Some Thoughts on Christmas

I had a really nice Christmas. This year is wasn't about the presents or a big home made holiday meal. It was all about spending quality time with the one you love. We spent this holiday at the Boulders Resort in Carefree. The resort itself is not all that spectacular, Compared to some of the other resorts here in the Phoenix area the Boulders is actually tremendously outclassed. As a destination for snowbirds looking for a way to escape the assault of winter its more than adequate. I found the service average at best. UN-organized staff, expensive menu and the room smelled moldy. I had to settle in for the night before I relaxed enough to enjoy the holiday and the company. We chose to venture into North Scottsdale and have dinner at Maggiano's. Its a very cool place. Reservations were definitely recommended the place was packed, but the service and the food were exceptional. The parking lot happened to be filled with a veritable buffet of luxury automobiles. I was definitely in the Christmas spirit after such a good meal and I started to enjoy the evening. The people watching was fantastic.

Anyway I wake up every day thinking that today will be better than the last. Sometimes that's hard to do and many of you probably find that hard to believe because I bitch a lot. But those of you who really know me know that I'm pretty harmless unless I'm REALLY pissed off.

So be happy and enjoy the ones you are with. This is a week of new beginnings with the New Year just around the corner. A chance for all of us to start fresh full of possibilities and new goals and accomplishments. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

The American Dream Act.

Ok, I'm going back to the dark side now. I have some real problems with The Dream Act Bill. First I watched the presidents speech today and I seriously doubt that any illegal alien children are going to school with his kids. Secondly do they really want to join the military or are they just doing it to become citizens. Thirdly I have at least 3 friends that are here from other countries and they are going thru the proper leagal channels to get there citizenship. You cant tell me that some kid that has been here since it was five has no idea that his parents are illegal and he is too. I'm sorry there are plenty of kids right here in America that need to get to go to school without using up those seats for kids that arent legal.

I also watched the news last night with Diane Sawyer and saw her interview with the three stooges in charge of homeland security. I'm sorry, just how stupid do you have to be to become a cabinet appointee of Obama's. I dont want any one of those idiots in charge of feeding my cat let alone making decisions about our nations security. One sat there smugly and never answered a question and made excuses for the idiot who knew nothing about the terrorist arrests in England, and the closeted lesbian couldnt answer a question if her life depended upon it. She stuttered and stammered and never spit out a cohesive sentence once. I think it is just pure shit ass luck that some stray al qaida member hasnt managed to blow up half our damn country.

Thirdly I sell a horse EVERY NOW and THEN. I dont do it for a living and its usually an accident when I do. However. I have bought quite a few, and more than one or two thru a good friend of mine who represents horses. She always insists that when she shows one to a customer they are clipped, feet done, mane banded or braided, tail in and a show saddle on. So some of you people who are putting videos on you tube and on Face book. Please stop until your horses are all prepared and ready to sell.

The Christmas Spirit.

I know that Christmas is just right around the corner. But I'm having a little trouble getting in the spirit of things. I'm generally a pretty happy guy, however I seem to be noticing a large number of people behaving badly during this holiday season. Examples to follow. Keep in mind most of these fractions occur either while driving, or while I am spending some time in that particular hell called the grocery store.

First example: The reality show the Bachelor on ABC. I cannot believe that the network that brings us Grey's Anatomy, also brings us such a supremely unbelievably stupid show like the Bachelor. And then they actually have a repeat Bachelor. Now I though when he was on the first time he was the definitive example of the phrase"cute but stupid" . After seeing that he is going to be on again I decided to google him and maybe give him a chance. My bad, "cute but stupid" still applies.

Number two: We have some type of road construction on every road around our house. EVERYONE!!! The speed limit is 25mph. Which although painfully slow, after living here for 3 years it is completely appropriate. What pisses me off are the people who tailgate you and get their asses all up in the air because you are driving the speed limit. A couple nights ago while on my way to the grocery store I was summarily tailgated by a driver in a Suburban who actually flashed his lights at me halfway through the construction zone. When the speed limit raised back to normal and I sped up and moved over to the right lane, he honked at me and yelled ugly things out his window at me. Imagine just how proud I was to see he had a fire department license plate. Visible proof that the government is an equal opportunity employer.

Three: I have been looking for a job now for quite a while and I have come to a conclusion that does not leave me with a good feeling about employment in the private sector. Some of the Human Resource people that have conducted the interviews haven't been the sharpest knifes in the drawer. One particular HR person from a national chain that I should not name"Home Depot" when talking to me about if I thought I would be good at customer service actually asked me how to spell extrovert. That was one of the words I used to describe myself. The phone interview I had today with a local trucking company was conducted by an individual that could barely speak English. At the rate I'm going I may have to go back to training horses full time.

Four: I thought I might stroke out last night when I was trying to negotiate hells parking lot, the local Fry's grocery store, and a person in a Trailblazer SUV stopped across the pedestrian walkway to wait for a parking space to open up. Now this always pisses me off, just go and find a parking spot. So of course I muttered something ugly to her as I went around her and found an empty space. While walking to the store I notices that she had accomplished her mission and parked in the closest possible space to the door. I also noticed that she was 5'5" tall and weighed somewhere around 350#'s. Obviously she needed more exercise than she is currently getting, I can say that because I do too. The only thing needed to complete the picture would have been if she had been eating a Baby Ruth.

Five: Now a real example of my have the Christmas Spirit actually oozing out of my pores would be not strangling the small child swinging some kind of rubber material in big circles while his non child raising participating mother was unloading her groceries onto the checkout conveyor. When he stood in the middle of the aisle way and whacked people including myself she never even wondered where he was or what he was doing. I suspect his particular offending instrument was something that he carried into the store and she was secretly hoping that somebody kidnapped his obnoxious ass while she shopped.

Six: We live at the end of the street and I haven't even put up our Christmas lights. I am perfectly happy to enjoy the lights put up by neighbors.

Random observations during a lazy weekend.

Ive had some random thoughts lately that I think might be fun to share.

First of all, I am as conservative as most other Republicans, but I have decided that John McCain is a real dumbass. Thank god he didnt get elected a our president. Dont get me wrong I dont think Obama is any better, but some of McCain's actions since he has been re elected have be absolutely hideous. His only decent decision was when he declined to support the Dream Act legislation. Which brings me to my second observation.

How the hell did that bill get written anyway. Any idiot should be able to tell thats like giving cocaine to a cocaine addict. Let the illegals graduate from high school, and then allow them citizenship if they complete college or join the military. All the while exploiting our health care, and education systems. Unbelievable.

Third. If I was called to serve my country in one of the military branches I would go willingly. But as an arthritic, athsmatic, dixlexic, slightly overweight bi-focul wearing 46year old, just how effective am I going to be for anything except to absorb bombs or bullets. I personally dont care if the men and women defending our country are gay or not. Its really none of my business anyway. I am pretty sure that there isnt going to be any more grabass going on than usual in the military. I was involved in sports most of my high school and college days and I dont remember any of the gay guys openly hitting on the straight guys. John McCain leading the opposition to the repeal of dont ask dont tell is frankly an embarrassment for Arizona. I dont understand why anyone should ask if your gay or not. I dont want to know who plays with who in my neighborhood and neither should you.

Fourth. Is it me or do our pro sports teams seem to be a bunch of pansies. Where have all the good quarterbacks gone. You know the tough ones. Theisman, Staubach, Bradshaw, just to name a few. They dont run the ball, they dont like to get hit. What a bunch of pansies. If they are getting paid so much that it doesnt matter if they can put forth 100% effort then we dont need them out there. What happened to the Mark Mcguirre's and the Sammy Sosa's, Baseball was much more fun to watch when there were some real home run hitters out there. And frankly basketball is so freaking boring I dont know why anyone pays to watch that at all. Have we all gotten so complacent that we will go and watch just because the teams are playing. Good god. Ive watched some High School sports this year and thats where all the action is.

Well if youve gotten this far, your just as bored on a Sunday nite as I am and I'll try and come up with something better next time.

People will be People

A good friend of mine used to say that "people will be people" no matter what their vocation, walk of life or social status, people will be people. It is a very accurate statement and I recognize examples of it almost daily. When I trained horses, I was pretty much obsessed with it. That's pretty much all that I did. Life events showed me that I needed to be a much more rounded individual and Ive moved on to other things. I've taken a break from the horse business for a while and its time for me to get involved again, but at a very different level than before.

I had a great weekend. Most of it anyway. People will be people. I have to keep telling myself that. I raced my car this weekend on Saturday and went to a private track for testing on Sunday. Both days I managed to let someone else piss me off. You see even though I am at the track because its something I love and I want to have a good time. I forget that other people may have agenda's that are different than mine. Which really isn't a bid deal until their agenda starts to effect my having a good time. So basically I have some decisions to make. Continue on as I have and learn to ignore the inconsiderate bastards that are bothering me, or make some changes. Another good friend of mine used to tell me all the time, "life is simple, if your unhappy make a change". Well I may have to make a change. I just haven't decided yet if I am going to change to be more tolerant, or I am going to change some of my affiliations.

Either way, the world will go around, I'll still race my car and enjoy my horses and friends, and "People will be People"

Some things to ponder.

Ponder. Now there is a word. I think it just another way to describe wasting valuable time daydreaming. I however have turned pondering into an artform. Of late some of the things that I have spent time pondering over are:

The idiot who let millions of dollars worth of flawed $100.00 get printed. How can this happen, if he is a federal employee that almost explains the state the government is in at this point.

Some of the stupid questions or comments that Dr. Phil makes to his guests.

I think that all of the town hall meetings that the politicians held last year to bash Obama and each other were just a big production filmed to get votes when in fact nothing has changed. The very people we elected dont give one shit what the general public thinks or wants.

I cant believe that anyone. Liberal or Conservative truly believes in his heart that raising the estate tax to 54% is good for this country or any other. That is a fantastic example of just how screwed up things are. Just let the government spend spend spend and then take from the people. The last person that I want to get my hard earned inheritance is some drug addicted welfare recipient with six kids with six different fathers living in public housing and getting food stamps. That may be harsh but where do you think your tax dollars are being spent. Its not on making our school systems better, or making our cities and parks and streets safer. Please god lets save all the welfare programs and fire some more police officers and firemen and teachers.

Lastly. I am really pissed off that the Federal government felt the need to get involved with steroid use in professional sports. Here is my theory on that. Most of the bitching and whining was done by the losers. Who, in all probablility would be the losers if they were using steroids also. Taking steroids doesnt give you talent. You cant actually believe that extraordinary athletes were just average before they took steroids. Every one almost without exception posessed incredible talent to begin with. They were winners long before they took steroids and they should still be respected as winners. Most of those athletes are my heroes and I choose to believe that they still are. I think the federal government has enough problems on their plate that they dont need to spend any time or money on who uses steroids or not.

Life and my Heroes

Today I was once again reminded of my mortality. Don Meridith passed away. I didnt know him. He wasnt necessarily one of my heroes. I did however spend many Monday nights watching him on Monday Night Football. When someone that I watched and remember fondly from my childhood passes away, it always makes me a little sad and it reminds me that we are not really here for all that long. We need to make the most of it. I think I grew up watching some very unique and special people. John Wayne, Johnny Carson, Lucille Ball, Farah Fawcet to name a few. I used to watch the Sonny and Cher show. I recently went to see Burlesque and frankly if you dont like the music and the dancing the only taste you have is in your mouth. I watched Charlies Angels too. A really stupid show frankly, but what great fantasy and entertainment. John Forsythe, Tom Bosley, and Farah. I watched Maude too. I thought Maude reminded me of my mother, and when the Golden Girls was on I watched that too. I still think Bea Arthur was like my mother. I think Rue McClanahan was one of the funniest women on T.V. See if you remember what popular T.V. shows these actors appeared in. Pernell Roberts, Merlin Olsen, Peter Graves, and what about Paul Newman, and Dale Earnhardt. I loved to watch Designing Women and Dixie Carter. That is just a few. I certainly hope that the youth of today can look back when they get to be my age and have fond memories of the celebrities of today. I think that Ive had great sports heroes, movie and t.v. stars to grow up with and grow old watching.

Live a good life.

I have a good life. Or I try to have a good one anyway. I try to be a good guy, and you know most of the time good guys finish last. I like to think that I have many friends and I really enjoy their company when we are together. I have enjoyed the horse business most of it anyway. I enjoy the horses and the people. The politics and the hipocracy of the AQHA pisses me off, but I'm sure that I'm not alone where thats concerned. Frankly no reason to bitch about it. I dont have the power to change anything and nobody likes a whiner anyway. Foaling and breeding season is just around the corner and I'm looking forward to both. I think I'll have some great babies, and with a little luck maybe I'll get to breed some good mares this year. Especially since the mares are just as, if not more important than the studs.

The weather here is beautiful today. I'm going to work in the barn and play with my weanling filly today. Of course she will be a yearling soon and she needs some attention. She is as big as my yearling filly and just as pretty. Very quiet and seems to be good minded. I've taken a long enough break that I've started to enjoy the horses again. It helps when you have good ones.

I might get lucky enough to have time to run out to PIR and watch the SCCA vintage races. I'd like to take the time to get some really good photos. In their own way cars are just as beautiful as horses. They are very similiar. I enjoy them both immensely. I have achieved one of my lifelong goals last weekend. Kind of one of the items on my bucket list. I moved up a division with my race car into race group. Instead of just racing for time. Now I am actually racing wheel to wheel with other drivers. It was way too much fun. It rained in the morning so I was a little apprehensive as I dont like to race in the rain and the track was a little wet. I actually decided to sit out the qualifying race because of the rain and had to start last in the field because of it. Seemed like a good option because I really like my car and I didnt want to take any extra chance in wrecking it. Anyway I started 12th and finished 5th so I was pretty happy for my first time in race group. The point of this whole blog is that you owe it to yourself to find a way to do the things that make you happy. They may be expensive, or time consuming, or not the things that your loved ones want you to do, but if they make you happy you'll be a much happier and well adjusted person to live with. Life is short, sometimes its worth taking some chances. Life is not practice. What type of example do you want to set for your children and your friends. Get off the couch, try a new hobby, take that leap and find out whats out there for you to enjoy. You never know, the new group of friends that you make may just be something you need sometime. Have a great weekend and go pull that wild hair!!!

is this really christmas

I had a great weekend. It was nothing but pure self indulgence. I was at the track all weekend. I instructed Friday and Saturday, and Raced my car with mediocre sucess on Sunday. I will get better, I am a creature of habit, and somewhat of a slow learner, but I can learn. Anyway, on Monday Dave and I went to breakfast at the Liberty Market. It's a really cool place in Gilbert, has great food and pretty good atmosphere, its a laid back kind of social place. Sitting at the table next to us were a group on individuals that were planning the big Christmas service for one of the Churches in the area. You know the church I'm sure. Its a BIG one, very modern and popular with all sorts of glamour and glitz. It was a pretty large group, all men incidentally, and they were planning the big christmas production. Music, pagentry, light show, choir singing etc. The only secular thing I heard them planning at all was the fact that they had 18 baptism's to crank out at two minutes a piece. Two minutes. They were treating these very special events in a family's life as if they were infringing on their production of christmas. If christianity has gotten to this point. Count me out.

Thankful For?

Since its Thanksgiving Day I thought I might waste some time and talk about the things I'm thankful for, or should be.
First I am thankful that I have a partner that loves and respects me and is patient enough to let me find my way. I am thankful that I have the best friends in the world, new and old, horse friends, car friends, and just fun people to hang around with. I am thankful that I was born and live in America! Even though I dont like most of the elected officials that we have in office Especially Obama and Pelosi, I would expect someone like her from California, I am smart enough to realize many other countries dont even get the choice. How many other people in the world today get to enjoy college and pro sports, horses, medicinal marijuana, club car racing,Nascar, 80,000 screaming rednecks cant be wrong!!!, and being allowed to load your family up in the car and travel to visit family and friends anytime you get the urge. I am really glad that the protests that were being promoted at the airports didnt materialize. I dont fly much but I'm damn sure I dont want to be sitting next to some radical idiot with plastic explosives in his pants when he blows his ass off. All of these people protesting need to be thankful they they are allowed that right, and then they need to take the bus or the train. Greyhound and Amtrak need the business.
I am thankful that I live in a country where General Motors has survived and still produces the Corvette, despite our socialist president trying to take control and kill the car that keeps the hope and dreams of millions of kids and adults alive.
I am thankful that I have trained and shown some of the most talented horses in the world. I'm even thankful for that rotten little bastard Hannibal, who in his own little perverse way loves me just as much as I love him.
So today when you sit down with family and friends to enjoy all the benefits allowed us on this great day. Take a minute to truly appreciate what you have, and what you are allowed to have.

If you touch my junk I'll have you arrested

Oh please, at my age I'd almost consider paying someone to "touch my junk". Ive watched a few of the news reports today covering this controversy about the full body scans and the pat downs that people are going thru in airports. Ive said previously that I dont want to get on a flight where somebody didnt have to go thru these security measures. I dont see what the problem is. WE areLUCKY enough to live in a country that affords us freedoms that other countries dont allow their citizens. With all the reports in the news lately about packages that are intercepted before they blow up, and passengers with bombs in their shoes and underwear, I would think that they would appreciate all the trouble the airlines have to go thru to insure their safety. Just think about all the added cost of the equipment, and the extra tsa agents now required for every airport. And people still want to fly accross country for $100.00. Think about this for a minute. Nobody knows what kind of bomb blew up flight 109 to Lockerbie Scottland. Do you think those passengers and their families would have liked to have been patted down versus being blown to bits by someone with radical beliefs. Think about that when you sit down to a nice Thanksgiving dinner next week. And the little girl who was screaming stop touching me. I dont know who deserves to have their ass paddled more. Her or her mother.

Business AS USUAL

Wake up America. If you think that things will change after the election, then you must be living in a world different than the rest of us. Listening to the Obama press conference it is painfully clear that while he may be disappointed. He is not giving one inch on his agenda. Dont forget. As the president he has the power to veto any bill that comes before him. He is definitely arrogant enough to use it. There are obvious key statements that he has used in todays press conference that the american public should pay attention to are. I will will discuss with Pelosi, She still will have some power over him, and IF the republicans have proper ideas he will consider them. Nothing has changed in his mind. He believes he is beyond reproach. Please let the next two years pass quickly!!!

Vote

I know that I am pretty good at bitching about things. Our country, government, kids, stupid drivers, stupid people etc. Today it's different, as much as I bitch, I am also smart enough to know that we live in a great country. There are plenty of countries in the world today that do not have the potential for greatness that our country has. Many people of the world will never have the chance for greatness as individual as we do here in America. The way our government works the only chance we have for change and to get control of our government is to vote. Its the only way to make your voice heard. So get off your ass and vote. It's IMPORTANT!!! , and then have a great day.

The Looming Elections

I have gotten really political over the last few years. Lately I have been following the political situation in the United States and this fall I have spent a great deal of time studying the local politicians that we have to choose from here in Arizona. We have one who doesnt pay his taxes, one who things political office holders should be appointed not elected, one who used to write a sex column for a porn website, one who should have retired years ago, one who walked out of a town hall meeting, one who had his law license revoked. Those are just the few that I have managed to keep up with. Quite a selection dont you think. It really makes you want to run out and vote doesnt it.

The sad part of it all is that all these candidates just want to get elected. They dont care how, or what they have to do to get elected. I dont think they have any intention of performing their electorial duties with any responsibility, they just want to hold some sort of elected office.

I am going to vote next week. you cant bitch about it if you dont vote, and god knows I do like to bitch from time to time. What would happen if nobody went to the polls and voted. NOBODY. Not a single vote would be cast for anyone running for office. ZERO do you think that anybody would get to picture that we need better more qualified candidates. Just a thought.

cholera,

I have been watching the news and seeing all the national news stations reporting on the "new tragedy" going on in Haiti. Who gives a shit. Really cant those people do anything for themselves. Are they just too damned lazy to event try and clean up their own country. I thought to myself long ago that if we ignored them long enough they would just lay around and screw themselves to death and I think it really may just happen. They wont build schools or hospitals. They seem perfectly happy to live in tents and let the rest of the world to send them aid. They dont even bother to build their own outhouses for christ's sake. I bet our state and national parks have better water and bathroom facilities. I just dont get it. Their government is doing nothing to help. For god sakes even the slaves tried to run away and seek freedom and a better life. The illegal mexicans sneaking into the u.s. try to get jobs and make a better life for themselves. There is no sense in sending them any aid if they are too damn lazy to get up off their asses and help themselves. I may be a hard ass and piss most of you off, but when our country is as financially strapped as it is, it certainly makes more sense to spend some of that money helping the homeless at home.

A Movie Review

The weather is turning nice finally. You can feel it in the air in the mornings. Soon all will be back to normal and we Arizonians will be over-run with tourists and snow birds and 5th wheels that need to have slow moving vehicle signs on the back. I have one of those myself and I find that I drive considerably slower pulling it than I do when I am pulling another trailer.

Last night we went as saw the movie Secretariat. Keep in mind I watched Secretariat race on T.V. when I was 9 years old. I remember standing in front of the screen watching him run away from the field in the Belmont. It was history in the making that I think will never be matched. Anyway. I love Diane Lane. I think she is one of the most talented actresses of our time. She is great in her role as Penney Chenery. The story line is fantastic and it is the only movie made about any facet of the horse industry that seems to show a realistic view of what actually goes on. The emotion. The risk. The cost, constantly losing money, The good ole boys club and the stress. And it does a really great job of showing the long stride that Secretariat had that made him so special. His stride is longer than any other ever measured by a race horse, and if you watch the slow motion racing sequences they film them from an angle that makes it look like the horse in the movie is taking a huge stride himself. I love a good story and this movie is a good story.

none of the above.

Sorry that I havent taken the time to write a new post to my blog lately, I have been a little busy. I have three major beefs to complain about and its going to be a bumpy ride. So pull up your socks and hang on.

Bitch one. Candidates running for office. We have no viable quality choices. I have been watching the commercials and reading about each of the candidates in most of the local and national races and Ive decided that none of them deserve to be elected. I think that we should have an option at the bottom of each of the choices that should include an option for None of the Above. If None of the Above gets the most votes, then the candidates dont get elected and they dont get to run for office again. Leaving space for new candidates to run for the vacant offices and maybe if this happens enough we will eventually get quality candidates, and voter turn out would increase.

Bitch two. I have quietly said for a long time that all of the marching and parading and protesting that has been done by the "out" gay activists has not actually done any good for the gay movement. Its harder than ever on gay teens to come out and the general voting public votes to abolish gay marriage rights almost everywhere they are allowed to vote on them.

Bitch three. Recently those of us that race cars had the opportunity to attend Competition School at a NASA Arizona event. Cost was $350.00. The school was actually taught by three volunteer instructors that have a combined racing experience totally just about 100 years. The school consisted of two full days of classroom instruction as well as 6 on track sessions designed to give the applicants some actual racing skills and experience before they actually get turned loose on their respective race groups. 15 people attended. My distress comes from the face that one person was allowed to miss classroom time to attend to some personal issues. They recieved more personal instruction than any one else. Was held up to the class as having exceptional skills. That person was also the only one to complain about her fellow students, and complained about the driving skills that were practiced on the track. Never mind that she was like a rolling chicane while on track during the skills. Parking in every corner and complaining about the cars around her being too close. This is racing, open track, pass anywhere, wheel to wheel racing. Pull your head out, stop spending so much time promoting yourself on facebook learn some skills and keep your mouth shut.

Heroes

I have quite a few heroes. Some of them probably deserve it and some of them probably dont, but they are my heros and I wish for them to stay that way. My heros encompass a varied group of individuals and professions. Some athletes, some animals, some actors etc. Recently the government has started what seems to me as an all out assault on some of my hero athletes. This assault has started because congress has decided to get involved in the battle to fight steroids, or performance enhancing drugs as they choose to call them. I believe that congress is over stepping their bounds here. This is not a matter of governing our country, all sports governing bodies have their own drug policies and it is up to those bodies to enforce them. I would prefer it if the congress stayed out of this conflict. Roger Clements is a hero of mine, as is Mark McGuire, Jackie Joyner Kersey, Lance Armstrong, and many others. I can assure you that even if these athletes had used performance enhancing drugs they are still EXTREMELY talented individuals and most likely would have achieved the same accomplishments either way. They obviously had the drive and the dedication and the love of their sport to achieve goals that the average athlete never will. I dont care to know if they used performance enhancing drugs or not. Lets show some support for our heroes and demand that congress get back to work on governing our country and stop worrying about issues that arent any of their business anyway.

where is lindsay?

I cant believe its been a whole week without a Lindsay Lohan news update. I must admit I am really disappointed. I was just sure that she would have hundreds of reporters sneaking around the bushes and using telephoto lenses trying to catch her all broken down, going thru withdrawl no make up on and eating herself into a bigun!

I did see in the news that a California judge blocked the state from giving the state employees one day off a week as a budget cutting measure. I guess the state should just fire some of them so they can make their budget goals. Makes sense to me, that way at least the judges on the federal pay rolls will be able to keep their jobs when CA is so broke the state has to stop paying their employees. Maybe the can hire all the illegals moving into CA from AZ. One of the Hispanic rights groups in CA is buying up billboard space here in AZ basically bashing our state govt. I wish they would spend some of their money on cleaning up all the trash that the mexican illegals are leaving in the Arizona desert on their way in. I wonder if they know that July was the second deadliest month here in Arizona for illegals die-ing in the Desert on there way thru. Its too hot, and they run out of water and they die a horrible death on the way over. But I guess thats ok. Just last week a little girl escaped from a drop house where she was being held with 19 other illegals by a coyote. She went to wal-mart for help. She said some of them hadnt eaten anything in days. They were just giving them water. It doesnt make sense to me that a people knowingly makes the choice to trek thru the desert. Risk dying, or get hauled over here in the back of a truck and then locked up in a drop house and hope their families can pay enough to get them out. Why dont they just stay home and put all this effort into trying to fix their own country.

why do we bother to vote

Why do we bother to vote. I am getting more concerned about this particular issue every day. I vote. Things dont usually go my way but I do anyway. We vote in many different ways. A friend of mine says that we vote everytime we open our pocketbook by choosing products or services. If enough of us dont buy products or services they stop making them. Why doesnt that seem to work with our government. I thought that this was supposed to be a government by the people for the people. Recently two things that have disturbed me the most have been lawsuits that have overturned laws that the majority of the people in a particular society or group have voted for. I'm not going to say how I feel about the following two issues, some of you already know and some of you might be surprised by how I would have voted but my opinions are moot.

First, the people of Arizona voted, buy their elected officials, and polls in Arizona back this up. To write and approve immigration bill 1070. By the people for the people. Then parts of the bill were blocked in the courts. One appointed judge thinks she knows more about what the people of Arizona want more than they do themselves.

Second, just yesterday the courts overturned the marriage ban in California. I personally support this ban because I do agree that "Marriage" as we know it, should be between a man and a woman. Certain things such as Child Birth and Parenthood should remain between a man and a woman. Civil Unions on the other hand are another issue, but this vote and law was about marriage. The VOTERS of the state of California VOTED to ban gay marriage, and once again the appointed judge decided to overturn the ban based upon how they interpreted the laws.

The solutions to these problems are very simple. Register to vote and VOTE. Vote the politicians responsible for making these judicial appointments out of office. And Vote politicians into office that are going to represent the majority of how Americans feel. A perfect example of this is how our chocolate president is dragging his heels on immigration reform. The longer he waits the more likely he is to win over the liberal mexican vote in this country. Which I feel is a beligerent slap in the face of the people who have immigrated here legally. Get out and Vote people.

Luke air force base

Since the announcement that Luke Air Force base had made the cut to become one of the two bases that will host the new F-35 aircraft. Providing the base passes various studies concerning noise, use , pollution etc.
What a stupid set of reasons to base that kind of decision on. I've spent some time on the internet studying the history of the base. The growth of Phoenix and Glendale and I have come up with this conclusion.
The base was built in 1941, and has a fantastic past. It has played a major part in every conflict the U.S. has been involved in since WWII. That alone should be enough to keep the base open and make it worthy of housing a new fighter jet. Noise considerations should never become an issue. The base was there first. Common sense should tell people that if you build a house near an air-base. There will be noise. Now I am sure that the greed of the increase in tax base is what drove the city to allow housing additions to surround the base. But what amazes me is the thinking that taxes would be more important than the millions of dollars in income, medical care, fringe employment supplied because of the base that will help drive the Arizona economy. Luke air force base alone supplies 2.2billion dollars a year to Arizona's economy. It's estimated the the changover income brought to the local economy will be upwards of $125,million dollars.
I say buy all the offended home-owners houses, at fair market value, sometime at the end of the year when they have gone down another 1% a month. I think that is do-able, they can be condemned under the eminent domain provisions in the law. Then bulldoze them down. Problem solved.
Common sense should tell you not to build a house by an airport.

the joy of having a dog

I decided quite some time ago that I like dogs better than most people. Not cats or birds or horses, Dogs. I've also decided that my opinion of people can be influenced by observing the relationship my friends have with their dogs. I realize if I was truly a good person I wouldnt have an opinion, but I also belive that everybody has an opinion on every subject and those who say they dont are actually just hipocrits. The real challenge is to not let your opinion of things effect you life or your relationships in any way. I think I am really good at that. Anyway back to the dogs. I know some people who are real shits in their everyday lives but when it comes to their dogs they are the most loving caring person on earth. I hope that this type of compassion would eventually work its way into how we treat others. Often it does not.

I have a real asshole for a dog. His name is Hannibal. I bought him at a horse show when he was 8 weeks old. In spite of his beauty, and he is a very handsome dog, he was the last one left in the litter and I am sure that when I bought him he was living on benedril or something because within 6 hours of purchase he turned into the asshole that he is today. I paid a fortune for this dog. I thought that he would mellow when he got used to me, I was wrong. Within 24 hours of his purchase everybody who came in contact with him at the horse show told me to take him back. Of course the people that I bought him from, who told me they were also at the show, disappeared from the face of the earth. In the first 24 hours he bit a hole in my nose, and tried to bite everyone who tried to pick him up. He was cute, everybody that saw him picked him up. A good friend of mine said "he's nasty you should call him Hannibal", and it stuck. The rest of the week at the show was spent trying to make him happy because frankly, he never was. He was too hot or thirsty or didnt want to be held, or wanted to run off, or was growling at the horses or tearing something up. He was more work than the four horses I had at the show.

Well now its been two long difficult years later and like I said, Hannibal has grown up to be a VERY handsome dog. I love him to death. He is still a handful. Very growly and difficult, chews up all his toys, he is getting very territorial. He loves to think he is hearding the horses when he is actually chasing them, and he is one great little alarm. When one of the horses lays down and rolls, or runs in his pen, or starts giving me shit when I am working it. He goes batshit crazy. Bites the fence and carries on like he is possesed by the devil. I'm not so sure he's not.

But there is also another side to Hannibal. He has started to like affection. Demanding it in fact, he wants to sit next to me now when I am sitting at the desk, wanting me to pet him, and every nite when I go to bed he gets in bed with me and snuggles and loves on me like he really likes me. In the morning when I wake up he gets back in bed, and brings all his toys too. He has four or five at any given time, and he wants to hold a toy in his mouth, while he lays up against me with all the rest of his toys around him, and I am supposed to pet him or he will whine and carry on. You may think this is not good, but its really a considerable improvement.

I have loved him all along, working it out in my head somewhat along the lines of adopting a child that turns out to be difficult. Now I have it and I'm going to love it. Now that he is starting to act like he likes me I am really happy. So if you see me at a horse show, or at a race I will probably have Hannibal with me. He thinks that he loves to go along. And like I said most of the time I like dogs better than people so I let him come along. I'm happy to have him with me.

my pet peeve

Let me say right up front that this blog is going to offend some of you. Probably just the ones that I am talking about.
One of my major pet peeve's is the entire sales and marketing industry that is based upon selling to and using friends, neighbors, clubs, etc. to sell too and directly benefit yourself. I am offeded by this more than you can imagine.
Second, by now those of you who know me also know that I belong to a club here in Phx that will go un-named. I mistakenly assumed that the general personality of this group of people would somehow be different than the equine based groups I have belonged to in the past. Then I realized that people will be people no matter what group they are. A trait that is true along all cross sections of humanity I guess.
The club that I belong to it a great club with a really great group of people. Unfortunatly recently we have been infiltrated by one of those parasitic individuals that preys on others. You know the type. Its always I'll do this for you if you do this for me. Never actually paying for anything. Using his percieved over-inflated value to take advantage of others. I guess no harm is actually being done as long as his victims follow along willingly. It just really pisses me off. I like to watch the dynamic of the individuals and their interaction with him. Some of them had this person pegged from the start, some follow along blindly, some hang around on the fringe totally avoiding the fallout. This would be the group that I should belong to and never do. I also think some follow along because their economic situation leads them to always look for the next best thing. Anyway, I am sure that this person will only belong to the club until the well runs dry and then they will move on in search of a new host.
Enough of that now lets talk about something that I really like. The new GEICO insurance commercial depicting the retired military officer that has become a therapist. He is so the person that I'd like to be. Tells it like it is. Doesnt like any "mamby pampy" bullshit. It's great. I love watching the commercial. One of the few that I like.

I love liberals

I love liberals! Without them I wouldnt have near as much to write about. I dont understand why anyone expected Judge Susan Bolton to rule any differently. She was appointed by Obama and I am sure she will be appointed to a better position as soon as politically correct. Obama's history of appointing his supporters to prominent positions. I will have to say the longer Governor Jan Brewer is in office the more I like her. The lady has balls, vowing to appeal Judge Boltons ruling. Good for her and good for Arizona. I am getting a little tired of the news media being so biased. I watch Good Morning America almost every day. I was disappointed watch George Stephanopolis's interview of Sherrif Joe Arpao. Now dont get me wrong I think the sherrif is a bit of a pain in the ass. Nobody seems to notice that crime started to drop in Az when he started to arrest illegal aliens and do his local crime sweeps. They never mention the number of blacks, or whites that get picked up. The number of drunk drivers that he arrests when doing his drunk driving check points is unbelievable. Most of those offenders are usually white, young upwardly mobile white men and women. Why doesnt that make the national news. Why doesnt Diane Sawyer report when a hiker finds a locked up rental van in the desert with 9 illegal immigrents inside, dead from the heat. I was particularly pissed off yesterday morning when the 16 year old high school student was all stressed out about his fear of being arrested and not wanting to move. It was all over the national news. I wonder if anyone besides me noticed how well spoken and educated he was living here in the united states since he was six. In the ten years he has been here he has had plenty of time to try and become a naturalized citizen. And why didnt the interviewer ask him this. Poor illegal, he has been so persecuted.
You people need to keep something in mind. Our economy is in the shitter. Housing values contine to fall. Unemployment is forcasted to continue in the high 9% thru the year 2012, and banks are not loaning money. Wall street is ignoring the economy and will continue to do so. The more of america that we continue to give away. To other countries, to illegals, to the welfare reciepients, who should be doing the jobs the illegals are doing any way. If we keep this up we risk becoming one of the 3rd world nations . I'm just saying.

Dan-isms

I have had several request lately for an update on my blog, or lots of you wondering why I havent posted any new installments lately. Well frankly, Ive been working more and Ive been a little too lazy to write anything. However that doesnt mean the I havent still been running ideas and comments thru my head at an alarming rate. I moved all the horses around today, re-arrainged my pens in preperation for weaning my foal. With the heat here in AZ you kind of have to work in shifts. Especially if you have a real job and you dont have gobs of time to yourself. Obviously thebest time for outide activity is in the morning. With the temperature at 95 degrees at 7:am this morning. I had a small window of opportunity to move two fences made up of Panels, move the broodmares to one side of the barn, the yearling and the weanling to the other side. Put up an outide pen for Fish, and move Martha and Barkley to the south side where they can each have their own runs. Of course Martha couldnt care less. The Mares and weanling did as they were supposed to without any fanfare at all. But of course Barkley, big Stud that he is, or thinks he has become, didnt take kindly to being moved away from his little band of mares. The way he carried on, Screaming and Hollering at them, running around his stall, he even though he was tough enough to take a poke at me. Of course in my sweaty overheated fat state that was when I produced the stall fork and tried to beat him to death with it. He knew he had gone to far when I arrived back at his stall fork in hand, but it didnt stop me from giving him a few choice wacks with it anyway. He still has to remember who really is in charge. The funny part is, he knew at the exact moment that he took a poke at me that he had lost all train of rational thought and I was going to whip his ass because he went immediately to the back of the stall and put his head down waiting for the halter. Too Late! Needless to say the mares couldnt care less where Barkley is living as long as he is not bothering them. He was the only one making any fuss at all. Back the the Halter issue. Which is an issue, I have only had one horse in training since last August and for some reason I have one halter at my house. ONE. I have 8 horses living here and ONE halter. I dont break halters and leadropes, I havent travelled anywhere, I have no idea where they have all gone too. Pictures of the weanling to follow soon, I took some this morning I just have to get them downloaded and uploaded to the net. She is WAY freaking cool.
I have really nice neighbors. Except for the pigs up front but that is another story and I am having enough trouble being in a good mood today so we will discuss them at a later date. I have just decided that they are all either the stupidest people I know, or the laziest. They work hard. Have nice kids. And dogs the bark all day long. The neighbors to the west work all the time and in their defense are never home to listen to it. The neighbors to the east however work from home and listen to their dog bark its ass off everytime they turn it loose in the yard. There usual excuse is Fred is stupid. Well I have decided that Fred is not the stupid one, it would be Freds owners. I know this because I have shot Fred with the pellett gun enough times for barking that I can go outside and shake the gun, or pump it a couple of times and Fred shuts his mouth and runs back to the house. Obviously Fred is not the stupid one.
I'd like to take this opportunity to tell you about my road rage incident last week. I was on my way home from work in the late afternoon, It was a really hot day, and the heat effects me adversly. The lady in the lane immediately to my right decided to change into my lane at the last minute before her lane ended and ran me off the road and up the curb into the median to keep from her hitting me. Now I know she knew the lane ended because I chased her home to yell obscenities at her and she lives in the neighborhood just one mile away. I also know that she saw me before she ran me off the road because I could clearly see her face look in the mirror of her Escalade as she looked back at me and moved over anyway, and then sped up when I started to pursue her. At one point she was actually driving 80 miles an hour thru her neighborhood trying to get away from me. Just imagine me all red faced and pissed off chasing her to her house. I was smart enough to stop on the street and roll down my passenger window and scream at her while she drove in her garage and put the door down. I'm sure that she didnt manage to call the police on her way because she could barely keep control of the Escalade until she stormed into her garage. I have written down her address and intend to leave her with a note and a copy of the bill I had to pay when I had to have the Vette aligned because of the impact with the curb. I seriously think that she is the one who needs to be beaten with the stall fork. Its the weather the heat affects us all.
I have taken the time away from writing in my blog to actually read some of our chocolate presidents book. The Audacity of Hope. It should have been called The Self-riteousness of Color. I was actually amazed to read all of his Ideals and hopes for this country. It also completely maps out just exactly how he intends to run this country. Nothing he has done to this date deviates at all from what he wrote he intended to do. The amazing thing to me is that some of the very things he complains about. Mainly partisan politics. Are some of his most agregis faults to this day. I expect this to continue throughout his presidency considering his history and where he started his political career. Chicago. Where if some of you are old enough to remember the Daly family. Is some of the most corrupt politics in the land occured and continue to thrive to this day. He does have a very eloquent and moving way of making his point. It is very easy to see why so many people have become endocrinated blindly into his way of thought. Much like one of the world most notorious leaders of the past from Germany. I am somewhat surprised at the level of loyalty that he manages to command, unless you look at the demographic that he affects. Mainly the young, and percieved oppressed, and the foreign work force that he promises to take care of. That group of individuals knows nothing of Chicago politics, or the travesties of WWII. Its been too long in the past and not emphasized enough anymore in school to have an impact on them. It is completely understandable why the foreign work force support him. Things are so bad where they were born, that they will grasp on to anything that will makes things better for them. Frankly who would blame them.
I have found a fantastic website. www.secureborderintel.org . It is a website that is made up of hidden cameras along the Mexican/American border both in the San Diego CA area and the Yuma AZ area showing some of the illegal traffic that is pouring into the U.S. It makes for some interesting watching. But keep in mind. Our Head of National Security, Janet Napolitano says our borders are secure.
Well I think I have probably rambled on long enough and its time for me to get to work. Until next time.

the general and the chocolate idot

Ok, I'd really like to know how much longer the general public is going to put up with the idiot that you all elected president. Honestly. If you have read the Rolling Stones article as I have, and read it objectivly. You'd realize that most of the comments made by the General are actually pretty correct. He cares nothing about the welfare of the country. All he wants to do is push his personal agenda thru. He is fast becoming the most socialist person that some people tried to warn us about. He has absolutly no idea, or for all purposes doesnt seem to care about this country at all. Still no progress in the gulf. No comprehensive energy policy, no immigration reform, no economic policy and no banking reform. But by god he managed to get his health care agenda inserted into the american public. I'm absolutely ashamed to admit he is an american president. How can he complain about the head of BP going to a yacht race, when he himself was going to baseball games. How can he get pissed off about what the general said about him, when he has said way worse, almost uncontrollably, about Bush, Cheney, and even Hillary during the campaign. Now when the local economy in the gulf is going right in the shitter, he is going to appeal the decision to lift the drilling ban. It really doesnt matter to him what kind of shape the u.s. is in. He gets a fat retirement package, health care, and there will be no end to the stupid asses that will pay to hear bilge come out that pie hole of his on the lecture circuit. As you can see I'm really fed up with him. Its time we did something to take back our government.

off my chest

First. I think it is Great that Betty White has a new t..v show. I have always though she was very funny. Second. I am really tired of listening to our chocolate president tell us what he is going to make BP do in the gulf. He is so damn stupid. Look at the size of the Gulf of Mexico. It is entirely too big for one company to even employ enough people to try and clean it up. Lets be real BP doesnt employ enough people worldwide, let alone bring them all to the gulf to help with the clean up, to get the job done. Its time the government stopped holding press conferences and took the bull by the horns and started cleaning up the gulf. If we wait for BP. It will never get done. The sheer size and scope is too large for one company to handle. Third. The cop in Seattle should have slugged the bitch. She totally had it coming. When you shove a police officer, as she clearly did, you get what you have coming to you. She was larger than him, and slugging her clearly kept the situation from escalating into a larger problem. When you are an officer of the law, and you put your life on the line everyday, you deserve a certain level of respect, which she clearly wasnt giving him, and once she shoved him she became a criminal and he had every right to slug her. As far as I am concerned he doesnt owe anybody an appology.

I hope everybody had as good a memorial weekend as I did. I got to go and race my car down at INDE motorsports ranch in wilcox. I had an incredible good time. I have been watching the live feed from BP. I find it really interesting. I am really hoping it works this time. There was also some really interesting news today that has something to do with the Arizona immigration laws. There was a kidnapping here in Phoenix today. Turns out when they finally caught up with the kidnapper he was an illegal that had been deported seven times. But remember our borders are secure. Everybody have a good week.

facial dedication

Well this morning I did something I have never done before. I decided to do some product research on one of the product lines that I sell. I did NOT put make up on. I did however decide to use the skin care line. The cleanser, eye serum, moisturizer, and reguvinating complex. Women are nuts. And so are the men all wrapped up in how they look. I'm sorry. Who wants to go thru this every day just to remove some wrinkles. Wash, pat dry, Cleanse pat dry. reguvinate, put eye serum under eyes. I feel like I have wax on my head. It is definitly one of those days that I am really glad I'm a man and not a woman.

coming home for lunch.

The last two days I have come home from work for lunch. This is something that I need to stop doing. You see I make myself some lunch. Then I turn on the t.v. and watch while I eat. Yesterday I watched Dr. Phil. I cant freeking believe this hack is a psycologist. He should be locked up. This episode was a disfunctional family one. The mother was taking care of two of her 22 year old daughters children and the daughter is pregnant again. Now I admit the daughter had some real issues. A lot of them. But most of those appeared to be caused by her stiff ass bitch of a mother. Dr. Phil threw the daughter under the bus repeatededly. All he could do was re-enforce the overbearing mothers issues, and ignore the fact that the daughter was SCREAMING to have a normal relationship with her mother. Which is impossible with Both Dr. Phil and the mother making her feel like shit all the time. I was very disappointed Dr. Phil, who is supposed to be this common sense straight talking savior is actually just an average t.v. hack like all the others. Oprah has made another bad choice in this one.

Today I watched the view. I used to love the view. This constant regurgitation coming from Joy Behar is just about to make me stop watching. She has completely ruined it for me. I was having a really good day too. Today the idiot blamed the oil catastrophie happening right now in the gulf on Dick Cheney. Its all his fault because of all the offshore de-regulation. I am starting to believe that this is the dumbest woman on t.v. At least until Rosie O'donnell is back on t.v.
What does joy think for christs sake? That money, food, clothing, etc grow on trees. I am pretty sure that she is not growing food in a garden on top of her uptown apt. I somehow dont think that she is living a sustainable lifestyle. I am sure that she enjoys some of the very things that the petroleum industry supplies for the world. Unless she is ready to move out of her comfortable existence and join a commune and start living the tree hugger green life, I think the should stick to comedy. Something she is mildly competent at.

Off the beaten path.

This weekend. A suspected wife killer, without a passport. His passport had been confiscated by the Mexican police. Snuck back in to the United States. But Janet Napolitano says our borders are secure. Another proud moment for our border patrol.

Anyway. Its is cold here today. It was cold and windy yesterday. I'm sorry this spring has shot the global warming theory right in the ass. Here in Arizona anyway.

I had the best thursday last week. I made a few sales calls. Met a good friend for lunch at one of the coolest places in Phx. Its called the ZuZu Cafe. Its located in the Valley Ho Motel. This motel was built sometime in the sixties or late fifties. Its decor has been kept true to its sixties theme. Its not run down, the grounds are meticulously maintained. The rooms are fantastic, it has a great spa, and the ZuZu Cafe. When you walk in you think you have stepped back in time into some kind of 60 late nite after hours hot spot. Big deep seated semi-private booths all decorated in orange and green and brown, Acrylic two top tables, deep swoopy vinyl swooning type lounge chairs. It is so cool. Not to mention the best food. Its not cheap. But well worth every penny. I can almost imagine Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. Stopping by after a set on stage enjoying cigars and scotch before pouring themselves into their rooms.

This is just one of the many cool reasons why I love living in this valley. There are so many cool places to eat. Art galleries, clothing stores and trendy spa's. You never run out of fun things to do. Sometimes you have to look a little bit, but there are some really cool places off the beaten path.

obama and the mexicans

Last nite while watching the NBC nightly news. I watched as many as you did, the segment where the 2nd grade girl askes Michele Obama about our chocolate president and sending Mexicans back to Mexico. Ok How freeking sad is that. A two year old girl is worrying about her whole world going to shit. She is a prime example of what is going on today in the U.S. Obviously her mother pays no taxes, and yet her daughter who is legal is going to school here, and I bet she gets free medical care too.
Joy Behar, who I used to like, but lately every time she opens her mouth, more shit comes out. Said the other day, what Arizonan's are pissed off about is Illegals just like that. They came here and let their papers expire and now they are illegal. Thats not true. Most of the Mexican that originally got papers are completely absorbed into American culture, especially the ones that live north and east of Arizona. First of all, she isnt intelligent enough to know what we are pissed off about, if you dont believe me just watch her show sometime.
We are pissed off about the ones that come over here, sneaking accross the border, dont ever intend to get papers, live in all mexican neighborhoods, its not hard to round them up, they live in packs like wild dogs. They never intend to become naturalized citizens. They breed like rats, often get caught and deported, and then sneak right back over the border. Immigration policy is not broken, the border is. Make the border secure, and the illegal immigration problem will take care of itself. The Mexican president doesnt deserve to have an opinion either. Of course he wants them to come over here, then he doesnt have to worry about the crime and the drain on mexican economy and society.

On the brighter side. My filly by Curb Appeal is incredible. She is a moose. The poor mare eats whenever she is not sleeping, because the filly eats whenever she is not sleeping. I cant wait to wean her. I am sure that mom cant wait either. I have both of the mares in foal, and I'm sure about that because I turned Barkley out with them and he is afraid to death of both of them, which is completly 100% the opposite of the way it was before they were in foal. Well I have to get back to work. Keeping the women of Arizona beautiful and smelling great.

voting

Well I did it. I went in voted in my first election here in Arizona. I have to tell you. The volunteer's that are working the polling places deserve to get paid. I say that because I had to wait in line to vote. The line was not long. There were not a lot of issues to vote one. I did not take a long time to turn in your ballet. The average person voting is too stupid to know how. It was frustrating, they didnt know if they were in the right polling place. They couldnt find their address on the precinct map, they forgot their I.D's. They couldnt find the proper pen to fill out the ballett. I am telling you, the woman in charge of the polling place has the patience of god and deserves a big raise. I was very dis-hearted. I know am completely sure that the average american has given up. Especially if they have been voting for a long time and have seen such a deterioration in the voting public. I voted against the tax increase. I am sure the teachers will be pissed off if the measure doesnt pass. But enough is enough. Lets put some of those mothers and fathers not working in the classroom to work as volunteer teacher aids. That way they would actually see how poorly their kids behaved at school, and hot tough it is to be a teacher. But the bottom line is they just dont want the responsibility.

20 cops all with their guns drawn.

Most of you dont know that the first summer I lived here, we had an incident here at my house involving illegal's. So know you get to hear about it. One night about two a.m. I got up to go to the bathroom. I have to go several times a nite and I can look out my bathroom window, on the 2nd floor while I am going. This particular evening as I witnessed several police cruisers converge on the intersection about 1/2 mile from my house. Lights flashing etc. I woke Dave up and went out on the balcony to watch as the cruisers continued to drive back and forth and around out neighborhood with the helicoptor overhead. At the time Whitney lived downstairs, so I called her and told some kind of shit was going on and she should lock her doors. We live in a huge two story cinder block building with an apartment and office downstairs and a larger apartment upstairs. All the while I was talking to Whitney, we were all watching the cops drive thru the neighborhood with their lights flashing and their spotlights on all the houses and yards. They seemed to be getting closer and I guess in my sleepy state I didnt realize exactly what was going on, and eventually the helicopter was concentrating on my place and all the cruisers came speeding down my drive light and sirens blaring driving around my house sliding to a stop, pulling their guns and spotlights and screaming for somebody to get down. I of course was caught completely off guard and since I sleep in the raw, had to run into the house and put some nightclothes on. When I came back out on the balcony and walked over to talk to the police I was told to get back in the house. All this time the police were like rabid dogs on steroids, screaming to get down, threatening to turn the dogs loose, waving their guns around etc.
I had to call 911 and talk to dispatch and find out what the hell was going on, and to tell them that someone lived downstairs and not to do any shooting until she was safe. Eventually they got Whitney out of her apartment, and turned one of their police dogs into the shop to catch one of the bad guys.
As it turns out, 5 guys had been stealing cars in Mesa, and while the police were on the chase they rolled on the the trucks that they stole, and found their way thru the neighborhood to our house to hide. One jumped the fence at hid in the shop. One was under my truck, one was hiding in front of it between it and the shop, and two others just jumped the fence and kept on running. There were at least 25 officers, city county etc. at the house. Basically they had stolen 4 cars in Mesa, and had decided to run to the Indian Reservation south of town so that they couldnt be caught. There was one legal mexican, 3 illegals, and one juvenille, who was also illegal. This happened in September and it took until February the following year to prosecute them. I had to go to court on two seperate occasions, fill out volumes of paperwork. It was a collosal pain in the ass.

Just today the police raided a drop house here in Phx. Arresting two Coyotes, and 12 illegals that had already paid $2500.00 to get smuggled over here, and they were being held at gunpoint until their families could pay another $2500.00 to get freed. They followed them home from a traffic stop. This is human trafficking, what about this picture do people not see as wrong. Their own people are treating them like slaves. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didnt most of the blacks in this country get here in the same fashion, and I though that we had made that illegal. Keep right on protesting, and when your car is stolen while your on parade somewhere, I'll bet you find an illegal stripping it at the local chop shop.

oil spills and supreme court justices.

Ok here's the deal. I am really REALLY tired of hearing about who's at fault, and what is going on in the Gulf with the oil spill. I think the gov't needs to stop trying to blame somebody and get BP to admit they were at fault. For christ's sake just start sending enough coast guard or national guard or even hire unemployed oil workers to get to the gulf and get the oil cleaned up. All this pissing around is not doing anything to solve the problem.

1 way racism.

Well yesterday I was appalled while watching the news. It seems our chocolate president thinks the immigration issue is some kind of joke. And when he tells it. It's supposed to be funny. What the hell is wrong with the american people and the press. If a white, president, democrat or republican, or any white elected official, or any member of the press would have come up with that kind of a racist joke. Somebody would be asking for their head on a platter. I can believe it. It went something like this. "If you get stopped for speeding in Arizona and you dont have your I.D., Well adios amigo's. " What an intellegent response by a president. I dont wonder any more why nothing is being done about immigration. Our own president thinks its a joke. What amazes me is the obvious fact that if the joke had been told this way. And this is my quote. "If you get stopped in Arizona and you dont have your I.D., and you black. Well back to Africa. " Just imagine all of the people that would have pissed off. Hell Al Sharpton would be looking to put a hit out on you. Wake up people it's time we did something about our elected officials.

an activist is born

The last two days have been interesting for me. You see, I took it upon myself to get pissed off because As Sharpton, and Danny Glover were here to protest our new immigration law. I dont really understand their way of thinking because they are here because their ancestors were slaves and brought here against their will. The illegals are here because they want to be. I dont understand. Anyway after having a conversation with one of my friends who moved here from Australia, I feel I have a deeper knowledge of the immigration issue. You see. He is really offended by this issue. He wanted to move here, and took all the neccessary steps to get his citizenship. And he pays taxes, has his own business etc. The illegals dont pay taxes. Their kids go to school here for free. They get free health care. So being all pissed off like a get sometimes that nobody was saying anything positive about the law. I decided to take white shoe polish and put "support Arizona Immigration Law" on the back of my car window. Ive been driving it around for two days while making sales calls. The response that I have been getting is truly amazing. You see I have thought for years that the reason people dont vote is because they have given up on the politicians. You see our elected officials dont seem to do what they are elected to do. They dont care what we want. The last two days driving around in my car with that saying in the window has done nothing but solidify that in my mind. You see people are passionate about this issue. PASSIONATE. I get nods and thumbs ups, from dozens of people every time I drive. I also get a few people shaking their heads at me, and one woman in a beat up old mustang, needing a wash actually flipped me off. I screamed at her I wouldnt touch her with a 10 foot pole or something to that effect. Dave thought I was nuts and my car would get vandalized. Actually I had a moment when I thought he might actually be right. A large guy, I mean a REALLY large guy in an 80's era pickup, that probably had one million miles on it, he looked Mexican, started honking at me to get my attention, just when I thought he was going to ram into me, he gave me the thumbs up with both hands. Weaving all over while driving with his REALLY huge leg I am sure. People have an opinion about this issue. Why is nobody listening. Why did it have to get this way in the first place. Thank god the Canadians like to move here for the winter and move home when it warms up or we would really be screwed. I just dont get it what are we going to have to do to get our ELECTED officials to do what we ask. And another thing. Our chocolate president is doing just as shitty as job handling the oil rig spill in the gulf, as W did handling hurricane Katrina. He should do much more than he is. It is truly going to be a catastrophie and sitting on his ass and letting BP take care of it is not going to work.

we vote with our money.

This last weekend I got to race my car. It was the best fun I have had in about a month. I have had a pretty good week. Getting a new job, and racing my car. Cant get much better than that. Anyway, I ran this weekend at two different tracks, with two different clubs. Usually I just race with NASA, but Someone tells me all the time that you vote with how you spend money. I have been a little irritated with how the organization scheduling of the NASA racing has been going so I raced with NASA on Saturday, and Pro-autosports on Sunday. The clubs are run very differently. Competition is tougher at NASA, but the Pro Auto Sports group is much more organized. I did have a really good time on Saturday, we raced at PIR, the place where I spun my car into the wall. After a few laps, I was back to my old self and I didnt miss my turn in into turn one not one time. Nope, one wreck is enough for me to learn not to miss the important marks. I had done some adjusting on the cars shocks, and pretty much messed them up. I was lucky to have someone set them for me before the end of the day, and the car was much better, much easier for me to drive during the last session.
Sunday we raced at Firebird International Raceway, on the east track. I like that track. A couple of long straights on one side, and a slight elevation change and lots of curves on the other side. It makes for a nice challenging course. I had a really good time. The car was much better on Sunday. I followed directions and set the shocks a little different and it was really easy to drive fast. A couple of other corvette club member were there and there were a couple of sessions where we pretty much had the track to ourselves and got to race each other really hard. I had a blast, and I learned one thing for sure. I have a really good car, and I just need to drive it better. And I had such a good time running with Pro Auto sports I am going to vote some more and run with them a few more times this year. Next time Memorial Weekend at Inde Motorsports ranch. One of the finest tracks in the southwest. I cant wait.

our borders are secure

In recent history, our ex Governor, who nobody really liked anyway, Janet Napolitano, said in an interview that our borders were secure. Well I wonder what she has to say to the Rancher's family who was killed recently by a drug smuggler, or what she has to say to the deputy sherrif who was shot today only an hour south of Phoenix, investigating a report of drug runners making their way thru the desert. He was shot and left for dead, by a drug smuggler carrying an A.K. 47 assault rifle. One of the best thing that has happened to this state since I moved here was President Obama taking Napolitano to Washington. She sucked as governor, and she sucks equally as secretary of Homeland Defense. The only reason that Arizona passed the immigration bill that they have is because they are not getting any help from Washington. Hell even Obama didnt really take a stand when he soft pedalled the issue and said tough times brought drastic measures. I believe that all the protesters have to right to do so because they are in American and this is the land of free speach. I just wish they had to pass some kind of intellegence test, or actually have some form of knowledge of what the issues are. We live in a glorious country,and I live in a Great state. I like it here better than anywhere I have ever lived. This is a great valley . I have never been moved enough before to actually become any kind of activist. I am now. J.D Hayworth is not integellent enough to replace John McCain as on of our senators. Anybody that compares homosexuality to people having sex with animals doesnt have the good sence to represent any state in any capacity. He can have his opinions, he can even shout them from the rooftops if he so chooses, he has that right. But Arizona deserves better representation than that in Washington.
I get to race my car this weekend. I hope to have a really good time because on Monday I start a new job. I've been looking for a long time. Its depressing. College degreed job available that pay $7.50/hour. How is a young adult supposed to pay their rent, utilities, buy food, and pay off their student loans. I feel really fortunate to have found something to do that I am really interested in. I've been looking since about this time last year. If it has taken me this long, and I am a fairly upbeat kinda guy. I cant imagine how somebody feels that has had a college degree and a career has lost his job and is out looking for work. Anyway I hope all my horse show friends are having a good time at the shows. And everyone else also. I'll have a GREAT yearling filly for sale this fall. and next year I will have and UNBELIEVABLE hunter under saddle prospect for sale by Curb Appeal. Hopefully this time next year I'll have three foals by my roan horse as I have bred all my mares to him this year. I'm pretty good at the breeding thing and I bet he will have GREAT babies.

side bar

I just wanted to add one more thought about the immigration problem. I am completly amazed by the reaction of Californians to this issue. I mean come on. The only state in the union that may have more illegals than AZ is CA. Obviously they are just pissed off because it will increase the illegal problem there. And what about the Los Angeles Mayor. Please I think the main reason she is so pissed off is because she must be the only white woman in all of southern CA, who hasnt had some form of plastic surgery. Did you see the jowls on that woman and the wrinkles around here eyes. Somewhere there is a bulldog puppy looking for his mother.

Immigration and the economy.

I have to say, I am truly amazed at all the people living in the United States and outside the state of Arizona that think they have some kind of valid opinion about the illegals that live here. Especially since I'll bet a good percentage of their parents immigrated to the U.S. also. Most likely coming into America legally thru Ellis Island. I wonder what those immigrants would have to say about the influx of illegals that we have to deal with here in AZ. I have to admit, when I first moved here and needed to hire some barn help, I found it was hard to find one, because the sherrif department pretty much patrols where they like to hang out and look for jobs. As time went on I eventually hired three equally inept individuals all legal and two were so stupid that cleaning stalls and feeding horses was way above their heads. I really longed for and illegal mexican. But now as I have watched, and been a victim of illegal crime activity involving illegal mexicans I have been completely converted to the side of send them home. All of the crime sweeps by the local law enforcement agencies havent slowed down the influx of the illegals. Today on the news they interviewed a woman who immigrated here legally from Mexico, and she was waiting for her husband to do the same thing. She talked about what she went thru and how proud she was to be a citizen. She doesnt think that they should be here illegally. I wonder what the people not from AZ who think they have a valid opinion would have to say if they shared a border with Mexico and they were being over run with them. Frankly I dont car who boycotts coming here for tourism. Those companies wouldnt hire an illegal or legal mexican to work for their companies.

The Double Standard Immigration law.

I dont understand exactly how this law is supposed to be a problem. Arizona is foundering economically, and I want to know just much of an impact the illegals have on the economy in this state and country. Education, Health Care, Law enforcement, etc. are all affected by the illegals. When I first moved to Arizona 5 guys wanted for stealing cars tried to hide out in my shop. 3 of the 5 were here illegally. Arizona currently has a crime problem, so are we supposed to just sit on our asses while our crime rate rises to that of Mexico. I have dark skin in the summer I get a bad ass tan. I get asked at all the check stations to speak and they check my I.D. to see that I am from the U.S. I dont feel discriminated against. I feel persecuted because of the illegals. They are dirty, they hang around the home improvement centers and the feed stores. How must the people who come here legally feel when the illegals are allowed to stay. A friend of mine was here legally work in a work visa and they had to go back home to their country, to reapply to come back this year. We cannot travel abroad, or to Mexico without a passport, let alone work abroad without a work visa. Can you imagine just how the mexicans would react if we all snuck into Mexico and started taking their jobs. Not to mention all the cats and dogs that are continually bred by Mexicans and dumped continually on our neighborhoods. Frankly I am tired of giving. I dont think that we should take any more Mexican cruises on the cruise lines. Stay home. Dont go to Cabo, or Rocky Point, or anywhere else. Enough is Enough. The tax burden is too great to keep letting the illegals flood into this country. I travelled to Canada and back this last week, while having lunch in Montana I learned they have no sales tax. Just income tax. Should we load up the illegals and ship them there so that they can support their share on their tax roles. Has anybody actually given any thought about the coyotes that bring illegals over here and just exactly how they are treated on the way. The news is full of stories where they bring 25 or more over and hold them at gunpoint, in slum conditions, feeding them substandard food all while waiting for their families to pay for them to be set free. They are doing this to their own people. Using their own passports to drive to Mexico and then smuggle them back here.

Get a Grip America. Out chocolate president promised immigration reform and he hasnt done shit. Nor has the congress or the senate. Its time to take our lives and our government into our owns hands and run our own counrty. Email your government officials and get them off their overpaid asses.

humans will be humans

This last week I had two really fun things happen. Thursday I had a filly born that is really nice. I was pretty sure the way her mother is bred she would be a good producer, and the stud she is by was a very nice, very underrated horse. I really like it when I'm right. The more involved I am in breeding the more confident that I am in my ability to produce offspring that are going to be really good individuals. I was really luck that she was born on Thursday nite because I wanted to go and race my car on Saturday, which meant leaving on Friday, I wouldnt have been able to go if she hadnt foaled yet. Lucky me!
Which brings me to the topic of my title and the other fun thing I did this weekend. A little background first. There is a new race track here in Arizona, it is south east of Tucson out in the desert at Wilcox set in the local mountain range. It is turning into a beautufil facility, more like a park than racetrack. The main reason I wanted to race there is this track is a dedicated road course. It is not an oval with a road course in the middle, or a dragstrip, or an airport. It is a road course, elevation changes, off camber turns, decreasing radius turns you name it. With my limited racing experience I really want to go. I had mentioned on several occasions to my fellow club members that if the track opened up please include me. Well some of them had gone a couple of times and new another event was coming up, you see they are mostly invitational at this point because the track is new, and nobody though to mention to me about the event. I happened to hear about it while surfing the web. Imagine that, finding information on the web.
Anyway I got online, sent a couple of emails and got myself invited. Well needless to say so far it was absolutely the most fun that I have had with my race car. The hospitality was fantastic, the track is incredible, my car was superb, I am slowly learning how to drive the thing. It was everything that I had hoped it to be. It was really nice to go to an event, where the promoter, in this case the track owner, didnt have his own racing goals in mind. Dont get me wrong, I love club racing, but it seems just like everthing else in this world right at the moment. Everyone involved seems to have their own personal agenda. Our last big event held on April 10th, was nothing short of a clusterf___! Aside from the typical drivers having on track dificulties, the overall organization of the event sucked. Time trial groups were run together without any notice to the drivers. That is who is paying the bills by the way. Ive heard that the best way to make an impact is to affect someones pocketbook, so I am going to switch clubs for most part the rest of the year. I'll still run a few NASA dates. One day a weekend instead of two, but I'm not out here running for points, I'm trying to learn to drive my car as best as I can. I'll switch over to Pro-Auto sports, for most of the rest of the events. I'm going to spend my money where I will have the best time.

grocery store hell

I recently went to the new Fry's Marketplace today to buy groceries for easter dinner. The store was exactly busy, in fact it seemed like there were more fry's employees standing around being pains in the ass than helpful. What appalled me the most, was how absolutly awful the shoppers were. Not all of them, but quite a few. One lady ran down and knocked over a demonstration cart in produce, and just kept right on going. Now I know she knew that she hit it because she looked at it when it made such a resounding crash upon hitting the floor. Next was a woman with a cart full of groceries and three kids hanging off her kind of like a female possum with its young riding on her back, with the exception of one little unruly bastard that was bouncing a super ball all over the place and running into people and things trying to catch it, he no doubt took it off a shelf, and didnt intend to pay for it. I saw one woman tell her husband he couldnt have any breyers cookies and cream ice cream and so he left it in the frozen chicken cooler. The best was the couple in front of the meat counter having a rather animated argument about something that probably wasnt even important enough to waste any breath on. What was so special about them is that he weighed in at about 450# and she was about 350#, and they had a cart full of stuff between them blocking the entire meat counter. When asked if they needed any help, the worlds largest oil sponge replied were just discussing something and they continued to argue until they finally waddled off and didnt by any meat anyway. And you wonder why I hate to go to the grocery store.

that little voice.

Today you get to hear about that little voice in my head. I dont often hear voices. Sometimes I even ignore people when they are talking to me. This weekend though I heard that little voice in my head and I surely should have listened. You all should know by know that I road race a corvette. It is truly an addiction for me. Ive always wanted to race cars and know I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity. Its on a very small scale, club racing, but it's still the most fun I've ever had.

This was a race weekend. One that I was really looking forward too. New shocks, New brakes, New tires, and racing at Phoenix International Raceway, I really like it there the infield is challenging for me and I have to work at it to go fast. This is also one of those tracks that is surrounded by walls, tire walls, concrete walls, walls with safer barriers on them, etc. I think the walls are somewhat like the rails in an arena. If you dont look at them, they dont really exist and you wont catch your pleasure driving cart on the. The walls are the same. You look at the walls and you run into the walls, I never look at the walls, until this weekend.

In the first session, I was just going to be cautious, lots of new things about the car, just find out what it going to do and learn. Well I learned I loved the new shocks, I really like the race brakes, and I hated the new tires. They were slick, you see race tires usually are a little slick, but most of the time they have more grip than street tires. Well these were like driving on ice. I had been running a used set of race tires on the front, and a really wore out set of nitto street tires on the back, so I was really surprised when my new set were so bad. More information here. They actually werent new. Just new to me. I purchased them from a friend of mine who had used them twice, and he purchased them from a friend who had only used them a couple of times himself. They were an old set of viper racing league tires, and I actually dont know when they were made, but they are hard as hockey pucks. After the first session. Which I was slow as an elephant in. They never warmed up and got any grippier. When I checked my tires pressures at the end. They were the same as when I started. Not good, I dont think. They were REALLY slick. I know myself well enough that when the little voice in my head says, your not going to like these tires, just buy new ones. I should listen. In the past when the little voice talks to me, it is ALWAYS right. ALWAYS. It would have been easy to buy a new set, because the tire distributor was at the track and I could have had them mounted and balanced, no shipping charge. Just go and buy them. I convinced myself to give them one more session. After all it was warming up outside there had been more cars on the track, I was slow so I was going out almost last if they were bad, I'd just get new ones.

Well on the warm up lap I was now pretty sure that my little voice was right. I still hated them. The brakes were great. The new shocks did exactly what I thought they should. I was liking the car except for the tires. Still like driving on ice. The green flag waved and I was going down the front stretch at 120 mph. That is not fast for my car a nice comfortable speed. You see at the end of the front stretch you have to turn left, there is a big bump and the middle of the turn where the track transitions from the banking of the speedway to the infield section so the closer you are to the wall, the smaller the bump. I know this. I love to stay close to the wall its a rush for me, great fun. I slowed down early because I knew the tires sucked and my little voice had already told me again that this wasnt going to work, and when I slowed down I looked back to see where one of the club members was because he was following me and I didnt want to get in his way, well by the time I looked back forward I had missed my mark to turn in. Not by a little, but about 6 feet. That put me right in the middle of the big part of the bump. This is when the part of my brain that I actually listen to said "you have F------d up. I had. You see when you miss your mark in racing, it is a lot like missing your mark when your riding your horse in jumping or some pattern class. Its not going to be good. I remember looking down at the speedo when I headed off into the turn and it said 75, i though well thats pretty slow, I have bialed off into this turn at over 100 before so I might be ok.. WRONG. I really hit the bump, the first time I've ever really felt it. Hard and the car really bounced, and the back end snapped around to the right. It's truly amazing how the brain works, I had my eyes open and I remember everything I saw and did. I turned the wheel to the right and thought the car might straighten up. It always had before, nope no grip it just kept coming around to the right, I saw Darrel in front of me spinning thru the grass and I though well at least I'm not alone, as the car continued to come around I saw the other Darrel behind me coming to a stop so he wouldnt hit me, and I looked back out the right side window because know I was spinning backwards and to the right and I saw the wall getting closer. I was looking right at it and I actually thought "I am going to hit the f-----g wall." I did. Backed right into it and an angle breaking the rear wheel right off the spokes. The sound of the impact was a lot louder than the impact felt, and then the right front snapped into the wall, also breaking the front wheel. I turned the steering wheel to the right and the car moved off the wall and came to a stop facing the right direction on the other side of the track. The rest of the story is only worse. The safety guys got there while I was taking off my helmet and gloves and releasing the safety harness. I had to wait in the car until the ambulance got there because your not supposed to get out of the car unless its on fire. You see you dont want to get hit by the other drivers coming by going oh shit, Dan hit the wall. Driving thru silver c5 corvette pieces laying all over the track. AT this moment, actually getting stuck by another car and getting killed would have been a lot less embarrasing. I got in the ambulance because they dont let you walk around and look at the car before they haul it away and I took the obligitory ride to the care center where they look at your pupils, take your pulse, listen to your heart and lungs, take your pulse, and check your blood pressure which ws 150 over 80, the emt guy said that was really low for someone who had just smacked the wall.
By the time I had signed the release forms with the ambulance, and then filled out the incident report with the track officials, I finally got to go back to the pits and get my bike and find my car which was at the other end of the track in the impound yard covered under a tarp. It looked really bad sitting there like that. I didnt actually cry until we had it loaded into the trailer at the end of the day. Its really not busted up all that bad. Doesnt need any body panels just a crack in the fender, two broke wheels, some drivetrain parts and the right front headlight bucket. Which was coming out anyway.
The point of this whole story is Listen to that little voice in your head. Sometimes it just might be right.
Until next time.

our government

I have thought for some time that our congressmen and senators really dont have a clue what goes on in the real world. I also thought that they didnt care either. Over the course of the last week I, unfortunatly have proven myself correct. I decided to conduct a little experiment, everyone says that to get a bill passed, or to stop a bill etc. To get in touch with you local state representative and make your opinion known, so I did. I have spent the last week. Looking up all of the local congressmen and senators and contacting them. I asked them a very simple question. Any time in the past 4 years have they sat down with any of their constituents and had a conversation about the economy, health care, unemployment, welfare, etc. I sent out a nice email. I used spell check so I didnt look like a drunk redneck, I tried to word it in the style of an open question. No accusations or personal affronts to whether or not I actually think they are qualified to have their particular public office. Just a very neutral nice e mail. You all know just how hard that was for me to do. Every one of their web sites had a contact button so it really wasnt very hard to do. I left my email address, and my contact information as requested. I am even a registered voter here in AZ so they could check up on me and see if I was allowed to have an opinion. I sent out basically the same email to 6 different state and national officials. Well guess what. NOT ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Even send me a thank you for contacting us. Not a kiss my ass, your too stupid, anything. Just what does that say about the people we are electing.
If you run a business with a website and you put a contact button on it. I would assume that you do that so that you can get in touch with the interested party. Not this group of AZ elected officials. I have decided to take it one further. I am going to pic one of the local T.V. stations and send them the same e mail with my story and see if they would like to try the experiment also. I bet the average Tom, Dick or Harry gets no response, but if they send the e mail from their respective T.V. station. They will get one.
Until next time.