A Memorial Day thanks.

While we enjoy a day off from work, have fun at the picnics in the park, the backyard barbecues, and drive home safely from your camping trip. Remember the men and women who are sitting in foxholes on the other side of the world. Give a toast to those who gave their lives so we can be free. Forget the lopsided politicians throwing volleys of epithets at one another to get re-elected. Turn off the talk show hosts who spew venom through the airwaves. We can argue the merits of fighting in three wars (Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya). That's what makes us great. What we can't argue is the sacrifice that is made by the troops and their families who wait with worried breath. I think of my uncle who was taken from his freshman year in college to fight the Germans during World War II. He physically survived, but the mental scars were just as deadly. Think of the soldiers who lined up shoulder to shoulder and marched toward the enemy with bullets flying during the Civil War. Think of the troops at Valley Forge who didn't have proper shoes and died of frostbite, hyperthermia, and starvation.  

Enjoy your hot dog and beer, but say a little prayer for those that made it possible to be free. To the troops, both present and past, thank you for your sacrifice so I can be free.

My guest Author post - check it out!

I recently wrote and article for a fellow book blogger who is also reviewing my novel. You can check out Inga's blog and my article at her site at:  
http://www.ingasilbergbooks.com/2011/05/wednesday-wonderings-1-guest-post-by.html

He is serious this time.

I was just reading the doomsday man, the predictor of the end of the world, the biblical genius who deciphers the word of God, says he was wrong. The world will really end on October 21st. No really, really, really. This time it's for real. No joking. He's not kidding. Just send him some more donations, quit your job, buy some neat tee-shirts and parade around large cities with a sign around your neck stating that you will work for food. Oh sorry . . . wrong bum. Is this guy serious? Everyone is entitled to their own opinion until it hurts someone else. Tell that to the kid who just lost their college fund. The bible says if you touch a pig on the Sabbath the consequences are death by stoning. Nice! I guess we can't play football on Saturday. I know footballs aren't made of pigskin anymore, but you get my point. I guess every kook has his day . . .  or not.

Heaven is a fairy story or end of days?

Stephen Hawking, the famous physicist declared that heaven was a "fairy story". He knows this because he has spent his life thinking about the universe. He has concluded that God does not exist. The atheists are cheering him on. I think Hawking has been staring into space so long he's missed the little things, like a butterfly landing on a flower, the eyes of a newborn baby when they open and gaze upon you for the first time, a rainbow, and sunsets over the Pacific Ocean. Maybe in heaven he can get out of that chair and run. You would think he would hope for that. Here are some questions for you Mr. Hawking: Why is mankind the only creature on earth that loves, cries, feels compassion, builds incredible things, hates, and even kills for no reason? Without the concept of heaven or hell, what's the point? If we are just electrical circuits why do anything? For a genius, he's an idiot, and I wish he would keep his comments to physics.   

Then we have the doomsayers who believe the world is about to end this Saturday, May 21st. It is judgment day or the rapture to those more biblical. That's when the good, the meek, and the blessed go directly to heaven. They don't pass "go" or collect $200 (zing!). Everyone else is subject to fire, floods, and brimstone. The teachers of these beliefs arrived at this date (they've been wrong before) through careful analysis of biblical passages. For thousands of years these folks have predicted the end of times. Some even committed suicide to ride a comet (remember Hale-Bop). I guess that didn't work out so well since the real end of times is this weekend. Then we have the Mayan calendar predicting the end of times as December 12, 2012. Has anyone been to Yucatan and seen what is left of the Mayan civilization? Enough said about their genius. 

Just to be on the safe side, you might want to move up anything you want to do this weekend to Friday.

Presidential race. Pop goes the weasel.

I try to not get political here, but I need to rant!

It seems like we just got out of one election and already are filled with media events by hopeful candidates. The same faces keep popping up, over and over, like one of those clown boxes where you turn the wheel and a puppet jumps out at you. "Round and round cobbler's bench the monkey chased the weasel; the monkey thought 'twas all in fun; Pop goes the weasel." I keep hearing it my head every time I see Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, and Mike Huckabee. I want to stick two fingers down my throat and gag. Donald Trump isn't going to run. Why would he? He is a publicity hound. Sarah Palin. She's not going to run either. She's making $22 million a year now. Are we stuck with this cast of misfits?  I am sick of the constant barrage from radio and television head-bangers (you know who you are) from both parties telling us about the trouble our country is in. Here is some news for you. WE KNOW IT. We feel it every day. Our credit card has a limit. Our gas tanks are empty. Our jobs require us to work. We don't have time to campaign around the country. We would be fired if we used the corporate jet to fly out to see our buddies at Facebook to have dinner.

I read in the newspaper that California is closing 65 state parks. The people who run this state are idiots. People will pay to use the parks. People will pay to camp at the parks. People will pay to see the exhibits. Here's a thought. Charge more. People will pay it. At least the governor axed the new death row at San Quentin that would have cost us $300+ million. Here's thought. Execute them or change their sentence to life without parole. Stop wasting the taxpayer's time and money.

By the way. Survivor finale tonight!  

Carpool lanes . . .

This morning while driving to work I was wondering about carpool lanes. I know what you're thinking. Why would Rick be thinking about the diamond lanes on the freeway when there are so many other things to worry about: Who is the next terrorist on the Navy Seals list (great job fellas'!)? The national debt. Home prices. The Stock Market. The price of gold. The price of gas. The 2012 election (are you kidding?). Taxes. Immigration control. The nuclear meltdown in Japan (have you noticed the media stopped talking about that?). Who is going to win American Idol? Why is Dancing with the Stars so popular? Is Kim Kardashian going to be posing in a bikini today? Who the hell is Coco? And the Jersey Shore in Italy. With all these important issues to fog up my brain, why focus on the carpool lane. Because it irritates me.

During the peak hours of traffic, we take a perfectly good freeway and shrink it by one lane. That's a good idea! What governmenl worm thought this up? Can't the Tea Party do something about it? Can we have the Seals raid their compound? Our liberty is being violated. Am I the only one who thinks the carpool lane is stupid? The premise is that people will carpool to save gas. Have you ever watched the people flying by while you inch forward at a snails pace? Half of them (and we aren't talking about Hybrids) only have one person in the car. The CHP (at $281 per ticket) could put a huge chunk in the state's debt. Just put cop at both ends and have him point to the side of the freeway to receive a fat ticket. While they are at, they can issue another ticket to the people who think holding the cell phone as a speakerphone are not breaking the law. I say we get rid of carpool lanes. Open the freeway up to all of us. If carpoolers want to have their own lane, give it to them between 9:00AM and 3:00PM. They will still feel special and all of us could get to work a bit faster.