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!!!