tune in about half way through some half wit's rant on voting.  His attitude was basically "If you don't vote for my candidate, you are the spawn of Satan" and "Even if you don't like my guy, the other guy is much worse so you should vote for my guy because not voting is a vote for the other guy."

This is an argument I have heard time and again.  How not voting or voting "None of the Above" or "Independent/Libertarian" is a waste or a vote for "Insert Unliked Politician here."  I guess, in a purely technical sense, this is true.  If you believe the non-R/D candidate has absolutely no chance of winning, but vote for them anyway then you are taking a vote away from one or the other mainstream candidate.  If you are so disgusted that you vote "None of the above," you are definitely taking away a vote.  So if this is true, why do it?  Why bother to vote at all if both main candidates suck and the others have no chance of winning?

The reason is simple.  To be heard!  The way our election system is set up, individual votes don't have a huge impact.  It is only in large numbers that votes lead to Electoral College spots which lead to election wins.  Still, especially with today's modern data gathering methods, the individual's vote/voice can be heard loud and clear.  Example:

Ruler of the Universe Election 2012

Twitt Money (Reboobican Candidate):  Eleventy Billion votes (5K Electoral Votes)

Beer-rack Go-Bama!  (Damnocrat Candidate: 2 Gazzilion Votes (20K Electoral Votes)

Paul Runs (Liarbartarian Candidate: 1,245 Votes, 3 Electoral Votes)

(PS: Not hating on anyone or any party.  You try coming up with this stuff)

Now from a purely practical POV, the people voting for Mr. Runs "wasted" their votes because it is patently obvious that the Elderly Gentleman running on the "Dinosaurs are invading" ticket had no real chance of winning the election.  However, those 1,245 people stood up and let the whole country know that neither of the main stream choices were worth a crap and that they didn't deserve to be voted for.  They used their votes to say, "WTF, we are going to let them do it to us again?"

Don't be afraid to vote for whomever you want to.  Hell vote "None of the above" if that is an option in your state and you don't like any of the candidates.  It is okay if your candidate doesn't win.  We have fought too long and too hard for the right to vote to just let it sit on a shelf gathering dust.  Take this gift to the polls and let your voice be heard.

"If we continue to vote for the lesser of two evils, then all we will get is more evil."

End of Rant

Taking care of Mama Earth

First, some basic facts about my home.  We have two large composters in the back yard where organic materials go.  I have two worm composting buckets in my mud room where kitchen scraps, paper shreds, coffee grounds and such go.  I recycle plastic, paper and aluminum even going so far as to pick up cans and bottles when I see them laying beside the road.  Instead of piling up branches, logs etc to be carted off by the trash peeples, I make compost piles.  So little actual trash goes into my trash can that I can easily avoid putting off taking it to the curb for weeks at a time and even then it is very rarely full.  Hell, about the only thing I don't recycle is glass and that is only because there is no place nearby that takes it.

Both sides are always screaming about global warming and climate change.  I won't go into my thoughts on that here, but here is a thought for both sides of the coin.  Suppose Global Warming is an absolute fraud.  Suppose it is really some grand plot by the Illuminati to make billions of renewable energy resources.  Suppose Al Gore is really as Goofy as he looks and sounds.  So what?  What's wrong with making a little effort to treat Mama Earth better.

For decades we have treated our oceans and rivers like giant garbage pits where we can dump all of our refuse and poisons.  We pumped toxic chemicals, mega tons of plastic and heavy metals into the ecosystem blindly thinking that we'd never have to worry about it again.  Now, we have massive patches of trash floating in our oceans, choking wild life.  We have at least two huge dead spots caused by toxic run off from factories and farms where no fish and no plants can live.  We have sea life with toxic levels of heavy metals, mercury and lead.  In short, we are turning our planet into one giant trash heap.

Environmentalists are always yelling that our industries need to clean up their acts and they are right.  It is high time our factories and such stopped pumping poisons into our air and water, but the factories and such aren't the only ones who need to change.  The average person on the street produces four fifths of a ton of garbage a year (Yeah maybe that doesn't sound like a lot but then multiply that by the millions of people doing it.  Billions if you take that number global.)  Of that, roughly 67% is recyclable in some way.  Paper, plastic and aluminum can be recycled (Paper can also be composted like I do).  Non-meat based kitchen waste (Veggies, fruit etc) can be composted in either compost bins (Outside) or worm composters (Inside and highly efficient).  Heck even cat litter can be composted if done safely and properly.

Now I am not saying that if everyone starts recycling and composting, we will safe the world, but if everyone makes an effort we can make it a better place.  Mama Earth shelters us, feeds us and keeps us alive.  Maybe it is time we started giving back.

End of Rant

Buggy Whips Part Duex

http://news.yahoo.com/war-coal-label-obscures-battlefield-realities-142035132--finance.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfL7STmWZ1c

(Let me preface this article with this statement.  This is not my usual rant about cleaner energy and renewable energy resources.  I am not making a comment on how this or that politician is or is not ruining some industry or saving the environment.  This is simply a talk about the future.)

So I was reading my usual dozen or so news feeds this morning like I do every morning and I read this article (First link) about how a propaganda war was being fought in Coal Country.  Now I make no claims to the truthfulness of the article or whether or not our CIC is actually warring on the carbonized remains of plants and dinosaurs.  I make no claims on whether or not Big Coal is the Great Satan that Environmentalists make it out to be.  (Though I do point out that any industry that involves blowing the tops off mountains and burying valleys and streams under the debris might be a tad harmful but that is just my humble opinion.)

The thoughts that the first article inspired reminded me of the second link which I have mentioned before.  Coal is a dying industry.  No one wants to admit it, but even if the EPA repeals all of its rules and regulations governing mining and burning Coal is on its last legs. 

Various estimates place the total amount of usable coal at between 150 and 350 years.  Now that is total coal available in the US and includes the easy to get to stuff (Which is getting scarcer and scarcer) and the really hard to get to stuff (Which is becoming the norm).  It also covers the "Good" coal which is fairly clean to burn and produces energy efficiently and the "Poor" coal which can still be burned, but doesn't work so good.  It doesn't include the (currently) unusable types of coal which burn to poorly to be any good.

Most people would look at 150 to 350 years and think "Ah, that's plenty of time.  Why worry?" and as far as energy usage, they'd be essentially right.  A century and a half is plenty of time to develop newer and better ways to generate energy, but this rant isn't about energy generation.  It's about people.  Unless we start working on solutions now, Big Coal is going to turn into the next Gold Bust.

The US is filled with towns ranging from small little burgs to fairly large cities that sprang up when (Insert name of valuable commodity here) was discovered.  At their peak they had businesses and homes where people prospered and lived their lives.  Then when the substance was gone, business moved on and the towns died.  Sure, they struggled along for a while but eventually people accepted the inevitable and changed.

That is what is happening today with Big Coal towns and cities.  As the easy to get coal veins are exhausted, the mines slow operations or close entirely.  Despite attempts to vilify them, most coal companies attempt to move most of their employees to other mines, but this does little to help the towns that depended on the mine's operations for prosperity.   This is happening more and more as time passes and it has little to do with the Government or the EPA unless Obama is secretly stealing all of the coal veins while no one is looking.

What no one likes to admit is that Coal (Along with Oil, Natural Gas etc) are FINITE resources.  They won't last forever no matter how much we want them to.  One day, maybe centuries in the future or maybe not, they will run out.  (Well at least for the time being.  Eventually in a few million or so years, Mama Earth will make more but I doubt it will do us much good.)  All of the mines, power plants etc that revolve around these resources will slowly dry up.  (This is where Devito's speech on Buggy Whips really comes into play.  I bet the last remaining Power Plants/Mines/Wells will be the absolute bestest ever, but they will still be the LAST.)

If we just sit back and watch this happen, America will be filled with "Gold Bust" towns.  Sure, we will eventually build new towns with new industries, but it will take time and money.  However, if we start working on the problem now with building new infrastructures and working on new industries then we might just be able to stop the ghost towns from forming or at least ease the problems somewhat.  Instead of waiting and reacting, let's act first.

Like I said in the beginning, this rant isn't about clean energy vs coal/gas etc.  It is not about saving the environment vs jobs.  I fully grasp (at least for the foreseeable future) that coal/gas/oil will have to play a major part in our lives.  It is unavoidable no matter what Environmentalists want.  I just think, just this one time, wouldn't it be wonderful if we started planning for the future before we are forced to?  We tend to act after the disaster never before even when we can see it coming.  Well, we can see this one coming and it is unavoidable.  Do we react to it while we have time or wait until it runs us over?

 END OF RANT