From researching previous posts I know that most businesses no longer do much on-the-job training.  That is they don’t take a green horn and teach him the skills that are necessary to make him a valuable employee. It is said that they just don’t see the profit in doing that as many will just leave for a higher pay once they have been trained. This varies remarkably from America’s past where in apprenticeships were the norm. I enjoy watching TV shows about people who build and remodel cars and motorcycles. It is interesting to watch how they do it. It is … Continue reading On The Job Training….

If you have anything to tell me of importance, for God’s sake begin at the end.    — Sara Jeannette Duncan,  1861-1922 I have never had any degree of patience in my life, especially now that I am in my senior years. So when I ran across this quote it got my immediate attention. I read quite a few fellow bloggers daily but I must admit some of them can get pretty long-winded. :)  I sometime find myself superficially skimming until I get to the last paragraph. My impatience with others is the reason I try to keep all my … Continue reading Begin At The End…..

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.  — Helen Keller Helen Keller has always been someone who has inspired me in my life. I would dreadfully fear but can’t imagine being both deaf and blind. If anyone knows about closed doors I’m sure it is her.  Yeah, I must admit that I probably spend more time looking at closed doors than I do finding new open ones. That is just my, and probably most everyone else’s, … Continue reading The Closed Door….

Here it is Photo Saturday again. I decided to use it to give you a glimpse of my new Chevy Sonic. I have had it over a month now and simply love it.  This picture was taken as we entered Moab Utah. I thought the orange mountains were a good backdrop for my inferno orange car  :) Continue reading My New Sonic…

Maybe you read here that I recently bought a new Chevy Sonic to replace my twenty year old truck. Of course that also meant getting insurance for it. It turns out that since it has such a high safety rating that the insurance is actually cheaper than our four-year old HHR. I was certainly pleasantly surprised by that! But getting insurance got me to thinking about all those commercials we see about them on TV.  It seems that every company claims that if you buy their insurance you will save $xxx a year in premiums. How can they all make … Continue reading About That Auto Insurance…

These very hot summer days are getting to me. In past years I have always rationalized having to endure the cold winter days so I could get some pleasant summer ones. I know last winter was probably the mildest one I have seen in at least twenty years so maybe these super hot summer days are in contrast to that. When I first rented a house in my bachelor days of the 1970s I hated having to mow the lawn. The lawn was no more than fifty by one hundred feet but it was the fact that I HAD to … Continue reading I Hate Crunchy Grass….

While on vacation recently we ate at a five-star restaurant at Mesa Verde.  When the meal came all the food was stacked in the middle of the plate. I know I frequently see that on the food cable channels but I never actually see people eat that food.  I know the stacking  is done because it is supposed to look better that way but how is it supposed to be eaten?  Are you supposed to un-assemble it so that it can be eaten or are you supposed to somehow pick through the layers to get what you want? I don’t … Continue reading About That Meal….

Just a quick aside to give you some words from a Sojourners email I recently received. We must all take to heart the words of Jesus in this matter. It shames me that this discussion is even necessary in our country: We have a genuine hope for a long term bipartisan solution and, in particular, a moral non-partisan commitment to protect the poor and vulnerable from being expendable in these fiscal debates. We should also say that Democratic budgets have not been models of fiscal responsibility and social justice either. But what the House budget is calling for is morally … Continue reading Aside – An Immoral Document…

Source: Insurers like that health law ruling sets their path – USATODAY.com. Companies are spending hundreds of millions on technology already to cut administrative costs, he said. Instead of buying individual health policies through agents who take up to 10% of the policy’s cost in commissions, consumers will buy coverage online or on the phone, he said, to help meet the law’s requirement that insurers spend 80% of premiums on health-care services. This is an article about how the private insurers are trying to cope with the new healthcare laws recently found to be constitutional by the Supreme court. One of … Continue reading Insurers like that health law ruling sets their path – USATODAY.com

Source: States explore new ways to tax motorists for road repair – USATODAY.com. States are looking for new ways of taxing motorists as they seek to pay for highway and bridge repair and improvements without relying on the per-gallon gasoline tax widely viewed as all but obsolete. Having to import oil from the Middle East is the primary reason so many of our kids die in our frequent foreign wars. Not giving those who don’t use as much oil as others some break is wrong-headed idea in my mind.  We need to tax the gas hogs on the road not the … Continue reading A Wrong-Headed Idea…

The one thing a man can do better than a woman is to grow a beard  – John Steinbeck (Travels with Charley) I am not used to pulling quotes from my hero John Steinbeck. That duty usually fall to my other hero Will Rogers. But when I came across this quote in Steinbeck’s book Travels with Charley recently I knew I had to include it here. My wife, like most of you guys out there already know, thoroughly believe that she can do absolutely everything better than I can. She has made a life out of constantly bringing up my … Continue reading The One Thing a Man Can Do Better Than a Woman…..

I don’t know how many times I have heard the title of this post. I defiantly don’t want people putting me in a pre-defined box! I guess that makes me ornery but I really don’t care. When someone says act your age they are really saying lie back and do what you are supposed to do. What a bummer man….   Besides that just which age do you want me to act. In my mind I feel like I am thirty-something but with the wisdom of a sixty-something. Yeah, my body seems to constantly remind me that it is older than … Continue reading Act Your Age!!!!

TODAY Health – Diet, Fitness and Wellness Blog | TODAY.com Blogs – Doctors behaving badly: 7 types to watch out for. This is a very interesting article about seven things you should watch out for in the doctor that is treating you. It isn’t often that we get this type of “insider” information about the medical establishments.  I always get a kick out of the way they say they “practice medicine”. That term is meant to infer that they don’t always get it right; they are still practicing. I don’t know about you but I certainly hope the doctor who … Continue reading About Your Doctor…..

      If a picture is worth a thousand words this one is certainly it.  Our current congress is so afraid of the NRA that they panic when ordinary citizens bring up the topic of gun control.  Yes, the NRA is a very powerful lobby but until more congressmen stand up to them they will continue to have a strangle hold on civilized debate about weapons of mass destruction….   Continue reading A Picture is…..

via Ron Paul ‘Revolution’ strikes at GOP state parties – First Read. “Look at the next generation,” Paul said on MSNBC. “I mean, there is so much excitement out there. The big deal is that the next generation are sick and tired of what they’re getting and they’re looking for something.  And what we’re offering seems to appeal to the young people.” I guess anything would be an improvement over what we have now so I salute the folks who are leading this charge to change the Republican Party. The quote above says that the next generation is sick and tired … Continue reading Not Only The Next Generation….

Here I am heading toward Denver in a few minutes so the most recent gun slaughter is on my mind. I know President Obama will also be heading for Denver. I selfishly hope he doesn’t hold up my travels.  It just amazes me that we in the U.S.  so quickly forget all these types of shootings and there have been so many of them in recent years.  Of course we have many more guns per capita than any other country in the world so it should not be surprising that this occurs on such a frequent basis. We are also … Continue reading Emergency NRA Board Meeting…

As I mentioned a few posts ago I somehow got myself into an extended FaceBook dialog with a friend about politics. It surprised me that he seems to hate our current president with such a venom that it scared me. I had never seen that side of him before. After an extended comment/counter-comment it shook some of the peacefulness from my current environment. I had trouble sleeping that night and even the next morning his hateful words lingered in my mind. At the end of all those posts it seemed like two one-sided conversation instead of a single thread. There … Continue reading My Travels….