Don't Drink The Water!

Big XII North
KSU 4-2
Nebraska 3-2
Colorado 2-3
Iowa State 2-4
Kansas 1-4
Missouri 1-4

Big XII South
Texas 5-0
OSU 3-2
Texas Tech 3-2
Oklahoma 3-2
Texas A&M 2-3
Baylor 1-4

For some reason, the football gods must be laughing at Big XII football this year. KU and Missouri are tied for last in the North and God only knows where Oklahoma is. After watching years of epic battles where Nebraska would perform 5 yards and a cloud of dust and Oklahoma would put on an aerial show, the game over the weekend was more like watching paint dry. Our KU Quarterback who was rumored to be in the running for the Heisman Trophy. threw almost more interceptions than complete passes for two weeks in a row. KU's running game is really labeled three and out. I think the only way it would be considered if you looked at the number of yards he scrambled sideways before he threw those interceptions. Memo to self, Don't drink the water in Lawrence, Columbia or Norman.

There should be a special place in Heaven for those fans that go out to watch Kansas City Chief's football. They have more ways to snatch a loss from the jaws of victory than anyone else. Why people go out and pay good money to see them play eludes me. Hell, I won't even watch them on TV anymore.

Barb and I went to the local Ace Hardware store to purchase some composted manure for the garden. Ten bags is a good start. Didn't take too long to apply. But you all knew that I could shovel it with the best of them, didn't you. If it doesn't rain today I will probably hook up the tiller and give it a good stir in. I for sure will turn it in the spring if I don't get it done this fall.

Hope that your week is nice and you all have a great time out there. I will be either raking leaves or off to distant points with Dr Friesen's book.

MUD

All I wanted was a Chicken Dinner!

In our local Baptist Church, food was a pretty normal thing to have. There were special events with pies and lots of chili when we were building an addition. (Not so much beer or cigarettes, but chili and crackers with a Pepsi thrown in) One of the cutest girls in our church had a mother that made a chicken that was special. I did everything I could do, to wrangle an invitation for Sunday lunch where that Chicken was the main course. Finally, I am not sure of exactly how I managed it, but there I was and there was that special chicken.

As was the usual, there was enough chicken to feed an Army and I did my best to eat a goodly share of that wonderful treat. To make things better, there was heaping mounds of potatoes and that white chicken grease gravy that was just looking for a plate. I don't recall the vegetable but it was probably corn or green beans. Sheila's mom also made some dinner rolls that with just butter tasted like they had some honey in them.

After a nice lunch and lots of talk, we moved into the living room for a nice post meal visit. Sheila's mom looked at Sheila and said "Honey, your Dad and I think you are a little young to be getting serious." without missing a beat, Sheila said, "Mom you do realize that I am six months older than you were when you had me?" Shit oh dear, these people were talking kids and marriage and all I was there for was the chicken. Need less to say, I didn't work hard to get invited back to lunch after that.

MUD

Sunday Rumblings!

- I am reading a book written by Dr. Herb Friesen. He was medical Doctor and spent a great deal of his life serving mankind in areas oversea's. He was a graduate of KU Med School and he served in Indonesia as a General Practioner. He then went back to Chicago to become an Opthamoligist. That led him to serve in many other areas. He served in Afghanistan and has seen that beloved country go through three wars. His detailing of the lives of the people he served is an interesting insight from both a Medical sense and a political sense. Because of his underlying beliefs, he also detailed the problems of serving medicine and God. In a lot of cases it was easier to perform his medical duties than the adherence to his beliefs. He does express the dificulties of being overworked and his desire to maintain a good relationship with the people. Where he could not openly profess his religion, he and his family were "Role Models" as Christian people. I guess that's why his daughter Julie allowed me to become like a 'Grandpa-wannabe" with her children. Like my mother, I think she had hope for me.

It is my hope that the world continues to be served by people that have the desire to go to other countries and do the tough jobs. Dr friesen does indicate that a lot of countries now are being served by Doctors that are natives to their countries and trained in the US and England. In fact, he spent the last few years traveling and teaching some of those Doctors the art of Eye Surgery. I'm sure that his influence on the world was great.

Have a great day.

MUD

It's Debatable!

One of Barb's good friends and former co-worker asked us to be a volunteer judge at the Debate Tournament being held this week end at our local High School. They not only provided us with a great schedule, they conducted training to help us judge correctly. It was a complete hoot and I enjoyed the time immensely.

The topic this year is should the US significantly increase the social services provided to the people living in Poverty. Now, you might think that fiscal conservative would be so repulsed by the idea that I might not be fair. In fact, both affirmative teams won their debate and the second debate was clearly so close that I almost had to flip a coin to determine the winner. The first debate was a proposal to increase the size of the Job Service Corps to provide training in those skills that are energy driven. Solar, wind, heating, insulation, low voltage lights are the focus and paid for with the funds returned by the banks as they pay off the loans given them by the stimulus money. Winner on so many levels that I didn't have a problem with this one.

The second debate was to revamp head start and was so controversial that had the Negative team attacked it on the Topicality as not meeting the spirit of the topic that they could have won. There was no real expansion of this program, only qualitative improvements. They want a nationwide curriculum and for all the teachers to have a degree. The negative team had so many places to find fault that it should have been easy to defeat this proposal. They played softball and whiffed the fact that the proposal didn't meet the guidelines of substantial increase. Bummer for the negative team.

I think it is a wonderful topic for the National debaters to look at. They get to think of ways to improve what's out there and how to pay for it. A bonus for Barb and I was the fact that we got to meet the cream of the crop of the students today. Suits and ties, freshly washed faces and smiles around. 'Cides, Tupperware gets to sell all those "Totes" that are filled with facts and figures.

I hope you all get a chance to meet some of today's kids and see that in spite of the technology moving forward, the kids today are a lot more like the kids of my day. It did crack me up that the old timer of yesterday is now a timer function on a cell phone.

Get out and do something nice today. Going to be 70+ here and I for one will be out there with a big smile on my face.

MUD

Due Diligence

US Flag at half Staff over the White House

This morning the Rabbit Run, Commander-in-Chief and I had a discussion concerning the events at Fort Hood. I think this is the basis of a good discussion on the role of Government. Not that it will do anything for the servicemen and women killed an wounded at Fort Hood.

Is it the role of Government to protect all our liberties to the maximum extent possible? Is it the role of Government to intrude as little as possible so we can achieve our own liberties. Should we all have to go through metal detectors everywhere and have surveillance cameras monitor our lives?

One place Two-Dogs and I disagree is that he thinks that people that feel the over application of Government in our lives are stupid. I think that it is the furthest from the truth. If they were stupid we could easily defeat their ideas and that ain't happening McGee. In fact, there are many smart (although misguided in my humble opinion) people that want the Government to be so big that it provides everyone a place to start their quest from an equal footing. This system must provides safeguards to ensure the journey isn't without pitfalls.

To be fair, Barb discussed the Due Diligence issue from the point of view of a parent and discussed handgun control because of the ongoing trial mentioned in today's paper. A young man had a handgun in his pocket, he pulled it out and aimed it at the head of a three year old, and pulled the trigger. That unloaded gun went off and ended the chance of that child to grow up and be the President of the United States. How could a household full of adults not make sure that the kid didn't have a gun, that if he did, be so trained as to never point it at anybody and to run a dry run of the mechanism to clear the chamber. Is it the role of Government to provide Due Diligence and to ensure that no guns are available or at what limited role? Do we make people attend Gun safety classes so that we all know how to treat guns? There is a wonderful U-Tube of an instructor with a loaded gun that shoots himself as he puts his gun away.

I for one, cannot understand what could compel an officer, who is a Doctor, who is a devout religious man think that killing a bunch of unarmed soldiers is somehow a solution to the problems of the world. What could compel an ex-soldier to fill a Rider rental truck up with fertilizer and diesel fuel and blow up a Federal Office building? What would compel a man to fill his trunk with a weapon and a sniper and drive around near our nations capital shooting people. I do hope that if there is a Hell, those three will get a chance to meet there and discuss the issue.

No, I don't have all the answers. Hell, I am not sure that I understand all the questions.

MUD

Yesterday At Wal*Mart

Because it was kinda cool in the morning, I got a haircut and went to Wal*Mart in the early hours. There was this cute lady walking down one aisle and she had four of the cutest little kids in the shopping basket and one kid that looked to be about seven following her. Somewhere in the dim recesses of her brain, she had let the seven year old talk he into getting one of those plastic light sabers from Star Wars. He was playing Zorro with her butt and had managed to miss any direct hits, for a while.

I went by them and told the little man he was about to learn his "'a fixin' to's." I told him that the first time he scores a direct hit on his target he will be a fixin to get into more trouble than he has seen all day. That will lead in the direct and immediate confiscation of his weapon and perhaps the application of punishment on the buttocks. His mother said that I was entirely correct and one more direct poke and he was going to find himself weaponless.

Because of the mixed weather of the day, the clothes people were wearing was a mixture of cold weather gear and summertime casual. Heavy emphasis on the casual. I have always been against stretch pants. Especially ones that are stretched to look like a blivet. You know, 10 Lbs in a 5 Lb sack. Mostly they have been replaced by sweat pants and I swear, the pants that look like flannel pajamas. Folks, just before you go outside, stop by a mirror and take one last look at yourself. No, that doesn't mean take a pair of scissors to the legs of your sweatpants because they are dirty. Somewhere between what you wore to bed and what you wear outside should be some semblance of care and concern. This also applies to the children you take with you. A simple change of clothes and a wash rag on the face would do wonders. Just Saying.

Having the feeling that I had done my duty for the day, I moved on to the leaves. Our rental house has this big assed sycamore tree with great big leaves that seem to not get any smaller when they dry up and fall off. In fact, the only way I can manage to bag them up is to mulch them first and then put the leaf dust in those 30 gallon trash bags. I did about half and managed to fill the pickup bed full of those big old yellow trash bags of leaf dust. I think that by Christmas I might be able to draw air through my nostrils. By the end of today I should be able to finish the leaf work and turn to the garage cleaning and brush cutting.

Tomorrow will be a day off from yard work and I will go over to the High School to be a debate judge. The debate question this year is whether or not the US should apply additional substantial spending to Human services. What a question... I think it is great that all the Debaters stop and look at what we should do and what will happen if we do. After all, it is their future Washington is en-debting.

There is a great question out there concerning the Constitution. Where does it say that the Congress can without a constitutional amendment do all of the things it is trying to do? I thought the language that tells Congress what they can do was pretty clear. Now, I am not trying to tie the feds hand entirely, I just want them to try to focus on the big problems and those tasks on their job list as outlined in the Constitution.

How can AARP look at the overhaul of the health Care System to be a good thing. The Democrats have announced that there will be big cuts in the Medicare program to fund any change. That means that the seniors will get fewer services or pay more. I thought AARP was on our side. Oh well, they won't get any of my money.

Better get busy, the wife just rolled out and I'm sure that she will have words of wisdom or tasks to handle if I don't look busy.

MUD

Get ready, get Set - Roundball!

I'm pretty sure that November was the signal of the end of summer and fall was on hand for a good part of my life. Now it signals the beginning of Basketball season and the beginnings of the "What if" fever. I watch KU Basketball with a passion that I reserve for little else. The local TV channel manages to fulfill that passion as the Jayhawk network fills the air. Mostly they can do that because the chance of snagging a ticket to see games at Allen Field House is somewhere between Slim and None. Didn't they play for Baylor last year? It's strange that to see the Jayhawks, we have to travel to games away from home. Perhaps Colorado and Iowa State this year. Going North in January is always a threat. (not a treat, you never know where the snow will catch you)

To help the money stay in Kansas, KU is playing local college teams as their warm-ups. This is instead of those semi-pro teams that would come in and play a game and leave. I'm pretty sure that I don't remember most of them any more than I do the players that Fort Hays State University played last night. Heck, I was watching how many different player combinations Bill Self could put on the floor at any one time. There is one really tall team that can run and gun with about any team. there is a three guard combo that can our run and gun with about any team and an amazing team of Freshmen players that will probably be red-shirted for another season.

To make this an interesting mess, there is a 7 foot player not eligible until next semester and a couple of hurt players and one DUI recipient that will not play until next semester. Heck, there were four or five players that are returning players in street clothes waiting to see if they are going to red shirt this year. Some strange rule will let Freshmen play in the pre-season and then red shirt. The returning guys don't have that option. KU has almost enough players to field two teams of good players and have opposing teams to practice with.

The other thing about the fall here is leaves. We have a rental house with two large trees that fill many trash bags with large leaves. I now mow the leaves down into piles and then bag them. That way I can get all the leaves in my trailer to get them home in one trip. I have had a touch of some bug this week and about three hours of mowing, raking and bagging yesterday was about my limit. I think that I am about 1/3 of the way done unless the wind picks up and my neighborhood leaves cover our yard.

Oh well,

MUD

Talking Money $

Halloween in Morocco, Lost in the 60's and a pair of cat cuties I would love to adopot in my stray cat shelter.

Yesterday MSN had an article about five ways to become a millionaire. Their advice was to ----
----Drum Roll--- save early and often. Duh! Anyone that even begins to understand interest understands that compound interest is the easy way. What the hell do you do if your aren't 18?

Now for some tough straight talk. There is no free ride to any goal. The main reason you have goals is to lift your vision out of the day to day mundane crap and to focus on the future.

One of the comments on the article was that after being told to invest in 401Ks, one person said isn't that where everyone lost so much money? No, only the stupid ones. I for one have a 401K that is valued at what it was plus some small interest from a couple of years ago. Only the growth 401K I started a couple of years ago lost money. I want to point out that it didn't lose any of my money, only the paper profit it had made. In fact, it went down to almost exactly to the amount I invested and now has turned around and made back 25% of the paper profit. There are government bond funds out there that will return your money in a slow steady growth pattern. If your are nearing the end of your investing period, the return of your money is damn sure a lot more important than the return on your money. My investment in the growth fund is limited to less than 10% of my total. Diversify stupid. A scheme like the Madoff Ponzi scheme might have cost me some money but it darn sure wouldn't have wiped me out.


Real Estate - If you have some ability to fix up houses, you can generally buy fairly cheap, rehabilitate and rent with the goal of paying off the property. Our rentals didn't start making real income until we paid them off as I retired. Now they are returning a nice profit. Yes, there are days when the renter has to have someone hold their hand and come over to fix the garage door. There are times like today when our young tenant stops by to tell us she is moving to Texas. Now the decision is should we rent or sell? Either way, we aren't throwing bunches of money down a well or hiding it under our mattress. I vote for selling and paying off the small note on the last property we bought. This is one area that The Money talk program and I disagree. I will borrow money to purchase real estate when I have a good plan. I like to invest borrowed money on the basic property and my money on the improvements. I like to think my part of the investment is the part that makes the property really shine and thus be worth more. That is where the value of the property really increases and thus the value of my own investment increases at a higher rate. Somewhere in there, Barb always starts paying things off as fast as she can and secures the value of our total investments.


Debt - Is there anything more sweet than paying off a mortgage? I have managed to do that twice in this lifetime on our principle residence and a lot of times on rentals. The real nice thing is that we have built up our emergency fund and can buy a used car without talking to the finance company to help us pay for it. Once you get ahead of the debts, and have income left over when the first of the month comes in, you too will understand that the boat, a lake house and the new cars might feel good but nothing like the paid off debt.


Careers - yes, I understand that in today's world, there are few places that you can make a living and have a long career. Generally those places don't pay all that great and you might have to tighten you belt from time to time. Put together a couple of those careers and in the end you will have a foundation to buy butter for your daily bread when you retire. Teachers, firemen, police officers and Civil Servants are a few of the careers where you can put together a nest egg for retirement. If you can't save there, put money into your own 401K (Roth if possible)


My final word is that once you master the income and outgo part of money, you can then manage your money. Until you do that, the tail will continue to wag your dog. Once you understand what it is you need and what is is you are making, you can begin to separate needs and wants. Now get out there and earn money and help us bring back our economy to be the strongest one in the world. It doesn't matter what happens in China if you are in charge there.


MUD

J'es Wonderin'

Barb and I had lunch with Travis on Friday and he was the H1N1 swine flu with a pig's nose and angel wings. Now Barb isn't feeling well. Wonder if he was contagious?

If you are feeling so poorly that you don't want to do anything is it possible you have the spine flu? This disease is really rampant in those of us that don't have to get up and go to work. You can recognize it by the butt dimples in your couch match those on your backside. I really can't see my backside but those wrinkles on the leather couch look suspicious.

How long does it take for the idea that you need to make things to go away after watching too much Martha Stewart? We have been up to our armpits with pumpkins, spiders and cute little cakes for Halloween. I guess they will change to Thanksgiving stuff and then Christmas.

The other morning when I told Barb that I was bored she asked me if I was bored or boring? I told her yes. There is a garage full of stuff that needs organized and here I sit inside waiting for the weather to change. Heck, I am even thinking about politicking for an additional garage and the one I have isn't completely full. Well, at least 3/4th full.

I really don't get Facebook. It is like people say things with less than half of the required information and other people give them a half assed answers. Some people get it, but there are a lot of people that think it is just the location for how they are doing on their fantasy farm or some contest where they give and get fantasy things. Dennis found a little brown cow? No wait, he had one when he read that statement for the 100th time.

Oh well, I'll bet there are times when you read this blog that you want more. Or less...

MUD