Saturday, September 27, 2008

I'm against the Bailout (posted with permission)

I got this in an email this weekend and thought it was worth sharing.

I'm against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG.

Instead, I'm in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a We Deserve It Dividend.

To make the math simple, let's assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+. Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up.

So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billon that equals $425,000.00. My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a

"We Deserve It Dividend"

Of course, it would NOT be tax free.
So let's assume a tax rate of 30%.
Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes.
That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam .
But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket.
A husband and wife has $595,000.00.

What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?

Pay off your mortgage – housing crisis solved.
Repay college loans – what a great boost to new grads
Put away money for college – it'll be there
Save in a bank – create money to loan to entrepreneurs.
Buy a new car – create jobs
Invest in the market – capital drives growth
Pay for your parent's medical insurance – health care improves
Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean – or else

Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces. If we're going to re-distribute wealth let's really do it...instead of trickling out a puny $1000.00 ( "vote buy" ) economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our
candidates for President.

If we're going to do an $85 billion bailout, let's bail out every adult U S
Citizen 18+!

As for AIG – liquidate it. Sell off its parts. Let American General go back to being American General. Tell off the real estate. Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.

Here's my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn't.Sure it's a crazy idea that can "never work." But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party! How do you spell Economic Boom?

I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion We Deserve It Dividend more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC . And remember, The Birk plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam .

Ahhh...I feel so much better getting that off my chest.

Birk

aka T. J. Birkenmeier,
A Creative Guy & Citizen of the Republic

PS: Feel free to pass this along to your pals as it's either good for a laugh
or a tear or a very sobering thought on how to best use $85 Billion!!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

What I would rather be doing......

I would much rather be posting about my weekend in Ohio with Shay. I would much rather be posting about what we did. I would much rather be posting about her Graduation and how proud I am of her. I would much rather be posting about our drive home, which I would rather have been posting was an enjoyable drive. But I can't and it wasn't and this week since (has it been a week?) has been the week from hell.

As is the norm with most teenagers, Anna(my exchange student) and I have had some communication issues. You say that is typical? That is what I thought. That was my experience with my own teenage daughter. She did not understand why I needed her to call everyday when she got home from school but I thought we had that worked out. It came out last week that Anna does not know how to clean a bathroom. And since she is responsible for cleaning her own bathroom she needs to know how to clean a toilet, sink and tub. It came out last week that Anna's family has a housekeeper who does these things. Well, I guess when she returns she will know how to clean those things. Well, that was the plan.

You see, I have a neighbor who I thought was helping me out. She would let Anna come over and hang out with them. When she called me on Sunday to ask if Anna could go shopping with her on Monday I told her that I did not have a problem with that but that I needed Anna to ask me. I needed Anna to communicate with me. I explained that we were having this communication issue and I needed her help and asked her not to get in the middle of things. At the same time I asked her not to tell Anna she would do things with her until they had been cleared with me. You see, my thought was that if she mentioned it to Anna first and for whatever reason I said no then I was the bad guy. Are you following me?

Without going into all the gory detail I can tell you that last night I delivered Anna and all of her stuff to the area coordinators home. They are scheduled to conduct a home check on the neighbors this morning (same neighbor as above) who contacted the coordinator while I was on the road and said they would like to take Anna. WTF. This all came out on Tuesday when we drove out to the coordinators house for a meeting that I hoped would help Anna and I understand each other. Anna pretty much had her mind made up that she wanted to leave my house and go to the neighbors. So we arrived home late (again) on Tuesday knowing that one day soon Anna would be leaving and more than likely it would be the neighbors. Have you followed me so far?

Wed came and Anna left for school at the normal time. When she got home she called me to tell me that she was "here". Usually she says I am home. She then went to a neighbor boys house (not the same neighbor) to do homework. She arrived home sometime while I was out mowing the lawn so I did not see her. I came in and Shay started dinner for me while I took a shower. Then I grilled some pork chops and asked Shay to tell Anna that dinner was ready. Anna was not hungry so would not be joining us.

Thursday morning came and again Anna left for school. This time when she got home Shay was here. I had forgotten my cell phone anyway. I told Shay to ask Anna if she needed anything for her costume for Friday (lat night) as we had tickets to the Disney Not So Scary Halloween Party. Anna said that she didn't think I wanted her there and that she did not want to ruin my time. So they talked a bit and I got home around 6pm. Shay told me that Anna said she was tired and was going to bed. Again, are you following me?

I felt like Shay and I were walking on egg shells. Not know what to say and having this person living in the house who obviously did not want to be there. I called the coordinator and after speaking for a while it was decided that I would take Anna out there. So yesterday after Anna got "home" from school we packed up and drove out there. Shay and continued on to Disney as we decided to go toe the Halloween event. Pictures to come. We got home after 1am. I went into Anna's room and found a note on the bed that she had written me. Basically the "it's not you, it's not me, it just is".

Don't get me wrong, I am not angry or mad at Anna. She is a kid. Of course she wants to be at the fun house. I was going to teach her how to clean toilets, sinks and tubs. I was teaching her to consequence of not planning ahead for homework and having to tell the teacher why you don't have your homework done. She told me at 6:30 on Sunday that she needed to go to Walmart to print some pictures for an assignment that was due on Monday. It should have been done before she went with the exchange program to Disney all weekend.

So now I have to live across from Anna and these neighbors for the next 9 months. I then have to live across the street from these people (who I thought were friends) for the rest of the time that I live in Florida. They had their house on the market for almost a year and just took it off within the last month.

So hubby told me yesterday that one of the Marine Officers that he is in school with told him the story about his friend who had an exchange student. The same thing happened to them. The student became friends with the neighbors and asked to be moved. And get this, the student was from Sweden. I think the program makes it too easy for them just to say I want to be moved when the going gets a little tough. I have been having conversations with Anna's father and he was helping me figure out ways to communicate with Anna.

How did I go from being The Best State and the Best Family to this?

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Wednesday Hero


Click Image For Full Size
Yeoman 3rd Class Margret Ueberlauer
U.S. Navy

Yeoman 3rd Class Margret Ueberlauer hands out toys to HIV infected children during a community relations project at the Camillian Center in Pattaya, Thailand. The USS Abraham Lincoln Strike Group is on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility.


These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
Wednesday Hero Logo

Monday, September 22, 2008

MONDAY = GRADUATION!!!

A1C Sharayah Farrell graduated from Medical Laboratory Technician School this morning. There were 5 class members who graduated today. I am proud to say that Shay, along with 2 classmates, received an award for acedemic excellence. I don't have the cert in front of me so I am not exactly sure what they called it but will update this post when we get back home tomorrow. We just loaded the car and are now waiting to attend her finaly outprocessing briefing at 1pm (1300 for you military folks) and then we will hit the road. We are planning dinner in Nashville which is about 5 hours from here and then it is another 10 hours into Tampa. Thanks for all the good wishes. We have had a good visit. Yesterday I got to meet Airmanmom's son John. We took him to the Olive Garden for lunch and spent about 2 hours together. He is a nice boy (cute too). I told him and Shay that it is every Air Force Moms wish that our kids will meet someday. Then they can all discuss just how weird their moms are and why we make them meet strange people. I have pics and will post them tomorrow. As soon as we take naps. Then I have to catch up on my blog reading. I feel so out of it.

Bye bye

Friday, September 19, 2008

Our Trip

I will start by saying that as of right now (10am EST) It will be 28 hours until I see Shay!!! Not that I am counting.

So, as you know I am flying to Ohio tomorrow. I land in Dayton at 1:45pm so give or take 10 mins I should get my "skin time" by 2pm. I am hoping to take the girls (Shay and her friend Natalie) to them HERE for dinner. I love going there. That is IF they get their power back on. They have been without power since Sunday. They told me that they had to through away a ton of food. So I asked if they would even have food to serve if they get power. He said that the food was deliverable within 2 hours of power being restored.

Well I probably won't be able to post until we get back to Tampa on Tuesday so I wanted to wish everyone a great weekend (You know I will be having one) and I promise to post pictures and stories on Tuesday. PROMISE!!

Our journey will begin on Monday sometime after 1pm. It is supposed to take about 15 hours to drive and I don't want to get to the house before 7:30 (don't want to wake the dog sitter) so we will be taking our time. We will drive through Cincinnati, Louisville, Nashville, Chatanooga, Atlanta and then on down through Florida. I know, we are going slightly out of the way, But that is so we can stop in Nashville as WE have never been there. Wish us a safe journey.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

48 Little Hours

Yep, 2 days, 48 hours, 1,440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. That is how much longer until I get to Ohio and get to see my baby.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Wednesday Hero

L/Cpl. Jason Hanson
L/Cpl. Jason Hanson
21 years old from Forks, Washington
3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force
July 29, 2006
U.S. Marine Corps.

L/Cpl. Jason Hanson died when a gasoline truck near a building he was in exploded, causing the building to collapse in Al Anbar province, Iraq. Three other Marines were also killed in the blast. Lance Cpl. Anthony E. Butterfield, 19 yrs. old, of Clovis, California; Cpl. Phillip E. Baucus, 28 yrs. old, of Wolf Creek, Montana; Sgt. Christian B. Williams, 27 yrs. old, of Winter Haven, Florida.

Hanson graduated in 2003 and joined the Marines in 2005. He married his wife just before shipping out.


These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

My Weekend

First thing we did was attend the Freedom Walk. Here is Anna and I after the walk.


Here is one of the young walkers. I appreciate the lesson that her mother is teaching her by attending these types of events.


This one is just to make you all jealous that we had such a fantastic view and the weather was perfect.


And here is one of me presenting a Grateful American Coin to a Vietnam Veteran.


What I don't have a picture of is of the older veteran I presented a coin to while we were in the BX. He was there with his granddaughter. He gave me 2 hugs and enjoyed talking about his service and I enjoyed letting him.

So we were able to get Anna's Annual Pass for Disney at the reduced price at MacDill and off we went. I wanted to make sure she was able to exchange her ticket for the actual pass. No problems. Then we spent a few hours at Disney Hollywood Studios. We made it just in time for her to see the High School Musical Show. And Saturday was the last day for the event. Then we stayed for the Block Party Bash. That was a lot of fun too. Here are just a few shots from then.



And finally today I attended my first Blue Star Mothers Group Meeting. Somehow I got elected to the position of Financial Secretary. How did that happen on my first meeting? I think it was by default. Here is the small group of ladies so far.



I think I need to go back to work so I can get some rest. I think I should go do some laundry now. Have a good week.

Oh, Oh, Oh,...I forgot one of the best events from this weekend. Last night the Oklahoma Sooners kicked the Washington Huskies butt BIG TIME. It was a really good game.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Florida

So, I live in Florida. I don't LIKE it but you do have to find humor in it. My FIL sent me these yesterday and I wanted to share them with all ya'll. I hope you enjoy.










Thursday, September 11, 2008

Remember



Do you remember where you were when you heard? I do and always will. I was still in bed. I lived in Seattle, WA and hubby had just left for work. The Today Show was on TV and I was just waking up and thinking about getting out of bed. I lazily rolled over and was listening to Katie and Matt when they talked about a plane hitting one of the towers. So I was looking at the screen thinking that some idiot in a small plane just did the most stupid thing. Then all of a sudden we saw the other plane fly into the other building. That day forever changed my life. I had just returned from a trip to Japan. I still had friends that were there. They were stuck for an extra week. Luckily they were able to stay with relatives.

I did not know anyone who died in New York but my husband had recently met MG Maud who perished at the Pentagon.

So, when you sit in your nice comfy home and wonder why we are still fighting over there...REMEMBER

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Where did the weekend go?

I can't believe it is already Sunday. Where did this weekend go? Lets see, Friday after work I had to go to Costco. Then I came home and Anna was getting ready to go to the high school football game with some friends. (Cool). Talked to Hubby who was on his way home from Montgomery, AL. Then I drove down to Bradenton to pick up one of these.



It is a Cricut and it does amazing things. I am stepping into the world of scrapbooking and the water is deep. I found a group that does "cropping" every Friday night from 6-midnight and then every other Saturday they get together as well. Think I am going down next Friday. And I have someone I can put all the blame on. One Scrappy Chicklet! Yep, that be her. I was over there checking things out and I saw some of the pages she has created for her kids and I just had to find out how. Go on, check it out.

So, where was I? Oh, Saturday. We got up and did a few chores and we decided to do something out of my "what to do in Florida" book. Hubby picked something that was close. We were gonna go "tubing" on the Lithia Springs River. Sounds like a fun way to spend the day. Hubby goes online and figures out directions and we start driving. Couldn't find the place where you are supposed to start. Finally I tell hubby to call the number in the book. They tell us that they haven't done that for over 20 years. WTF! This book is not that old. So now what? We decided to go home, eat lunch and then go to the pool. Of course I had to send Shay a picture txt of the pool. I can be so mean. Anna's father called from Sweden while we were there. He told me he was jealous. Although when he says it it comes out helous. They are so nice. We told him that when he would be up skiing then we would be the jealous ones. I had marinaded some steak meat before we left so by 6pm it was perfect. Then for about 2 hours hubby helped Anna with her history homework. No playing Wii for us last night.

Sunday found hubby and I mowing the yard. He did the back yard and I did the front. I also did the house next door since nobody lives there. I don't want overgrown grass detracting from my nice lawn. While I was doing the front, hubby was helping Anna with the rest of her homework. Before we knew it it was time for him to start the long drive (7 hours) to Montgomery, AL. He did not want to go this time. He got choked up when he was getting in his car.

So Anna and I signed up for the Freedom Walk this coming Saturday. It should be fun. Then I am going to take Anna to visit MacDill AFB and we might head out to Disney World for a little bit in the evening.

And lastly I need to report that I joined the Blue Star Mothers Group. Anyone with a son/daughter in the military should join. I have my first meeting next weekend.



WOW, next weekend is going to be busy for me. Cropping on Friday, Walking on Saturday and a meeting on Sunday. And then, and then, the next weekend I head to Ohio! You all know I can't wait.

Hope your weekend was as nice as mine.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Here's to new friends

I am here today to promote a few new blogs that I stumbled upon yesterday. But first I want to answer a question that I got from Shay. "Mom, How did you get all of those friends?" I told her it started with one person and many of us here blame her for it and at the same time, we love her for it. That would be Hallie. Hallie was the first of us AF Moms to link her blog on the group. I came over and read and read and read. I spent the whole morning at work one day reading all the back blogs and really felt like I came to know her and her family. Then another mom started a blog, and another, and another. And somewhere in there I started a blog. It was a way to show case my lovely daughter and talk to people about what I do. Or don't do.

We both wondered if there is a search engine in this blogging world that allows you to search for common words and places. Does anyone know?

Now, I want to showcase 3 new blogs that I found yestderday.

The first is Rick because he came over and left a comment on my blog and gave great advice to Shay for her blog. So I went to his blog and boy am
I glad I did. Do you want a special drawing for your blog? He is the man. I have been over there lurking. From his blog I found a couple others that I think are worth checking out. Let me know what you think.

Dawn is the mother of 6, that is why her blog is mom2my6pack and she is funny. You gotta go take a look.I know I will be back.

And then I found this one, the righteous buzz. Another one that shows that life can be funny. And so real. I will be back to view hers as well.

If you are looking for something new today I recommend these with your morning diet coke. Or coffee if you are so inclined.

And I will leave you with the inclination to view My Shays Blog. She made a good dent yesterday and you will learn some things about her. Might even be things that her mother doesn't know. BWAAAAAAHAAAAHAAAA...never

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

I got an award!!

Lisa at My New Thing To Do presented me with an award last week and I am finally getting around to accepting it. Thank You Lisa!

Not sure if I Blog with a Purpose. But just the knowledge that she thinks that much of me makes me so happy. I love to read her stories of events that happened when she was on duty. She is a fantastic grandma to her grandkids. And, we have people in common. Oklahoma people! It just goes to show that this truly is a small blogging world.

Now, I need to pass it on. I just found my way to this blog this past week and love to go read up on what is happening. If anyone is blogging with a purpose it is a Military Mom. Check out Arkansas Army Mom and read about her son who just left for Army Basic Training. And if you check out her other blog you can learn about Scrap Booking. Anna and I will be getting ideas for her scrapbook from her. Is plagiarism legal in the blogging world? You also need to check out the blog of her other two sons. They really love and miss their brother.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Weekend Update

We went to the Tampa Bay Rays vs Baltimore game on Saturday. It was an early game (3:55 start time) and I thought I was doing good by getting us there an hour early. Since I had never been to the Tropicana Field I had no idea. If I ever go to another game there I know to get there much earlier.

Here is Anna trying Dippin Dots for the first time.
This is showing the field. We were actually pretty close but had to turn our heads left to see the action. I know next time (remember, if I go to another game) to get seats so that you can look straight on.
And looking back at the stadium as we were leaving.
We have to drive across the Sunshine Skyway Bridge to get home. This is a very tall bridge. It is designed so that a ship can pass underneath to get into Tampa Bay. I swear if I ever see a ship getting ready to go through..I will not drive over it.
Anna taking pictures of the bridge and water.
Well, that was our Saturday. Went out yesterday (Sunday) looking for an electronic Swedish to English Translator. They have just about every other language but not Swedish. I did find one on the Internet today that I think she is going to get.

Then yesterday evening I installed a new thermostat so that I can set the schedule for the air conditioning. Got a little worried and was just about ready to call an electrician because I could not get the thing to power on. I checked everything and even went and asked the guy across the street. But luckily I was on the phone with the gal about the coins (see link to the right) and she suggested I check out the fuse located in the unit. Sure enough! I took off the front panel on the unit in the garage and there it was, a blown fuse. Back to Lowes...Nope, they did not have what I needed. Off I go to Walmart. I had to get a whole kit to get the one I wanted but it saved me a bundle. I finally got the air conditioner running. That would have been hard to sleep with no air conditioner going. Then today I finally replaced the burners on my gas grill. It took them from April until August to get the replacements sent to me. So I guess I got my honey do list done for the weekend.