I Don’t Think I Am a Food Snob…….

Source: Foodies enjoy different tastes than the rest of us – USATODAY.com. Foodie flavor preferences are in stark contrast to that of the general population, whose favorite flavor characteristics are far more familiar: sweet (81%) and salty (67%). I don’t think I am a food snob but I really do enjoy savory and sour food as opposed to salty and sweet. I have been on a low salt diet for about six years now and have come to totally detest very salty things. For instance, for the most part, canned soup is no longer on my list of things to eat. … Continue reading I Don’t Think I Am a Food Snob…….

Second-Hand Thinking…..

A man in the country does his own thinking, but you get him into town and he soon will be thinking second-handed. – May 1, 1926  Will Rogers Second hand thinking seems so prevalent today especially in our nation’s capital. Each political persuasion has their own set of key words that must be spoken during any discussion of their ideology. Most of these words come from their party leaders or other talking heads such as Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity. They have honed their lists of words that cause the highest emotional response (especially fear) and they use those words as … Continue reading Second-Hand Thinking…..

Paying For College…..

Source:  Life Inc. – The upside to not saving for your child’s college education. You may want to help out somewhat, however. In her study, the kids that seemed the most focused on school and the future were actually the ones that were getting no help at all. I can tell you from personal experiences that the above quote is true. I paid for 100% of my college education and totally understood that I needed to stay totally focused on being a success in my studies. Otherwise all the hard work I put into just being able to be there … Continue reading Paying For College…..

Not Spending Enough???

Source: Economy Watch – Bernanke says demand too weak to bring down jobless rate. Consumers are not spending enough and businesses are not investing enough to put a big dent in unemployment, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday How many years have we heard about the dreadful effects of consumer debt in the country.  It is typically reported that the average family has more than $8,000 in credit card debt!  Everyone, including most economists, say we are just living beyond our means. But now here is the number one financial guy in the country saying we are in the trouble … Continue reading Not Spending Enough???

God, I think you kinda messed up….

Hi God, I know I talk to you often but usually not in so public a sphere. But I think I need to let others know about this.  God, I think you kinda messed up!   I know I am just a little guy that is occupying a very small space on this earth for a very short period of time. I know you are infinitely, and I mean infinitely, smarter than I am but I got to come right out and ask you why you gave us men so much testosterone?  It just seems to be the root of … Continue reading God, I think you kinda messed up….

Growing Up…

The trick is to grow up without growing old. — Casey Stengel Growing old does not insure that we are grown up. I seem to still be looking for the day when I feel like a full-blown grown-up ;) But then again I think that is not entirely a bad thing. When we are young and not even beginning to grow up we are probably the most open to new and adventurous things. We actually seek them out and get bored if we can’t find them. I think we all have to maintain some of that no matter how old we are. … Continue reading Growing Up…

Being a Writer….

You can’t stop a person if he gets it in his head he can write. – June 11, 1933  Will Rogers You got me pegged Will! Although I am not an “official” published author in the old sense of the word I do have it in my head that I can write. My teachers over the years, both in high school and college, told me I could write. I certainly enjoy putting the virtual pen to paper as they say. Now that I am older I have more experiences to use as sources so I think maybe I have more … Continue reading Being a Writer….

Take a lifestyle cut in retirement — Please…..

Source:  Don’t take a lifestyle cut in retirement — Fidelity Investments. I know the source article says basically the opposite of what the title is. That is because I think the article is, at its foundation, wrong.  It wouldn’t hurt almost any of us to take a lifestyle cut now or even in retirement. I know that my wife and I are now living on a little over half of what we spent but prior to my retirement. We moved from the “high cost” State of New Jersey back to my roots in Indiana.  We quit buying much of the … Continue reading Take a lifestyle cut in retirement — Please…..

Youth Is Wasted on the Young…

Youth would be an ideal state if it came later in life — Herbert Asquith I paraphrased the Asquith quote in the title of this post but the message is the same. I have always had the feeling that our given stages of life are somehow out of their most idealistic order.  When we are young we have a seemingly endless supply of energy and vigor but we also are plagued with a lack of experience and wisdom that come later that come much later in life. If only we could reserve some of that energy for when we can … Continue reading Youth Is Wasted on the Young…

Over The Hill…

You are over the hill when your back goes out more than you do — anonymous This one hits very close to home for me. About the only time we go out anymore is when my wife tires of my cooking and insists on eating out.  That is a weekly occurrence for us.  On the other side of this saying is my back and it seems to go out a lot lately. The reason for that is because of the season of the year. For those of us in the hinterland Spring entails a lot of preparation in the yard … Continue reading Over The Hill…

Millennials aren’t amoral and adrift

Source: Tom Krattenmaker: Millennials aren’t amoral and adrift – USATODAY.com. This article certainly went into much more depth on this topic than most do today. I want to bring up three quotes from it and add my input to the discussion. Yes, it’s true, as critics point out, that younger Americans tend to be less religiously affiliated than older generations. But data show they are nearly as likely as their elders to pray and believe in God. While their support for gay rights might suggest moral confusion to social conservatives, they are just as likely as older Americans to judge abortion … Continue reading Millennials aren’t amoral and adrift

About Rush…..

  It must be almost heart breaking for those splendid writers, to see what some of us syndicate birds get away with. – October 29, 1933  Will Rogers Don’t get me wrong, I certainly enjoy making my daily blog posts and having you guys interested enough to want to read them but Will’s message for today does bug me sometimes.  I am absolutely not the best writer/storyteller around but I think I do have somewhat of a gift in this area. The most “syndicated bird” around today is probably Rush Limbaugh. It is reported that he makes somewhere around $30 … Continue reading About Rush…..

You Get What You Deserve…

  “You end up as you deserve. In old age you must put up with the face, the friends, the health, and the children you have earned.  — Fay Weldon The quote here could be paraphrased as “You get what you deserve..” and there is certainly some wisdom to those words. When you start approaching the end of your life and aren’t all of us doing that all the time then you end up living with the consequences of your past experiences.  Lets start out at the back end of this quote and work from there. The children you have … Continue reading You Get What You Deserve…

Something for Nothing…..

The title of this post seems to be the attitude of many of our citizens lately. They want government to fix their roads, protect their food, catch the bad guys, put out their fires, and give them a myriad of different services.  But they want it all with nothing coming out of their wallet. This type of thing seems almost endemic in our society in the last decade or two. This seems especially true for the folks in California like the ones in Greece as reported in a book entitled Boomerang: Travels into the New Third World (thanks Bob for … Continue reading Something for Nothing…..

Another Proof of Partisanship…..

Source: On renewal of Violence Against Women Act, Senate Democrats have upper hand – CSMonitor.com. After passing the Senate unanimously in years past, the Violence Against Women Act, with revisions, faces strong partisan opposition. Still, Republicans don’t want to be tagged as waging a ‘war on women.’ As the quote says this bill has been unanimously approved in past years, so what happened this time?  The thing to notice is what I underlined and that is “with revisions”. The Democrat leadership wants us to believe that it is just the Republicans being against everything. But reading further into the article you … Continue reading Another Proof of Partisanship…..

Another rich guy’s case for higher taxes

Source: A rich guy’s case for higher taxes. To give you a little background on the rich guy this article talks about here is a quote introducing piece. Like Warren Buffett, David Levine — retired executive, student of the federal tax code and very rich man — is begging the government to raise his taxes. Here, he explains why. David Levine spent his life in the corporate world studying the federal tax code. If anyone knows about its effect on the prosperity of the country it is probably him. He retired in his forties and flatly states he might have worked … Continue reading Another rich guy’s case for higher taxes

The Faith of our Founding Fathers… continued

This is a continuation of a post I did in March 2009 on my blog at RedLetterLiving.net This is a continuation of the last post where I covered George Washington’s religious beliefs. I will conclude this topic by talking about Thomas Jefferson.  Thomas Jefferson — Jefferson was undoubtedly the strongest advocate for religious freedom of the Founding Fathers. This was quite evident when he composed the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom in 1777. Jefferson was definitely raised in a Christian household. He seemed to have also been brought up in the rituals and customs of the Anglican Church as it existed … Continue reading The Faith of our Founding Fathers… continued

A Mind Is a Terrible Thing To Waste…..

When a fellow don’t have much mind it don’t take him long to make it up. – November 3, 1935  Will Rogers As Will mentions here it doesn’t seem like many today have much mind and what they have is most often closed. They are fixated on one tunnel vision world view and absolutely nothing will shake them from that view. They have made up their minds long ago that their view of the world is the only valid one. It is almost like that guy about one hundred years ago that tried to shut down the U.S. patent office … Continue reading A Mind Is a Terrible Thing To Waste…..

And The Ranting Goes On….

Source: NYT: NRA gathers amid storm over gun laws – US news – The New York Times – msnbc.com. Simply put gang, when guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns. You will NEVER take mine. I am NOT the enemy. I stand WITH the police and have NEVER discharged my weapons. BUT if someone comes to harm me, wife or my doggie, that is a different story. The second amendment exists for a very specific reason. The Obammy admin is not only trying to destroy the second amendment but the US Constitution in total. He is a dangerous Marxist. Read … Continue reading And The Ranting Goes On….

Some of the Things We Celebrate….

Some of the things we celebrate tend to be a double edged sword.  I recently say a TV program celebrating the multi-million dollar restoration of a home at Newport Rhode Island.  Newport was one of the areas known as a playground for the robber barons of almost one-hundred years ago. The home in particular was actually a summer home build by Edward Berwind. His wife for several years spent about six weeks there during the summer months.  The mansion as shown to the right was about 86,000 square feet and will filled with utter opulence. The TV show proudly announced … Continue reading Some of the Things We Celebrate….

No Good Horse Traders…..

All there is to politics is trading. That’s why politics is not as good as it was years ago. They don’t have as many old-time horse traders in there. These we got are just amateurs. They’re crude with their trades. There is really no “finesse.” You might not get that. “Finesse” is a French word and it means sneaking it over. — Will Rogers Maybe Will, as usual is on to something here. Maybe our problems with politics today is that all the current office holders are just amateurs at horse trading.  An alternative way I might mention on this … Continue reading No Good Horse Traders…..