Ready for Spring

I'm ready for spring to arrive. The snow and ice on my windows is getting old. There is over 6 feet of snow on each side of my driveway. I enjoy the optimism that comes with spring the most. New growth brings the promise of warm and plentiful days. Well, Groundhog's Day is coming up. Let's hope for an early spring.

My Moneyclip

Call me old fashioned, but I keep my paper money in a moneyclip. I don't carry much usually, today just a single dollar, but it's in the clip. I also carry a couple of folded up 3X5 cards to write notes on. An old habit that has served me well. I don't normally spend more than I have in my moneyclip on impulse buys. Sure, sometimes I overspend and overtip on a fancy coffee, but for the most part I don't spend what I don't have.

Old fashioned maybe, but what if congress acted the same way with my money that I do? Everytime they are tempted to spend on impulse (or media pressure), pull out the moneyclip and see if there is enough. Sure, they are bound to spend some on things that I wouldn't, but they would know what they have and spend only what has been saved up and set aside for that purpose.

Homemade Sauce

Some things are just better when you make them yourself. I make my own marinara sauce and can it in jars the old fashioned way. It doesn't cost much and is really pretty simple. You do have to put the time in and use quality ingredients to get good sauce, but it's worth it.

I'm concerned about the Economic Stimulus Package that congress is cooking up with the help of the "head chef" President Obama. It is a complicated recipe, mostly pork and some unidentifiable things. It is coming with lots of marketing and it is sure to be in some sort of new-fangled package that you can't see through to tell what it is you are really getting. I think I like my sauce better.

Brightly Colored Straws

Some days you just can't make sense of things. You know you should like the things you are seeing, mostly because other people tell you that they do. When you get right down to it though, it's kinda like a pile of brightly colored straws. They all look good, downright dazzling with the bright colors and all, but in the end they are just full of air.

Congress is good a making piles of brightly colored straws into what they call "Landmark Legislation". The economic stimulus bill currently being debated is just that, a brightly colored distraction with little or no function.

Afternoon Walk

I took a walk this afternoon near our home. It was chilly and breezy but felt good. I had been working all morning, reading through tedious stuff for the most part and feeling like I had no air to breathe. This walk was just what I needed to get back on track.

I wonder if our lawmakers need to take a walk outside. Surely the tedium of trying to figure out how much more of my good money to throw after bad is making them feel like they have no air to breathe. Just the thought if it takes my breath away.

Grand Rapids at Night

Grand Rapids is not like New York or Chicago. Life is a little slower at night, but it's good. And it's home. And right now it is downright cold. You can see that few people have ventured out to the deck to take in the sights while enjoying a meal at the BOB lately.

Boogy and Mumkin

Boogalamoon and Mumkin are our parakeets. They are the best of friends. We have not clipped their wings, it just doesn't seem right. Freedom comes with liberty, you can't have liberty if you have wings but can't use them to fly because somebody else says so.

Give me liberty or give me death.