Ramblings #16

Sometimes we take the little things for granted....like having a bathroom next to our bedroom, or being able to drive a car when it's raining.

The other day, while Christy and I were just lying in bed, she said "I'm so lucky."

"Why?" I asked her, assuming she would tell me it was because she was married to the greatest man on earth. :)

She went on to tell me that, when she was growing up in Taiwan, she would have to walk outside if she wanted to use the bathroom. When she was little, her parents didn't even have a bathroom! Their toilet consisted of a ditch buried in the middle of their backyard. When she got older, her parents eventually built an outhouse where one could go to do their business. Ditch or outhouse, she still had to walk outside, in often raining or extremely cold weather.

She also pointed out how miserable it was to drive a scooter in the rain. I know this first-hand, as she used to give me rides all the time on her scooter. I always thought death was right around the corner when I would ride on the back of her scooter.

So...yeah...I can see why she feels she is lucky to be living here in the US, where even poor people have the luxury of having a bathroom under the same roof as the rest of their house (or apartment). And even poor people can drive a car here, maybe not the best car, but still a car. I rarely see anyone riding scooters here in the US, and when we do see someone on one, we will say "Whoa! There's someone riding a scooter!" That's how rare it is.

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I'm continually amazed at how smart Sara is turning out to be. She's been in the "Gifted and Talented" program now for over a year. Her latest report card was straight A's. She's able to solve Suduko puzzles, and she's even figuring out how to play chess. I couldn't be more proud of her. I'm really crossing my fingers with Kyle at this point.

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Well, it looks like the gravy train for internet leeches who like to steal music has ended. File sharing services like Megaupload, Filesonic, Fileserve, UploadStation, etc have all closed, or they no longer offer download services. I can't really complain. Music is not that expensive anymore. The days of $20 cd's are over. If there's some new music I want, Amazon usually has it for $3.99 the first few days it goes on sale. There is a website that is listed to the right of this column that still offers "bootleg" recordings of concerts. Apparently it's still legal to share fan-recorded concerts, just not the studio recordings. Whatever.

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If I vote for any GOP candidate in the upcoming primaries, I've decided it's going to be for Ron Paul. Obviously I wouldn't vote for him in the general election, but he's got my vote in the primary. I've watched most of the debates, and Ron Paul always makes the best, common-sense comments. He continually states that America needs to stop it's "empire building" in the middle east, stop the unnecessary wars (especially the one ramping up for Iran), and focus on repairing our own country, rather than "coddling the world, while bringing bankruptcy and economic turmoil to our people." I particularly liked his comments in the last debate, where he criticized the GOP candidates for calling themselves conservative, for wanting to cut food stamps for the poor, but spend billions on national defense. He said that logic doesn't make sense, and I agree with him.

But, don't get the impression that I've become his supporter. I haven't. I just think that, of the remaining candidates left, he is the most honest, and that's saying a lot. I've already known for years that Newt is a hypocritical, unscrupulous liar, and the more we learn about Mitt Romney, the worse it gets. I don't see how a guy who is so out of touch, and thinks that $370,000 is "not much money" could ever get support from the middle class. Here's a video from Bill Maher talking about why Americans don't like him:

The Death of Rick Perry

"I would send troops back into Iraq."
-Rick Perry, 1/7/12

Our governor sure is funny, isn't he? I can see why the guy refused to debate Bill White (the guy that ran against him for governor in 2010.)

With about 80% of Americans opposed to the Iraq war, Rick Perry made a pretty stupid (and politically suicidal) comment last night during yet another GOP debate. Rick Perry clearly has not had a good time during these debates. More often than not, he has come across as a buffoon, further cementing the bad reputation that Texans have among the rest of the country.

When asked what he'd be doing on a typical Saturday night, Perry replied that he'd be "at the shooting range." Ron Paul, on the other hand, said he'd be reading a book on economics. To me, Ron Paul had the best answer. Perhaps if Perry had read more books instead of shooting more guns, he'd have performed better in these debates.

Although I would never actually vote for Ron Paul, I liked much of what he had to say during the debate. Not about completely shutting down the government, but about how the US has become obsessed with "nation building." Ron Paul seems to be the only GOP candidate who speaks honestly and directly, and doesn't come across as a snake-like phony like Mitt Romney. Jon Huntsman had a few good ideas as well. Stop spending money on wars in foreign countries and start spending it here, on infrastructure and job creation. I think that's what most people want. Under a Rick Perry presidency, and Rick "Bomb Iran" Santorum, a war with Iran would be inevitable.

Since I haven't lived in Texas that long, I don't know how many terms a governor can serve here. Rick Perry is already on this third term, and he certainly isn't going to be moving into the Oval Office anytime soon. Will he run for a fourth term? God, I hope not. Let's just hope that, if he does, Texans will remember his embarrassing performances at these debates, and give the guy the big ol' Texas boot.

2012 is Finally Upon Us!

Well, it's 2012. This is the year the world is supposed to end, so I guess this will be my final "New Years Resolutions" post. If I'm writing this again a year from now, then that must mean that the Mayans got it wrong, just like the doomsday prophet Harold Camping (haven't heard much from him lately).

Unlike last year, I didn't stay up to watch the ball drop, or to see Dick Clark dragged out in front of the TV cameras again. Not that I didn't want to. I just had to work the next morning at 6am. A 12 hour shift, too, no less. I couldn't resist the time and a half pay for working on a holiday.

Since I've been writing this blog for a few years, I always like to go back and read the previous years "New Years Resolutions" and see if I accomplished any of them. In January 2011, I mentioned going back to Taiwan, visiting friends and family, and just trying to stay healthy. I went to Taiwan, visited incarcerated family members in Thailand, and survived a colonoscopy. So, I guess I accomplished all my goals. Unfortunately, that family member still remains in a Thai prison, but will possibly be released this year. As for my local family, I did see some of them (including my ex wife) when I went out to California to visit my mom for the last time.

Unless there is another death in the family (hopefully not), I don't foresee any future family reunions anytime soon. The last time I talked to my brother's wife, Kristi, we ended up in an argument again. It was about my mom again, naturally. I had called my mom's cell phone, hoping to talk to her. My brother, or someone who sounded just like him, answered the phone, and then hung up on me. When I emailed my brother and his wife, telling them I didn't appreciate being hung up on, his wife told me that she had disconnected the cell phone. Then she later told me she had "given it away" to her sister. Her story kept changing, but naturally I was the one being unreasonable and childish again. You can never win with this person, so I can honestly say I will likely never see her or my brother again. Once my mom passed away, I no longer need or desire any ties with them.

In happier news, there are some more positive things on the horizon for 2012. I'm seeing Roger Waters "The Wall" show again in May. This time it's here in Austin. Waters is coming back to the USA this year, and this time he's playing (mostly) stadiums. Thankfully, he's playing at an arena in Austin. I wouldn't want to see this show (which is famously "anti-stadium") at a stadium.

We will likely take a big trip in the summer again, though not to Taiwan. We've been floating around the idea of Washington D.C. or Yellowstone National Park. We might even be able to go on a Mediterranean Cruise through my wife's employer, although I'd have to come up with $1900 if I wanted to go, in addition to paying a babysitter for a week. This probably won't happen.

We've also got a big presidential election this year. After jumping back and forth with my predictions last year, I think Obama will probably be re-elected, but by a very, very slim margin. Romney will most likely be the GOP candidate, but I don't know a single person who likes the guy. I think he'd be better than Ron Paul, Rick Perry, or Michelle Bachmann, but that's not saying much.