Earth Hour, Al Gore & Global Warming. Oh My!

I hate the hype that Al Gore has heaped onto global warming. He uses sensationalism to scare people to his cause. But after going to the Global Warming website, I feel much better. The folks there have a much calmer view of it and realize that we don’t have all the answers. It’s a whole different story than what you see on the news. I do believe that global warming is real, but it’s a natural cycle of the earth. Just like ice ages. Please check out the website.

What got me started on this was the Earth Hour event that takes place tomorrow night. For one hour at 8:30pm local time, everyone shuts off the lights. I’m not sure what is expected of this gesture, but I’d like to see the results.

Turn out. Take action.
Be part of this historic event.
March 28, 2009, 8:30 pm local time
World Wildlife Fund is asking
individuals, businesses, governments and organizations
around the world to turn off their lights for
one hour – Earth Hour – to make a
global statement of concern about
climate change and
to demonstrate commitment
to finding solutions.

Welfare Drug Testing and a Joke

I got this joke from my Dad and I love it. This is coincidental to the story I just saw on CNN. Congress authorizes states to require drug testing to those on welfare. So far, eight states are contemplating it. I say "About time!" If you have money for drugs, then you don't need mine!

I recently asked my friends' little girl what she wanted to be when she grows up.She said she wanted to be President some day. Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, we were standing there, so I asked her, "If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?" She replied, "I'd give food and houses to all the homeless people." Her parents beamed."Wow!...what a worthy goal."

I told her, "But you don't have to wait until you're President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull weeds and sweep my yard and I'll pay you $50. Then I'll take you over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out and you can give him the $50 to use toward food and a new house. "She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me straight in the eye and asked,

"Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?" I said, "Welcome to the Republican Party." Her parents still aren't talking to me.

The Best Laid Plans . . .

of mice and men often go awry.  Of course, it might help if I'd actually planned a little better.  My plans to attend Connecticut School of Broadcasting are no more.  Two days after I get a note from Sallie Mae saying that my first disbursement has been sent to the school, Carroll calls me and tells me to turn on the news.  I didn't see it on the tv but it was all over the internet. 

Seems that the school had been having some problems and their bank froze all of their assets.  Fortunately, all states are required to have a fund in place to handle these situations and Sallie Mae seems to be willing to help.  As for the loan, I don't see any problems getting it taken care of, but I've got a co-signer that I would like to keep as calm as possible.

I went and checked out another school, but I think that I'm just gonna go back to work and finish paying off more of our debt and try it again in about a year.  That's the one thing that I've learned out of this fiasco is how much money it takes to keep us afloat.  We've been living on just Carroll's income these 3 months and we still put money in the bank and pay on debt.  If we didn't have debt, we would have a substantial savings account.  So, by going back to work and utilizing that money, instead of blowing as it seems we've done the last 6 years, we can knock it out and put some away.

Amazing what you can achieve when life throws curve balls at you!

A Little Common Sense

Decided to head out to Grapevine Mills today to do a little browsing and idea gathering. That wasn't the original idea though. I had a hankering for some cajun and didn't feel like overpaying for it at Razoo's. Supposedly, there was a place called the Bayou Cafe by the mall, but alas, it had fallen victim to these economic times. I figured since I was in the area that I might as well browse.

I parked the truck and as I got out I noticed the nice Mercedes parked next to me. Hanging from the mirror was a woman's work badge complete with picture, name, and where she worked. Folks, you don't have to be paranoid to know that this is not a good idea. If I were an animal, I would have more than enough info to stalk her or make her life miserable.

I've always mentioned things like this to my wife to make her more aware and it never hurts to talk about it some more. I'm a big boy and even I don't make mistakes like this. So, here's a few things that you may want to rethink.

1. Any kind of badge or ID needs to be put away preferably on your person or in a purse. If it's left in the car, it can be stolen.
2. If you pick up the mail while you are out, same thing goes. Put it in your purse or somewhere you have control of it.
3. And on this one, I'm not trying to scare people, but then that may not be a bad thing. Stickers on your vehicle with your child's name, jersey number, and the team they play for are not a good idea. How easy would it be for some maniac to walk up to your child at a game and say that he was there to pick him/her up because you would be running late?

These are only the tip of the iceberg, but they are the ones that I seem to see the most. If I've scared you, then maybe it is a good thing and you'll start to think when you're out and about. Remember, it's not the same world as when we were kids!

Bailout Size Overwhelms The Mind

Every time you turn on the news the bailout numbers keep getting bigger and bigger. How is it a country that can just up and print it's own money ends up in a credit crisis? Here's an illustration showing the size of a trillion dollars. Just try to wrap your head around it. I dare you.

How big is a trillion

Ane Brun

Caught this on the astropixie's blog and was mesmerized. The haunting vocals and the slightly out-of-tune guitar make it hard not to listen. Her rendition of "True Colors" was used in a few commercials, including Kodak, and you can hear it on MySpace. Also, on the MySpace page is a remake of "Big In Japan" by Alphaville. Very nice.

Ane Brun At MySpace

Black Cab Sessions

NINA KINERT & ANE BRUN from Diaspro on Vimeo.

I guess I should be nicer

Average person has at least 150 friends. Man, I gotta work on that!

Friends! How many of us have them? - Whodini

Free Resume Printing From Fedex

Due to the hard times befalling many Americans, Fedex is stepping up to the plate to help out.  On March 10, you will be able to walk into any Fedex location and get 25 black & white copies of your resume for free.  Feel free to check out the link below and read the whole story.  And also, let me know if you intend to take advantage of this or do you need to?

Free Resume Copies