Sale

We pay with our hearts. This is fine when your talking about humanity or relationships or about anything else except money but we seem to lead with our heart when it comes to money almost always. Your survival instinct is killing you at the cash register. It's ok to reward yourself every once In a while but when it comes to spending you need to think about all the crap you had to put up with to get the money your about to throw down on a particular item. If your using a credit card . . . . double it. what does that mean. well if you make ten dollars a hour you pay about a third of that in tax, medical, social security and sales tax. So that leaves you with about six dollars and thirty cents. So if you get a good bargain at a store and spend seventy dollars on whatever you just spent about eleven hours of work or about 30 percent of your weeks pay. if your using a credit card you will probable pay about one hundred and forty dollars for a seventy dollar item by the time you pay it off.

 

So what did you get for your money? Only you can decide that but I can tell you that whatever you got that something better is just around the corner and most of us are going to buy it too. Today I saw a ring at a store that was a hundred and twenty dollars. Now if your a master negotiator and get it on sale you could probable get it for around 80 dollars and that would be thirty percent off. We would all be proud of that. We would have practically stolen it. What a deal, especially if we were looking for a ring of that quality and type. The bad news is I have been looking for a ring for a long time and have searched the internet extensively. I can get that exact same ring for twenty to twenty-five dollars. Most of the time when we are at the mall or a car dealership or discount store we find something we like and unless it's an outrageous price we buy it. We fall in love with it. We have to have it. We didn't even know we wanted it until we saw it but it's love at first sight and what's this, it's twenty percent off on the last day of the sale. It's our last chance, the stars will never be aligned this perfect again. If we don't buy it, it will be gone forever or worse. Someone else might get it.

 

I'm not saying don't spend your money I'm just saying even if you just want something just because don't get caught up in the moment. If your a shopper this will be super hard for you. Walk away and do some research. IF you still want it a week later and you have the cash, buy it. Do not put something on a credit card unless you pay it off every time in full. If your a shopper you are really limiting your buying power by using a credit card. Not only that but a credit card will eventually make you into an indentured servant. Meaning eventually you will enter a vicious cycle you cant get out of. If you are already in debt . . . . . . STOP, do everything you can do to pay off your card.

 

It once took me eight years to pay off a card and if I hadn't become serious about paying it off I would still be paying on it. Because I did pay it off, I basically do what I want now but I still make sure that when I buy something, I do it in cash. I pay the least amount that I can. Sometimes I do buy spur of the moment things if it's around twenty dollars. I just don't do it too often. I know that some of you are probable in deep and you probable have heard most of this before. Money problems have ruined many of lives. Do what you can to save yourself and if you start thinking about purchases in term of work hours it will help you put them into perspective. Take it from me once you get on the upside you'll never want to go back to the life you had before. I can only hope that something of have said will help you in some way.

2.0

I put common sense day on Friday but lately I've been thinking that I should put it on Monday and put men and women on Friday. Not that you don't need them on a certain day. We all need help all the time. I can tell you from personnel experience that we (the human race) are self centered, self indulgent, ungrateful, hateful and for most of us that comes natural. It's funny how the most destructive behavior comes easy for us. We love may ham and the more of it the better. You all know that Jerry Springer, Housewives of everywhere, Real World, Cops, and a hundred other shows are gobbled up by society everyday. The more we have the crappier we get and the more we want. Do you know that even on unscripted reality shows the producers still orchestrate huge fights. Why do you think they do that? It's because we love it. It's the reason we watch.

 

The problem is these reality shows aren't really real. They don't show the reality. They only show the entertaining. I'm not going to lie I like a little may ham myself. Probable one of my worse traits. I have a mean sense of humor and I love to take the other side of any subject just to get a rise out of people. What's wrong with me? If I had the answer to that I could solve all the worlds problems. We are a collective of personality, upbringing and environment. I did take a few college classes. ssshhhh, don't tell anyone. So those three things shape everything we ever do but we haven't factored in the ability to change. People (experts) say all the time that we are creatures of habit and they are correct we have the habit of doing the same things over and over.

 

I think computers are already just like most of us. A situation comes up we go to our files and find the file closest to that one and then we spit out our reaction. It's how we get through the day. That's why you see old people still acting exactly like they did when they were six. They never upgraded their files. They want something that you have . . . . .throw a temper tantrum. Scared someone will judge you . . . . . . attack them first. Someone pissed you off in traffic . . . . . flip them off. The person in line takes longer then you would have . . . . . . make a bunch of huffing puffing noises to relay your tired of waiting. How freaking childish can we be? Oh we can get into the gutter with the best of them. So what are your options? Well your human, you can do anything you want but there is only really two choices. Refuse to upgrade or start implementing some new code. There is nothing wrong with being a grown up. I wouldn't trade it for anything and if you want to keep some childish parts, that's fine, I know I did. Are you ready for 2.0

Doesn't Come Easy

Tomorrow when your walking around try to be nice to others. Hold doors, let people out in traffic. If you see someone having a bad day, show your understanding and concern. Don't loose your temper no matter how bad they test you. Talk with  a sweet kind voice. Let someone know that they are not alone. Maybe carry something for someone. Try to stay upbeat and lend a hand when you can. Be extra understanding and patient and you will accomplish something I rarely do for the whole day when I have to run around town. Somebody always want's to test the waters and with me they can go from cold to hot in a split second.

 

So just keep in mind that your not alone because I will be there with you in spirit holding my breath and breathing out slow so I can be a kinder gentler me. Just remember if you are loving and giving then people will be loving and giving to you. Make someone's day without expecting anything in return. Of course when you try harder then people seem to sense that and push your buttons harder. Try to laugh it off and remember that the only person that can steal your joy is you. Good Luck, if your like me your going to need it. Remember you can apply this all the time and who knows you might be surprised at the great person you can become. Good will doesn't come easy.

Half Breed

 My supervisor in the military was a dark African American but what most people didn't know was he was half white. He grew up in Memphis in an all African American community. He was one of the best supervisors I ever had. He was quiet and restrained and didn't talk much to anyone. I rode many of nights with just me and him and after a while he started talking about his childhood. The other kids in his neighborhood called him names such as redbone and others I cant repeat. They made fun of him relentlessly and made him feel like he was a lesser person because of his white mother. He said it was non stop and he never had friends that would stick up for him. He spent his whole life with his head down but they never broke his spirit. He would join the Air Force and become one of the most amazing men I would ever had the honor of serving with.

 

Prejudice is a serious problem all the way around. Everybody points the finger at someone else and talks about how bad white people are or Chinese or Arabian or Mexican American or African American or Port Rican or a thousands of other ways we define ourselves. Then we make it worse by dividing ourselves even further. This is a problem that's never going to get solved. It will dog us to our dying days and probable the end of mankind. I'm not saying it is right because nothing could be further from the truth, I'm just being realistic. Someone will always hate you for no reason and that's a fact. Right now we have an opportunity in the United States to change this forever but it has to come from the younger generation. It's too later for ours. We need to start at home. Don't pass your stupidity to your children and if you already have it's not to late to recant.

 

Sometimes you just have to tell your adult kids Hey I missed up and didn't know what I was talking about and explain to them why you were wrong. Your grandkids futures are in your hands. It isn't the same world you grew up in and it's changing rapidly. Do you really want your grandkids to be the outcast that gets fired for spewing some dumb crap that you told your kids. If you don't care about this or your family you won't be reading this anyway so I'm not worried about pissing anyone off. Have a great day and remember the best time to start to change is right now.

The Chase

She sat in the rocking chair trembling as she listened to the scraping noises coming down the hall. She wanted to get out but her body wouldn't let her. tears streamed down her face and her long blonde hair stuck to her cheek. Her eyes were glued to the hallway as the darkness consumed the light. She knew the front door was just around the corner but she would have to enter the front of the hallway to make it.

 

The scraping got louder and she sobbed in and held her breath. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears and a slight wine came from her throat. This couldn't really be happening but she knew it was. Her bare foot were wet and muddy mixed with fresh cut grass. she started to rub her feet on the carpet to get better traction. If she was going to escape, it would have to be soon. Just the thought of running for the door brought out another sob and she put her hands over her mouth to try to stifle the noise.

 

Every thing had started out fine and now she was the only one left. New tears sprang to her eyes and her vision blurred as she wiped them with the back of her hand. Black mascara smudged across her hand and she rubbed it off on her shorts. She took three deep breaths and tried to stop sobbing. When she got done with that she grabbed the rocking chair with both hands and her body tensed up like a runner on the starting line. She dug her feet into the floor under the chair and leaned forward. The scraping sounded like it was coming from the room closest the front door but she couldn't be for sure.

 

She sprung out of the chair and screamed as she ran toward the door. She stumbled a little and it was everything she could do to stay on her feet. She slammed into the wall hard with her left shoulder and the whole house shook. She dipped her right shoulder like a football player fighting for that extra yard and pushed herself around the corner toward the front entrance way. Just as she entered the hall the bedroom door closest to her splintered outward into the hall and she fell toward the door and grabbed the doorknob with both hands. She heard the roar fill the house as she clawed at the doorknob trying to will it to open. She opened the door just as her right shoulder fell into it and it slammed shut. She heard a low rumble and she thought she could feel warm air on the back of her leg.

 

She yanked the door with all her might and it slammed into the wall and it stuck as the door knob embedded itself into the wall. She hit the screen door with her body and her hand at the same time and it opened under her weight. The screen tore in the door and part of her body went through the door. The door frame came apart and she stumbled into the yard still holding the handle and the frame attached to it. She let go as she tumbled across the yard and came up running. She heard a loud grunt and knew it was close.

 

The Bright red pickup was all she could see as the rain splattered across her face. in six steps she was there and dove over the side of the truck landing in the bed hard but she didn't have time to lick her wounds. The whole truck rocked up on two tires and she heard the metal crumple. She rolled over the rail as the truck came down and bounced on it suspension. The Bear was standing on its hind legs and it roared into the night air. she grabbed the passenger door flinging it open and grabbed the barrel of the lever action rifle dragging to off the rack.

 

she turned it around and fired a shot into the chest of the bear as she backed away from the truck. The bear came down on all fours and suddenly the truck rolled over almost hitting her. She jumped behind a tree and the bear came up over the truck after her. She fired another shot and the bear just kept coming. another shot and the bear came around the tree. She ran around the front of the upside down truck and the bear slipped as it tried to make the hard left turn to catch her. She turned around and shot the bear in the head as it regained it's legs she worked the lever action again as the bear screamed out in pain. Now she was on auto pilot and she shot again and again then click the rifle was empty. The bear stood there on all fours not 15 feet from her panting as blood ran down it's face. It started toward her and she backed away holding the rifle between her and the bear. The bear rumbled a low guttural sound and then just laid down and she could hear the its breathing become labored.

 

She slid down into the mud with the weapon laying across her lap. She screamed out into the woods as the rain came down in sheets. She sobbed a few more times then got back to her feet and looked  at the grizzle. It lay there a dark lump of wet fur and it stunk something awful. She didn't know what she was going to do now but she thought she would live in the city with her new lever action rifle.

Jibberish

Well to tell you the truth I rarely know what I'm going to write until I start and that's exactly what I'm trying to do right now with no such luck. Nobody has helped me with any subject matter lately so this is your own fault. I know it seems like I just never shut up but that's pretty much how you have to be to pull something like this off. Maybe one day my words will bless one of you and then my boldness would have all been worth it.

 

Boldness sometimes is the proper tool to help someone. Sometimes people need to hear the truth to motivate them to help themselves. But everyone is different and something that means nothing to you may change their life. So like every molecule of water has a different journey they are all the key to life. And the same can be said about you. If you want to help someone you have a unique way about you and this will help different people to accomplish different things. The great thing about helping people is there is literally a million ways.

 

Well I knew it would work. It always does. So until next time. Up with the Love and down with the hate.

I'm Back

Well if you were wondering if I fell of the face of the earth you would be partially right. I just went on a 36 hour plus road trip with a two hour layover in Austin TX. So that would be the reason I haven't published since I left and I literally just got back about an hour ago. So for the first time since the first of January I didn't publish a article everyday. I'm not going to go into detail as the where and the why but I try to live in the spirit of the advice I give in this blog and I can say that It was worth every second that I spent to go and accomplish the task at hand so when I write these words to you I can honestly say that even though I fall short of perfection by the small margin of a million miles I do believe in my heart that You and I can always make our lives just a little better and that happiness will soon follow even though the cost may be great.

 

Of course when it comes to actions I have a huge advantage over most people. My actions has always been a lot easier to deal with then my words. Like most men my actions are where I show my true feelings and my words are well not so much. So just like every one I have to work on my weakness and stand on my strengths. The only way you can figure any of this out is to be honest with yourself and more important then that is the desire to change for the better. Without that your destined to live the exact same life that your living now. One thing I know for sure is that you can never improve without effort but bad habits always get worse with little to no effort. Getting older doesn't give you the right to be a jackass. And unless you have lived your life as a recluse you have obligations to the other people that you have caused to have to put up with you. That's right if you have people that have to be around you that's your fault not theirs.

 

And after that last few sentences I've just discovered that a lack of sleep and 36 hours in a car makes me a little bit of a jackass. I hope you take some of this to heart so that you and your hostages can have a better life. May you better yourself everyday and never give up until everyone is telling you, I wish my                            was more like yours.

Through the Trees

Take into consideration how blessed we really are. We have a better life then any generation before us. We have more time, better technology, and more opportunity. Better houses, faster cars, better looking people, better clothes, and the best food ever to pass a humans lips. We still have all the same problems and even some new ones but I wouldn't trade Solomon for a million cows. He was the richest man in the world in his day and what I have is better then anything he ever had with the exception of maybe his harem. I don't know, I never had a harem but since I haven't, I really can't say if it's an advantage or not. I still wouldn't trade him. Without proper medical attention I probable wouldn't have made it past child hood so a harem would be a mute point.

 

What have you complained about today. There's nothing wrong with complaining but sometimes you have to step back and have the ability to laugh at yourself. Taking yourself to serious is one of our greatest downfalls. It's one of the gateways to unhappiness and depression. When you can't see the house for the trees sometimes you convince yourself the house isn't there then that causes you to go the wrong way and then you start to worry about a thousand other things and pretty soon your laying on the forest floor sobbing with your head buried in your arms and that's where you stay until a bear finds you or the rescue squad comes and saves you. See can even recover from one of the worse run on sentences ever.

 

That's the reason you should be thankful of your blessings everyday. This reminds you that even if you loose your house that there's still is a dollar hamburger right down the street. So if you find yourself walking into the darkness just remember the light is still there you just have to open your eyes and look around. The darkness cant be absolute so look for the light. Even when you know your going to be sad about something maybe for a extended amount of time still remind yourself that the light exists everyday so when your ready you can come home.

Yes Be Yes

The Bible says let your yes be yes and your no be no meaning that you should be above approach. When you say yes your friend shouldn't have to say "Ya right." and when you say no they shouldn't have to double check to make sure you mean no. If they do this, it's not their fault. It's yours for making them second guess you're every move. This can be corrected by you over time.

 

First Step start doing what you say you will do every time.

 

Second Step if you don't want to do something say no.

 

That's it. I hope you didn't plan on this being long, after all it is common sense day.

 

To all my readers thanks for sticking with me and remember if you like something share it will your friends.

Ya I Can Do That

Well I'm late. Really late but you know better late then never but sometimes you need what you need when you need it. So try not to let people down. When you have a chance to help someone do the best you can to not forget or be late. You have to remember that the person your helping may need you more then you think.

 

In the true story of Nicky Cruz. When him and his best friend, the president and vice president of the most violent street gang in New York at the time decided to go strait a mix up in times changed their lives forever. Nicky left and saves thousand of lives and his friend went back to the street and later died.

 

So you might say that was a extreme case. Well his friend could have still have left but I think he felt hurt and betrayed so he never turned back. Nothing feels like being left out or left high and dry. So do what you can but if you are going to be later or not going to show up don't wait until it's time then ignore their text and calls. Tell them ahead of time if you don't intend to show up and do whatever.

If you volunteer your time live up to your obligations. Don't show off in front of others. If you can't do something stand up and say "Hey I can't make that."

 

Even If you are the greatest person on earth and never need help you still need to help others because who know one day someone may save your life and you'll feel like crap if you can't even give your friends the time of day. Well I'm done, I hope you find some time in your busy schedule to say Ya I can do that.

Flat Spin

His lingering on the control stick didn't matter anyway. All was lost. All he could do now was to sit in his craft and watch as he circled slowly ever deeper into the spiral grip of the black whole. He was already traveling close to the speed of light so he knew this was going to the longest ride of his life. All he could do was stare at the center as it inched closer at what seemed a snails pace but the interments told him in only 11 months earth time he would be know more. Of course it would only seen like a month to him. He had plenty of food and water so he would not suffer until the black hole stretched him a couple miles long before finally ripping him apart. He wondered how far he would make it before the lights went out permanently.

Ten days later he realized his interments were off a lot. No one had ever been this close to this kind of gravity before so they had no proven math on how much it would affect time. Of course it was still going to be about the same for him but now earth time would take 7 years. He could tell that the integrity of his craft was already in question and longer by about two feet. One thing he had was time to think and now he wasn't sure he liked that. He eyed the weapon on the council but he knew he would never use it. He had never opted out of any experience no matter how unpleasant it was. Lucky for him he wouldn't have to feel the pain for long, he had 5 slashers in his hip bag giving him enough pain killer to last 5 times longer than what he would need.

His lights where starting to blink on and off. He had set up life support for his chair but now he couldn't move around hardly at all because the centripetal force was pulling him one way while gravity was pulling the other and his craft along with his body was longer and thinner. he saw something close in on him from the left and then all hell broke loose he heard the giant crash as he struck some kind of debris suddenly he was slammed into his chair and his craft was put into a flat spin. He could hear the craft creaking as it spun around three more times slowing quickly and then the nose passed the black hole and wobbled back in forth until it was dead center again. The ship was heavier in the front and it was like a magnet for the black hole. then he noticed that the font of the craft was getting longer again and he checked his interments. He was closing distance fast instead of circling the black hole He looked down for a split second and when he looked up the light that circled the collapsed star with him was now streaking by on all sides. Luckily he had already took the slasher but that wouldn't keep him from passing out and that's exactly what he did when the blood was pulled down into his body.

when he woke up he thought he was dreaming. No black hole no flying debris but standing in front of him was a ship he had never seen holding him in a tractor beam. He stood up slowly and opened the panel. The block was still elongated with spider cracks all over it. The main bridge had came out and with drought he slid it into it's slot. Power came back. to his basic operations one of which didn't include flight. He didn't know who was in the ship but after facing a black hole he didn't really care if they were bad or good which he was sure he would find out soon.

The beam pulled him in and before he knew it he was amongst other humans. Well he didn't know for sure but they were pretty damn close. Too close for a new life form. they were thinner taller and more muscular then the average human. He would have thought somebody had just ran a model search for the perfect crew except their faces were slightly different also. No one seamed too alarmed but more curious then anything. someone pulled the escape cable and the canopy blew strait into the air then crumbled into a shiny glitter snow. Since none of the systems seemed to be working correctly they raised a hover disc to the side and he stepped off the craft and stumbled. The disk flew up at a angle and he actually touched it with his outreached hand and that stopped his forward motion before the disc corrected it's self until he was perfectly balanced in the middle. No wonder they didn't need rails on this thing. it lowered to the ground and he walked up to the front of his aircraft

They all saluted and one said "Welcome to the ship general."

"General? General, I'm not a General, hell I'm barley a captain."

"Not any more sir. that was eleven thousand years ago, now your a General Max."

"What is a General . . did you say eleven thousand. How in the hell do you even know who I am."

"Sir We have been monitoring you the whole time. I'm actually related to you sir but even today we only live about two hundred and seven years so if I put all those greats In front of grandfather we would be still talking about it when you died. speaking of lets get something to eat then we will start on your paper work."

"Oh god you all still call it that. Yes sir from what I understand it had something to do with tree pulp and a lack of assistance uh . . . . I mean computers. You have a lot to catch up on."

when he had been feed, cleaned and bandaged which the normal person used assistance to do all this of course he needed assistance with the assistance because he had never done any of it before. Also they used a type of telepathy which he didn't possess so doing everything manually took longer.

He soon found out that he was the second highest ranked officer in the military. He also figured out soon after that he could retire right now because they owed him eleven thousand years of back pay and all he had to do for it was almost die in a black hole. He looked younger then most of the officers his junior and in reality he was, even with their longer life span. The commander had already laid his worse fears to rest. He wouldn't be asked to make any decisions until he understood their systems a lot better and even if that didn't work out he would be protected from any embarrassment

He went into the slider formally known to him as the chow hall. Sat down at the table and immediately a tube popped up and opened in front of him and there it was as beautiful as ever. A Bacon Cheese Burger and fries. How in the hell did that happen and simmingly on cue one of the officers winked and held up one of his own. "I heard this was pretty popluar in your day so I ordered for you. I hope you don't mind sir."

"No, not at all Colonel Sparks." and at that he picked it up and took a bite and be damned it tasted exactly like he remembered but better. "Thanks." he said as he wiped his mouth with supper thin tissue that sucked up moister like a sponge. he flipped up the key board and within a few key strokes two small containers full of mayo popped up and he slid it to sparks. "Try this on your fries and you'll have the full picture of why we didn't live but a buck twenty in the old days."

"Sir? A buck?"

"Oh short for a hundred."

"Oh."

"Can you all read each other minds?" he said to sparks turning slightly red with embarrassment for not knowing what was what.

"No, most can't but there are a few."

"What about the computer uh I mean assistance?"

"Oh that's more of a relationship between technology and evolution. Kind of like your craft but accelerated a thousand times more. Almost like it's flying you instead of the other way around."

"Wow that sounds great."

"It is, I never get tired of it."

"I know what you mean, I always like flying even though it was more manual."

"Yes sir we stopped using eye controlled weapons systems, well before your life would have played out, excuse the reference."

"No problem, this is weird for both of us."

"Yes sir but I'm glad you survived."

"We would have saved you sooner but you were moving so fast it took us this long for the technology to catch up to figure how to do it safely."

"Save me. You guys saved me?"

"Yes sir we affiliated your collision. It was still risky but we figured we had about a 70% chance so we took it."

"Wow, I don't know what to say. I guess thanks."

"No sir thank you. You are a living legend. everybody has studied your case since it happened and all died before saving you except us. It's truly a honor to be talking to you right now."

David chocked up a little at this and didn't say much more until his burger was eaten and all that was left was three cold fries. He didn't like the warming shield. He preferred that his food to cool off just like the old days.

He stood up and everyone at the table stood at attention and held a salute. He mumbled at ease and saluted back and they all dropped their saluted and sat down. I could get use to this he thought as he started walking across the chow hall, ah slider. he corrected himself mentally

It happened so fast he didn't even have a chance to react. He sneezed and a cone slammed down around him and a pink mist fogged the air. everybody ran up with terror in their eyes. When the mist settled he banged on the field around him "Let me out of here Master Chief!" was the first rank he saw.

"Sorry sir I can't do that."

"What are you talking about?"

"Sir we haven't had a cold in seven thousand years. That's how we extended our lives."

"You knew this was going to happen didn't you."

"Yes Sir but we were hoping later rather then sooner."

"What now?"

"Sorry sir you will be well taken care of but never without a barrier between you and us. Since I don't see you wearing a full suit we will make accommodations for you." He was escorted to a large room with a field and that's were he spent the rest of his life It wasn't bad and had all the best assistance you could want but he never got to fly again.

The Flight

Her eyes so bright in the winter night, searching for her only flight. Taking angle to his flight, she cuts him off in the morning light. In her arms he does lay maybe surviving another day. Gently lying him to ground, ear to chest waiting for sound. Raspy breath he does breath, seeing angels in the trees. closing eyes to stop the leak, tears stream down her blushing cheeks. Crying out into the night, demons running at the sight. Hanging head of despair, shaking her entangled hair. Eyes fly open at the sound, heart in chest begins to pound. Angels fade from his view as life take hold all anew. Running flashes through his mind, lingering words from her sweet kind. Loving hand he does take, warming heart she does make. Peering into her deep eyes, crying, laughing on the rise. Pulling her close to his lips, her touching his with a dip. After a while they wipe the tears shoving back their deepest fears, He may make it another night only if she stops his flight.

 

Original Poem by Brad Wright.

Perpetual Motion

Having to do something you don't want to do drags on all of us. It may be something at work or it could be something that is life and death or it could be just the right thing to do. What ever the reason people don't like doing the hard thing. In Vietnam soldiers had to chop their way through the thickest jungles even though there might have been a road that went to where they were going. The reason being is the enemy would set up mines and ambushes on those roads. Why because of what I just said. Who want's to work 8 hours at something that could be done in 2 hours.

 

It's the same in life. Sometimes the easy way is dotted with ambushes and mind fields. Lets say that you do something ugly to a friend and you just ignore it when what you should have done was take the hard path and apologize. You may think no big deal. You might even think they deserved it but in the end you don't know what will come from your betrayal. Maybe nothing but sooner or later you will pay the piper for acting a certain way even if you don't think that you deserve it or you think it's unfair, it won't matter. You can argue, yell, cuss, stomp your foot but when the dust settles you will still have to suffer the fallout.

 

I by no means am telling you that if you do the right thing that you won't have problems. only a fool would think that. I'm just telling you that you will live and die with the path that you choose. People that always take the easy way usually have a very hard life. The very thing they are trying to avoid.

 

Now I for one always believe in making a job as easy as possible, sometimes referred to work smarter not harder. I am always a fan of that but that's not what we are talking about. Most of the time it will be summed up by doing the right thing even when it's hard. I have known thousands of people in my lifetime and I can honestly say there are not to many situations I haven't seen played out. Tell me what sin you want to commit and I can tell you the downfall. If your honest with yourself I think you already know when your in the wrong.

 

Take it from somebody who doesn't care what you do. I'm just trying to make your life easier. The easier your life is the happier you will be. I don't know if you know anything about perpetual motion but doing the right thing builds on it's self until no one can stand against you. does that sound like a good life or am I just crazy. I can tell you that I'm not happy all the time but damn near. I'm just trying to share the life. I don't know what else I can tell you that would convince you so I won't.

Should We Give Up?

Happy Valentines. Regardless of what you think of the holiday you have to admit that if you have other people in your life then your relationship with those people are important. I only say this, because you do have to accept that some people want to be alone and don't want to be around others so for them it's better for them and others to live their life the way they see fit. Sometimes we don't understand people but that doesn't mean that their way of life isn't just as important to them as yours is to you.

 

We talk all the time on this blog about helping others but sometimes you have to except that some people don't want or need out help. I'm not saying not to try but at the same time do it with understanding and a kind heart. we need to be willing to admit that we don't know everything about everyone's situations and therefore we will sometimes say something trying to help that is not appropriate for the situation. So if someone comes to you for help then let them tell you their whole story before giving advise or offering to help. Also ask questions if you need more information.

 

Just as important as all that is try not to go off half cocked meaning if you don't know what the situation is keep your mouth closed even if you do think you know. Another one is don't get involved in a conversation that your not invited into. knowing a persons whole problem is essential to solving it.

 

Probable the biggest thing is before you waste hours of your time on someone's else's problems make sure that they want to solve it. Relationships are tricky and just because you think someone's mate is crappy doesn't mean they are going to listen to your advice even if they are on the rocks.

 

Go by past experiences, if your friend has a habit of being self destructive then the best thing you can do is be sympathetic to their cause and not really tell them what to do if you know it's not going to help. This is one of the reasons we need to keep learning and never stop listening. Listening sometimes is better then talking. I know all this because I have made ever mistake I just talked about at least once. Does that mean we should give up? Well you can do what you want but you will feel better about yourself if you at least try.

Boko Haram

Boko Haram is a slaughter and again we are sitting on our hands. Well Some say we should mind our own business and that's fine if that's the policy all along. We all know that it's not. America sticks her nose into everything. So how come this is the second major genocide in Africa One on race and one on Christians and the United states isn't over there kicking the crap out of someone. Well I'm going to tell you. There's no money in it. If you think that we saved Kuwait because of money. You are correct. I've never been prouder in my military carrier then I was when we saved Kuwait. Anytime peaceful people are slaughtered I don't really care why we go. If we are going to go. Lets go every time. If we aren't going to go then lets just mind our business.

Why is the world standing by kicking rocks while the museums are doing the exact same thing that Christians did in the past. Before the world had no choice but now the world has a choice. what good does it do to complain about it later when you didn't do anything about it. Now I by no means am I telling you not to complain. If that happened I wouldn't know what to do. I'm talking about society as a whole. We talk about it. We report it. We argue about it. Why do we need to know about it? Why do we watch the news at all. We live in age that we don't need news. We can get the weather, sports, amber alerts, silver alerts, weather warnings, school info and criminal information in our area without ever listening to the news. Most people love the news so I know that the news isn't going any where. my point was why report information that doesn't have any barring on my life. I don't want to think about how crappy we are for knowing this is going on and we aren't there preventing it.

Lets just call it what it is. We as a country that only cares about money. Do your really think people spend millions to win a term that only promises to pay $400,000 for two years work. Well just let me ask you. If you pay me 10 million I will pay you 200.000 for two years and then you pay me 10 million more for about the same deal. How does that sound? So ya it's about the power, the connection, the back scratching, The millions they will make at the corporations they sold you out too while in congress. Are all congress dirty? No. Are most congress dirty? Yes. How do I know this. How many laws come out last year to protect you and your family. I Bet it didn't even come close to the rights they took away from you so corporations could make money. So what does this have to do with Africa? Nothing and that's exactly why we will not get involved this time either unless some company decides theirs oil there. Then they will be standing on there chairs screaming at the Camera's on how we cant let this monstrosity go on one more day. Can you picture it? I can.

Intersections

In life we have rare opportunities to make real change in a persons life. These can come at anytime and usually without warning. Most of the time we fail to recognize or even know when these opportunities are staring us in the face. Sometimes we change lives without ever knowing it. Sometimes the life changing event is so small we don't even realized it's happened. It may be the way we handle ourselves, or treat others, fix something, help someone, give advice, Hug someone, give someone something, let someone help us, teach someone or just be present in their time of need.

 

Many people lives have been changed by pure circumstances that we had no control over except how we reacted to it. It may be one of the hardest things to do in life, lots of times there is no reward but I promise you that if you try to do the right thing despite your imperfections you will leave a legacy that will never die.

 

Whether you believe in it or not the bible says that if a person sins, then the sins of that person is carried for five generations. If you think about it this is probable true. If a parent is abusive then this could easily carry on pain and suffering for that family for five generations and more. We all have skeletons in our closets and sometimes they get the best of us but it only takes one person to permanently bury those bones. I often have told my daughter that if she doesn't like the way I did something then to make sure she changes that when she raises her children.

 

The same can be said for friends and relatives and even casual meetings of someone we don't even know. What you do can have an everlasting impact. Sometimes those people will even fight against you or act like they totally don't care about you or what you have to say but that doesn't mean your efforts were for not. I think the most important thing you have to remember is whatever you do for someone else should not be selfish in any way. If you do this then you can be assured that you have their best interest at heart.

 

We all have done thing, said things, and given advice to benefit ourselves so don't feel like your a failure. Just pick yourself up and brush away the selfishness and try again. Most of you have a good heart, you just need to exercise it. The more you do something the easier it becomes. Don't be surprised if you are at sometime viscously accused of doing the exact opposite of what you are really doing. It's the price of helping others.

 

Most of us want to leave a legacy that will produce happiness and love. Some of us fall short of this goal but if you try, it will be your finale legacy that you leave. I always look at the world through tainted lenses of my own experiences and values. We all do but in spite of that I have rare moments of conquest that couldn't have happened without looking out for someone else instead of myself. This is what defines our heroes in the movies, comics, military, firemen, police, teachers, social workers, and everyone you have probable ever looked up to. It's the difference between the light and the dark, the good and the bad. Every moment of every day is a opportunity to do the right thing. The intersection, choose wisely.



Divided

Why do we keep falling for the same old tricks over and over. We are suppose to get smarter from one generation to the next. Now we do know more then any other generation but that doesn't make us smarter. Scientist think man has gotten smarter over time but it is possible that a cave man had a higher capacity for learning then we do today. I mean how many of you could survive in their environment. I think we have already proven through reality TV show that not very many. So if we are not smarter are we doomed. The truth is maybe so. In a little over the last hundred years we have polluted the crap out of our planet, Wiped hundreds of species of the face of the earth, unnecessarily starved millions of people, Killed hundreds of thousands in war and genocide, thrown away billions of perfectly good items because the were a few years old, and turned our backs on almost every problem we have ever faced unless there was huge public outcry or money could be made solving it. I do want to say that a lot of people spent their lives fixing problems and were not motivated by money. But I'm not talking about individuals. I'm talking about our societies.

So I don't want to depress you so lets look at some of the things we have accomplished. We invented the car, TV, Computers, Space travel, Bio Crops, Cell phones, Pesticides, vaccines, Steel, Sky Scrapers, Railroads, Guns, Planes, and if you took your time you could probable think of hundreds more. The Problem is that most of these things are not necessary to our survival. Everything that was necessary for our survival was discovered by cave men. how do I know this, because we are here.

So now that brings me around to my next point. sorry It took so long. How come we spend so much time fighting each other over total BS. The Corporations and Governments and the wealthy that control both have been dividing us for hundreds of years and we just keep falling for it. I always liked the saying "The definition of crazy is to keep doing the same thing over and over expecting different results". What the hell is wrong with us. Why do we insist on being sheep and just believing what ever they tell us. I think one reason is because it's easier. How come whenever somebody accuses the government or a corporation of ruining their lives, we either don't care or we just ignore the problem.

How come we let British Petroleum dump billion of gallons of oil into our gulf, Spray illegal chemical on it to sink it to the bottom, Pay a one time miniscule amount when they owe the people of the gulf billions, How come that is not on the news every single night until the problem is solved. I'll tell you why, because it didn't affect you directly and you let the American government and the President of the United States of America Give a multi billion dollar foreign company that doesn't even pay taxes here a free pass. That is the equivalent of you drinking and driving and killing a whole bus load of school children and the local police department makes you clean up just the glass from the accident and then you reach into your pocket and pull out a wadded twenty three dollars and fifteen cents and hand it to the cop who takes you to your house and tell you to have a good night. If that doesn't piss you off I don't know what will.

 

If your a republican or an independent or the tea party or a democrat it doesn't matter. you're all guilty of the same thing. If you don't think that you are responsible for letting this crap continue then you are not swimming in reality. As a matter of fact if your a die hard of any of these parties then your probable more to blame because that means your brainwashed into thinking everybody else is wrong therefore your drinking the Kool-Aid that allows this crap to go on year after year. I think we need to start a new party that doesn't give a crap about Public relations, corporations, foreign relations or any other crap that stands in the way of doing the right thing.

 

Hell maybe I'm living in a fantasy land and we are doomed to argue our way into oblivion. I know for a fact their a lot more people in the united states that want to correct or mistakes instead of ignoring them. We need to stop being sheep and letting the minority tell us how it's going to be. How come when the news paper writes that a school called the cops on a six year old for telling somebody that he was going to kill them there isn't a thousand parents telling that school district if the don't pull their heads out of you know what that we are going to vote every board member out and replace them all with . . . . well not idiots. When I was in grade school boys told each other all the time they were going to kill each other or that their dad was going to beat up the others father and guess what it never happened.

 

Just because their has been some school shooting which I am totally sympathetic too doesn't mean I'm willing to let the five percent rule the ninety five percent. Kicking a kid out of school will not keep you child safe. If you think it will your an idiot. Lets look at the facts. It's against the law for any child to have possession of a fire arm without adult supervision, It's against the law for kids to take a fire arm to school, it's against the law for anyone to discharge a fire arm within most cities limits or point a gun at anyone that they can't legally shoot.  Oh and the first school shooting I ever heard of in 1978 involve a kid that had been suspended. Oh and don't forget when those people rallied to have all those laws passed that I just talked about, they all said that they would keep bad things from happening. Guess what, didn't work.

 

Just because you don't have any steak in the game doesn't mean you shouldn't be fighting what's right. If everyone would stand up for what the believe in instead of letting a bunch of selfish jackasses yell and scream like idiots on TV then we would get what's best for us and the world too. If we had used common sense all along maybe this country wouldn't be as far as it is today with technology and such but we also wouldn't have had slaves or the civil war so who knows it might have grown twice as fast. 

 

Do you think we need a multi billion dollar corporation to survive? If you said that we do and listed jobs and the economy as reasons then you haven't learned a damn thing by reading this. If you answered no, congratulations, your on you way.

For Them

Miss Shumly sat down and a few minutes later they started to gather outside the door. The same ones showed up early every morning  and were peering through the window. Once they had seen that she was already there they started to talk amougst themselves. Ten minutes later the quite talking had turned into a dull roar. Miss Shumly got up and opened the door. After they had taken their seats miss Shumly closed the door and held up her hand. A few attention getting slaps the children gave each other and the hissing and the room went quiet.

"Ok I told you this was coming so I hope you are prepared?" Take out a pencil and paper. They all did precisely what they were told and three hands went up into the air. Miss Shumly rumbled around the room as she spoke and dropped a brand new sharpened pencil or paper on the students desks that had their hands up. The test wasn't hard at all and she had confidents in her class. after they had started, she walked over to the closet. It had a heavy duty solid wood door with a deadbolt. She opened the closet and it was full from top to bottom with everything her students could possible need. she put back the few pencils and papers and closed the door.

After they finished they all sat quietly and read their brand new books until the others where done.  Miss Shumly didn't put time limits on her tests because she wanted every child to learn, not just the fast ones. Two of the boys snickered in the back but quieted down when they realized they had been louder then they should have. finally the last child put down his pencil and got up and collected all the tests and brought them up to her desk. Sean was always the last one so he always collected and turned in.

She handed him a lemon drop which he shoved into his mouth. Sometimes she wondered if he waited for the others to finish so he would get the lemon drop. Sean returned to his seat and picked up his copy of A Tale of Two Cities and began to read. "Ten Minutes." Miss Shumly said. later on "five Minutes."

"Books down." and they all complied. She taught math for a while then had someone collect the books and put them in to corner while she wrote problems on the board. When she finished she went to the closet and took out some more paper and two people raised their hands and she gave them each a sheet. The children raised their hands as they needed help and she went from person to person until she had attended to all of their needs.

 

After they had finished math they all lined up at the closet and she passed out cleaning supplies and all the children worked together at their assigned tasks which changed weekly. The children no longer went outside to play because of the dangers so she had started letting them clean the classroom to get them some exercise. The children finished an returned the cleaning supplies to Miss Shumly until the closet was full again.

 

Then Miss Shumly reached into her closet and brought out one paper bag that lined the top shelf and handed it to Chance. His parents were suppose to fill out his meal paperwork but hadn't done it yet. All though she had tried to call several times she hadn't got an answer. The children lined up and she marched them out into the hallway and locked her door behind her. The lunchroom was loud but Miss Shumly didn't mind as long as the children stayed seated until they were finished and then they could take their tray up and sit back down. Most of the children had the free lunch cards in her class and it didn't take them anywhere near the allotted twenty minutes to finish their lunch.

 

From then on out the children would feel a lot better now that they had something in their stomachs.

 

The second part of the day went by without a hitch and before she knew it the bell was ringing. The children all said goodbye except seven of them. She went to the closet and six of he children lined up and she gave them each a paper sack. the first one who got the sack said her goodbyes and left but the rest stayed. They stuck by her side and held the door open for her when they needed too. she locked everything up and proceeded out the back teachers door with all the children in tow.

 

Out in the parking lot was a beat up 15 passenger van. She slid open the door and they kids shuffled in and put on their seat belts. It was safer for them to walk in the mornings then in the afternoon so she just preferred to give them a ride. She had started out with a compact but that didn't work as the number of children who had trouble walking home had escalated.

 

The traffic had been pretty bad so she dropped the last child off and got home about an hour later. She hadn't ran out of any supplies this week so she got to skip the shopping trip. She walked up a flight of stairs and unlocked the door to her apartment. She flipped a switch and a single bare bulb lit the tiny apartment. she went to her cabinet and pulled a loaf of bread off her shelf along with the peanut butter and jelly. She made ten sandwiches and put nine of them into sacks. she got out nine bags and put a hand full of potato chips from a plain white label bag. then she opened her fridge and took out 10 apples. She packed the nine paper sacks into a empty box so she could carry them tomorrow. Then she slid them into the empty shelf on her fridge.

 

Miss Shumly went to her rickety table and single chair and ate her p and j and washed it down with bottled water. She went over to the window and sat down at the folding chair and table that she called her desk and started grading papers. When she was done she turned the tiny old fashioned TV on and went to her small closet. there in the closet was eight hangers three had cloths on them and one had here sweats and a tee shirt. She took off her pants suit and put it in a bag, then changed for the night. She turned off the light and laid down on the air mattress in the middle of the floor. It was 10 o'clock when she turned off the TV and drank the last of her water.

 

She took one last look around the sparse apartment and thought if her supplies held out until summer she would be able to work another job and maybe she would be able to get a few things for herself but then she thought of the children being on their own for the summer and a chill ran down her back.

NEXT!

I think I'm going to have to change Mondays topic because I'm having a hard time coming up with relationship advice and even though I am ecstatic about the readers I have you guys have not been any help in the subject department. Maybe I didn't communicate my selfish needs to you in the best way. I need subjects to write on, any subject. If you don't know me personally leave a comment on this blog. If you do know me then Text. IM, Email me. You can ask questions like why does my wife always take the last meatball at dinner and I might not know the answer but by the time I get done you'll think I Majored in Meatball hording. So if you want to see something pleaaaaaaaassssssseee don't hesitate. Now on with the article.

We drive each other crazy because no matter how long we've been together we just don't think the same ways. Those of you that never have disagreements can turn to the next article. One reason is most men are strait to the point and we get wound up easy. We  don't want anyone taking advantage of our significant other. So when you come home you want us to listen to your problems and then give you sympathy. We can only do this when we've been married for at least  . . . . . well never. Most of us can't help but to try to fix your problems by telling you how to handle the situation. What makes it worse is that when we do give you advise we think problem solved NEXT!

On the other hand most men don't like talking about our problems because when we talk about our problems it only pisses us off again. Then instead of enjoying our family time with you we are fuming about the jerk at work that never pulls his weight or the extra 20 dollar fee they charged us for delivery on a five dollar item or well you get the idea. Another thing you woman must understand is sometimes when you give us advise that makes perfect sense in your world it doesn't work in a mans world or vice versa. It's kind of like a mother giving her son advice on bullies. Sometimes getting suspended for three days is well worth the cost. Something most mothers have never dealt with or understand.

Ok so we can solve this one of two ways. Either we can tell the partner in the beginning what we want such as I'm going to tell you what's going on at work but don't tell me how to fix it which translates to listen and keep your mouth shut until it's time to agree with me and then you better agree. LOL. or you can think before you speak and try to figure out what the other wants from you. defiantly the hardest option. Well their is always option three. Tell your friends about your problems and only run to your significant other when you want results. Good luck.

Oh and by the way I just want you to know just because I write an article about a subject doesn't mean I don't have the same struggles. I do and then some. I try to relay this from time to time in my writing but sometimes I forget because my friends already know I'm screwed up. Until tomorrow Keep your head down and your eye on the ball. Oh and for the women keep your eye on everything and those shoes look fabulous on you.

Got Control?

In this world we would love for someone else to make sure we are never bored, lonely, or . . . . . . well . . . sad. Now a days we teach our children that it's our responsibility to give them the best life possible. When they are bored we entertain them. We enroll them in sports, take them to movies, bowling, restaurants, buy them computers, cell phones, game conceals and on and on and on. Does this make us bad parents. Well, the short answer is no. As a matter of fact we are probable the most attentive parents ever. With every good thing we run into new problems

I guess maybe I should have started this article different so you would understand that a lot of adults face these same problems. The problem with us and our children is we don't know how to make our selves happy. So what do we do? We pass on the responsibility to someone else.

This puts us in a no win situation of never being satisfied and therefore unhappy. As you already know if you have raised children, we cannot make them happy all the time and the same it true for you. You have to learn to be happy by yourself. Entertain yourself, and rely on yourself. The fill in for not learning to do this is always looking for the next big thing which never really make us happy. If you learn to be happy then no one can take that happiness away from you and you won't have to be constantly be entertained.

You can not learn to do this over night and like everything else it takes a little work but I'm going to give you the very first step that will help you be on your way. So this idea is very simple but very hard to master. Are you ready.

Don't worry about what you cant control. Accept the world for what it is. If you do this then it will be easier for you to be happy. When you realize how much time you worry about things you cant control It will give you more time to concentrate on your happiness and learn something about yourself. For instance if your kid wrecks your car  . . . . .  it's already over. Nothing can take that away so why do we spend so much time moping around and being mad. No amount of chastising them will fix your car and if we are totally honest with ourselves we know that it won't keep it from happening again. If we can learn to do that surely we can learn to make ourselves happy without spending money or driving our significant others crazy. So the next time you start to worry about something all you have to do is ask one question. Well getting upset change the situation. If not move on. This is something that you can change your life for the better.

If you master this . . . . Total control.

The Gift

Well I hope that you have accomplished something today. Something really huge. That you have been brave and not wavered in the face of the enemy. Did you go against all olds? did you keep your eye on the ball and cross the finish line? Did you do what only you can do? Are you going to take it on tomorrow and the next day and the day after that? Will nothing or no one stand in your way? Will you do it with a kind heart and with faith? May you not see the results of your work but continue it in the face of diversity? Can you reach down deep and continue on when you don't feel like it? Have you ever done it on a rainy day or when you were late for work? Did you do it for someone you love? Have you ever thought about it all day long or planned it for weeks? Maybe you did it on the spur of the moment and maybe it only took a few seconds. Did you spend a lot of money or nothing at all? Are you thinking about it now?

Tell someone they can. Show them they are strong enough. lift them up with your words. Show them you care. Give them the tools they need and Then . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . do it again tomorrow.

Self

Don't ever forget that your self-worth is not determined by others. If you sell your self short then everyone else will too. Know that you bring an unique quality to life. Never be scared of something  because you have never done it before. Try anything and don't give up until your told too or you decide you have extracted everything out of it to serve you better in the future. The more experience you have the better your life will be and the wiser you will be. The wiser you are, the more you will realize that you are important.

When I started as a paperboy I had never delivered a paper. when I worked at a warehouse I had never done that. When I worked at Shasta, yep you guessed it. I had no experience in construction, being in the military, working in a restaurant, commercial electrician, weapons instructor, security officer, or working as a floor hand on a drilling rig but I did all of that and more.

The more things you try the more confident you will become. I used jobs as an example but it works in life too. I didn't know how to fish, clean fish, reload ammo, play pool, be a mission worker, repel, ski, snowboard, waterski, shoot, well you get the idea, Now I don't want you to think that if you don't know how to do a lot that your self worth should suffer. don't go by what is now, go by what will be. Your potential is your future, not what you are now.

Before January 1 2015 I didn't know how to start a blog. So I decided I was going to do it, I learned how to do it. Then I did it. What's going to happen? I don't know, but I do know that no matter what happens I will forever have this experience and nobody will be able to take that away from me. I'm not going to lie I learned how to play basketball and wasn't very good at it but at least I know I have given it a fair shake. don't be scared to fail. Just be scared to quit.

Higher ground

Now matter what someone does to you as long as it's verbally and not fiscally then you will survive it. Some people are very cruel and even though its a cliche, most of the time people that hurt, hurt others. We have already established that you are not responsible for others actions in almost every thing I have written about any kind of relationship. The only thing you can control is how you react.
 
We have to work with people that we cannot stand and they can not stand us either. It doesn't matter how nice you are or polite or giving to everyone else, there is someone out there that wouldn't want to spend ten minutes with you.
 
Now if your all those things I don't want you to change one bit and I'll tell you right now that I envy your strength and wisdom. Some people just don't like happy people. I do want you to defend yourself but do it in a way that will not  turn you against yourself. For instance if someone talks badly about you it is easy to get caught up and tell everyone all of their bad traits and how much of a liar they are. I will tell you that your best defense is no defense. Especially in the work place.
 
Don't lower yourself. Do your job and you will come through. If you are a good caliber employee then everybody will know the truth without you having to defend yourself. If your boss calls you in just tell your part and not what theirs is. If your asked directly about what's going on between the two of you, then answer the question as honestly as possible. If a person is successful in getting the boss to think your a bad employee, try not to get emotional and tell the truth. If the people that you work for are that stupid then your probable better off working somewhere else anyway. I cant tell you the number of times I have had friends that where dedicated to a company that was run by idiots. Can you guess what happened?
 
They went out of business or where bought out. Then either everyone lost their jobs or the only people they kept was only the real workers. Not the old bosses friends or the crappy managers. Just look at it from their point of view. If you bought a business that was doing horrible would you keep the people that had ran it into the ground? Not if you have any sense at all. So in most cases when you don't like who you are working with or for, you have three choices.
 
1. You could do the smart thing and look for a better job. The only time I wouldn't do this is if you have a lot of years or seniority
 
2.You can stick it out and know that everything changes eventually. The only problem with this is sometimes it's for the worse but most of the time it will work it's self out.
 
3.The Third choice is to get down and dirty with the person you can't stand and go tit for tat. This choice is as childish as it sounds and the outcome will not be good for anyone involved. Besides that you will loose any support that you had from other co-workers. That doesn't mean they won't act like they are on your side but they too will probable stab you in the back.

Take the Higher Ground, you'll never be sorry in the long term that you did.

Well, I felt the need to write this because the number of people that have this issue at one time or another. hopefully this will help you make it through a difficult time in your life. Try to remember that your not alone.

Killing Thoughts

Two sides of the coin. I'm not going to lie and anybody that knows me will agree I love to take the other side of any issue but what I have learned from this is it's more important for people to win an argument then it is to be right. Ya I said it. People are so narrow minded that they don't want to know the truth and they think anybody on their side is right and they don't listen to the other side at all.

The real truth is easy. There's no such thing as black and white but people want to ignore that. Let me prove it. Some people say taking another life is wrong no matter the circumstance. Some people say that you should only take a life when it's absolutely necessary to save others. Some say only if your in combat. Others say only if they are given the death penalty and yet others say only in the first trimester while still others say only if they are already dying.

Now I know that People have very strong feelings about subjects like this but the reality is that none of these answers are right and non of them are wrong either. It is only your opinion and your opinion is not more important then anyone else's. Like right now you may not like what I'm saying but that doesn't mean I'm wrong. The problem now a days is we watch our politicians, reporters, Scientist act like total jackasses every day and so we think it's alright to dismiss people as if they don't matter or to yell over the top of someone we don't agree with. Well Its NOT!

We have become a society that worships rude people. Rude was the only clean word I could think of. Not really my first choice but it will do. People that act like that are cowards. They only act that way because we enable them. I love a good argument. Its in my nature to take the unpopular side but I have the ability to not take it personally. It's a rare gift that most people don't have. So I just want to say don't be like this countries leaders and media. Have respect for others opinion even if you don't agree with them. We have already let the jackass rain supreme. Hence almost every court, talk, news, and political show coming from any media source.

Lets take a look at the news. All the Democrats say fox news who is owned by a republican is full of it and if you've done any research you know that the other news stations are owned by Democrats but the real truth is they are all full of it. They all do the same things. when it's a bad story for their side the explain why it wasn't all that bad and move on as fast as they can and that's if they report it at all. When its bad for the other side then kick the crap out of them while their down day after day after day. Don't be a sheep. know that they are only telling you what they want you to know the way they want you to hear it. Every coin has two sides and some are not coins at all but dice.

So don't get down in the gutter with someone so you can rain supreme. Stand up on the sidewalk and let them say their piece as you look down on them. Hehe. Oh and don't take it personal.

Run

The night air was warm and moist as the fireflies sparkled above the swamp, their yellow green light reflecting in the water. The spotlight bore a hole through the darkness and way off in the distance you could see the eerie glow of the gator's eyes reflecting the light back from great distances.  Every man in the boat had a light layer of sweat on their skin but the warm moist breeze wasn't very refreshing.

"There it is. move the spotlight back to the right." a very thin green stripe appeared out of the darkness and they headed toward it in a very slow pace. The water was very shallow here and cypress knees and trees where everywhere. The old 75 Evinrude was pulled up out of the water and locked in position. All you could hear was the wildlife and the hum of the trolling motor, the men themselves were frozen in position except for the spotlight and trolling motor operators. As they slowly weaved in and out of the trees the thin green strip would disappear as the trees blocked it.

They had been using the trolling motor for 20 minutes now and they still had 10 min to go before they reached their goal. Terry had picked this spot for this exact reason and during the day you could be within three feet of the marked tree and not see the thin strips of reflective tape pressed between the bark unless you were looking at it strait on. Out here everything looked the same and even the most seasoned men stayed out of this area for that exact reason. Not because you would get lost but because you could throw a buoy out and you might not be able to find it the next day. Terry knew if he came here in the daylight he wouldn't be able to find the tree he had marked.

They finally got to the tree "Get out of the way." Terry stated flatly to one of the younger guys. The guy move and Terry laid on the bow and plunged both hands down into the water. he grabbed the rope tied under the water to the cypress root and cut the green parachute cord with his knife. he kept the rope rapped around his hand as he throw the knife up on the bow. This was a two hand job and you could see Terry muscles straining to pull the rope up. even with all five of them in the boat the bow sunk down a good couple of inches and he dropped the rubber satchel onto the bow with a thud.

"Lets Go" Terry said as he stood up and walked back and sit down. The rest of the men followed suit and the guy that had been shining the spot light turned it off and flipped a switch on the console and spotlights lit up the water and everything around it. The man on the trolling motor turned it into high gear and they got out of the shallows as fast as possible. finally they were in deeper water and the Evinrude roared to life and the other guys adjusted the spot light so they could travel at higher speeds.

two hours later they were moored at the dock. It took four of them to get it out of the boat and two to carry it to the shack. Terry had already done his piece so he didn't help them. They dropped the package on the floor and Terries breath caught in his throat. "What the hell are you doing? If that goes through the floor, it will take a crane to get it out of the mud. Do you see a crane out here?"

When they backed away from the package it had so much green parachute cord rapped around it that you could just see the corners of the green rubber bag sticking out. Terry made sure they were not going to loose this after all the trouble they had gone through. He pulled out his knife and started cutting away the cords. They had already seen the contents of the bag before but they still gathered around like children to catch the magnificence again. one of the guys was so close that Terry elbowed him in the shin just so he had enough room to get the ropes off. finally the last rope came off.

Even Terry held his breath as he unfolded the bag. He grabbed the bottom of the bag and the rubber stretched under the weight of the object as he struggled to dump it out. They heard the metallic clunk of the Gold as eight gold bars worth four million dollars settled in all their glory on the dusty wooden floor. The bars glittered as little drops of water beaded on top

Terry took two bars off the floor "Well, I hope I never see any of you again." and he headed for the door. He put both gold bars on the passenger floor and within minutes he was driving down the two lane with water on both sides. Less then an hour later he was back on I-49. The gold had been hidden one place or another for 9 months and none of them had been approached by the cops or anyone else for that matter.

Terry was taking his and getting as far as he could away from here. He had learned at a young age that if you lucked into something you better run as fast as you could before fate took it away. The sky turned pink and within 20 min the sun was breaking the horizon. Terry was in a good mood of course how could you not be with a cool mil setting beside you. He was making good time and with any luck he would be in Shreveport about one. He stayed  5 miles below the speed limit all the way to Lafayette and hit town during rush hour but he was still making good time sticking to the inside lane.

A Semi had plenty of room in front of him and came over into his lane. suddenly Terries hands tightened on the steering wheel as he looked into the mirror. Right on his bumper was Louisiana Highway Patrol. Terry had known he would see cops but hoe in the hell did Highway Patrol end up on his rear bumper in this traffic. "Dimmit" he muttered under his breath as he tried to relax. Too late his mind was going a thousand miles a minute. did someone else get caught and traded him off. Had he not used his blinker. Was this Patrolman calling him in right this minute. He didn't see him talking on the radio but that didn't mean anything. Damn, Damn, Damn. was all he could think.

They started speeding up as traffic thinned out, and Terry prayed as he turned on his right blinker and slowly slid over into the middle lane. Terry's heart stopped when the Police Officer maintained his speed and stayed off Terry's left bumper. Terry was starting to sweat and all he could think about was that cop car.

Terry saw something out of his peripheral vision on his right side and then heard the crash as the semi beside him hit his truck. His truck was like a toy as it rolled onto it's side right in front of his police car. Terry heard metal  crunch, tires squeal and glass shatter all at once.

Terry woke up in the ambulance before he passed out again. The next time he woke up he was in a hospital room and he felt like crap. The nurse walked in "Well hello  Mr. Vane. Don't try to move you've been in a serious accident. Are you in pain?" Terry shook his head yes and the nurse came back about five minutes later with a syringe and administered the content into his thigh.

When he woke up next two police officers were in his room. Well you done it now Terry thought as they came up to his bed. Mr. Vane, We'd like to ask you some questions. Terry nodded yes.

When the officers left tears came to Terry's eyes. Terry never saw the inside of a jail cell or his four comrades or those two bars of gold again. The Gold was never found. Well maybe.