On June 17th, we lost our longest living pet, our big ole black cat, Lil Bit. We had him since he was about 5 weeks old and before we got married. He was born on march 14, 1993-during the Super Storm. Taking a pet to the vet to have euthanized is one of the hardest, but sometimes the best, decision you will have to make. Lil Bit had been having gum infections for about a year and had lost weight and the zest for life. On the 15th, he lost the use of his back legs and could not get around. Not even to get to the litter box. This was possibly the saddest sight you will ever see and I could not stand it. We avoided each other's eyes for a couple of days before we finally talked about it, then the decision was made. We had always promised our pets that we would never let them suffer needlessly and we could see that he had basically given up. I came home from work, we wrapped him up, and drove to the vet. My wife is probably the strongest person I know. She held that dear old cat while the vet injected him and we held him and talked to him while he purred, then slowly faded away. It was calm and serene. He looked into my wife's eyes the whole time, love for her pouring out through his eyes. We buried him next to our Rottweiller, Jazmine, and our Golden Retrevier, Jake.
I have a vision of what happens when a pet dies and this is it: You do what must be done to fufill your promise. Then your pet begins his journey across the Rainbow Bridge that connects this world to the afterlife. Your pet looks back sadly because he can see your tears and hates to leave you. But he knows that he will see you again so he starts again to cross. As he passes the midpoint, he hears and feels his old friends that have gone on before him and he starts to hurry. As he goes, his body starts to regress back to the point in his life when he was the healthiest and happiest. Suddenly, he sees his old pals and his heart leaps for joy. There is Tazmo, Chester, Jazmine and Jake, looking just like they did when they all played together. They tell him how this new world is full of days like the best day he can ever remember. No pain, no loneliness, no sadness, no hunger-just like heaven is supposed to be. Lil Bit, please tell the others how much we miss them and know that we miss you so much it hurts. We will never forget any of you and will see you when it's out turn to cross the bridge. We love youo all so very much.
Mom and Dad

Well, now they are saying that buying up 40% of Citibank stock is not nationalization! Take a pig, paint it blue, and call it a pony-but it's still a pig! Get my drift? What happens to the stockowners?-they take it on the chin and lose their stock/money-poof, gone like the wind. So more people lose it all, nobody really cares, do they? I haven't seen anything that says anyone gives a crap.
As for the hometown-I have noticed that we may be on the way to becoming a Gestopo area. There are more police cars on the road then I have every seen. Why does a small town like Cleveland, Tennessee need 1 police car for every ten citizens cars? I know, it's to protect us from the POLICE! Recently it has come to light that the biggest drug dealers in our little town ARE the police. With 2 arrested on drug charges, sex charges(stuatory rape, contributing to the delequency of a minor), and who knows what else, who protects us? I know all police officers aren't bad but all this sheds a very bad light on the people in charge. I guess any drug arrests and convictions these 2 participated in will have to be thrown out or retried. AAAh, same old crap in the same old town-Good Ole Boy USA! Hopefully, this will chap someone elses ass instead of just mine. Doubt it tho!

Did you watch the Obama news conference last night? I know you did or were you one of the 3 that didn't? I watched, I listened, and I could not believe what I was hearing. Hussein danced, bobbed and weaved like an old pro boxer. He couldn't even answer one direct question. All he wanted to do was repeat the same crap he said while campaigning. Change! Change is coming! I'm all about change! Well, dammit, get to changing things! Change how the banks are robbing people with high interest rates, foreclosing on honest hardworking people, stalling the economy by witholding money for new loans for businesses, homes, cars, etc. Most of us are having a hard time just paying the endlessly rising cost of our daily lives. Our food is suspect, our water is dirty, the air stinks-where is the help to clean up America? The politicos are too busy fighting about who gets credit for the STIMULUS BILL. Who really wants to take credit for mortgaging America's future? Hussein stated that the recovery will be long and tough-no free lunch! Well, the politicians are already lined up at the trough, along with the bank execs and the Wall Street bigwigs. They all want a piece of the large pie that has already been handed out but is unaccounted for. Bullshit-18.1 billion dollars in bonuses at ONE firm. Folks, the collapse is coming, I see it on the horizon. All I can say is be prepared. Like my grandmother told me, plant a garden when times get tough, you'll at least eat. Bargain and negotiate for everything-when times are tough, sellers will sell cheaper. They negotiate or you turn around and walk away-try it! Now, about the new direction of our wars-why are we planning a major offensive in Afganistan? Because we can't catch ONE man-Osama Bin Laden. They can see my license plate from a satellite in space but they can't find a 6 foot 6 inch man in a shitty little place like Afganistan? And they changed the rules-no torture for them but if they do it that's okay? Let me warn you-harm me or my family, and you will scream, you will bleed and you will most likely scream to die. My pleasure! Try me!! Just don't CHAP MY ASS! with petty bullshit anymore. I'm damned tired of it!

What the hell!!!?!! Where do they get off getting bonuses for doing a shitty job? I'm talking about the bank execs, managers, officers, etc. that have helped put this country in the worst financial shape since the Great Depression. Most of us have jobs that we are endanger of losing at anytime, no job security these days, but these bozos not only get to keep their jobs, but get extra money for fucking it up. Give me a break! Where are the so-called economists, financial experts, and money managers when all of this shit is rolling downhill? They are busily giving their expert opinion, getting paid for it, and then doing NOTHING to help the situation. I hope that the voters who got their say this time around get what they voted for. I PRAY that Hussien Obama can get enough of the right minds together to resolve this national crisis. If I had been able to run for President, I would not have accepted the job if I were begged. Who gets all the blame just because he's the front man, the speaker, the great orator-The President!! And believe it or not, he's only a front man for the real people who run this country. Someday, I believe the American people will awaken to the fact that we are here only to pay for the lifestyles of the rich and shameless. I am ready to give up and move somewhere that I know who the enemy is and not have to live believing in fairy tales. Can you speak a foreign language? Choose the country with the most power over us and learn their tongue-you may be required to sooner than you think. AND THAT TOTALLY COMPLETELY CHAPS MY ASS!!!!!!!!

Here's food for thought! What if this so-called "mortgage crisis" is a big scheme set up by the bank and mortgage companies just to set themselves up with a bonanza in real estate when the "crisis" is over? Has anyone thought of that? I haven't heard one person in the media bring this up as a possibility. If you don't think the crisis is real, just look around in whatever town you live in at the auction signs in the yards, the foreclosure notices in the local newspaper, and whatever other notification methods are used in your area. I sell (or lately, try to sell) construction materials to the new and lived in housing industry. My income has dropped drastically (about 40-50%) over the last 12 to 16 months and I don't see any end in sight. Permits that have been pulled for new construction gets put on hold because of the doubt in the job market. Every single day a new company announces layoffs or closings, leaving many employees jobless. One thing that I have noticed tho, the rental property construction is about the only thing going. Seems like some folks are in the know and are planning ahead. Hey, people have to live somewhere. I have lived the apartment life before and may have to again. I don't like having no say about who lives one wall away from me but you do what you must. I had to wait until I am a middle age man to learn to live for tomorrow and not just for today. I only hope I didn't learn too late. I have given away houses in divorces but would really hate giving this house to the bank. I hope a tornada hits it the next day if I do! This economy sucks!!! and that REALLY CHAPS MY ASS!!!

If a bank screws up and loses money, the Government bails them out. Then they hand out bonuses to executives who screwed up the bank in the first place. What is WRONG with this picture? I am a firm believer that the politician and the big financial companies are all in this scheme together. I think that our President-elect will further drive us into a depression unlike anything ever seen. I think Hussein Obama is in league with that part of the world who wish to see the United States of America fail. I further believe that he has been promised a lead part in running whatever is left. Do I sound like a conspiracy nut? I hope so. I hope that this is all that it is, just a bad feeling on my part. I guess what leads me to believe in the unbelievable is the sad state of my own finances. I may well be on my way to joining the list of the forclosed mortgage homeowners. I have realized recently that we are never really homeowners until that last payment is made (25-30 years worth). Then your home is still owned by your local government for the taxes put upon it yearly and the insurance that must be held so if something happens, maybe you wont be homeless. I am too damned old to be going through this. So I am gonna buck up to the bank and demand(request?) lowering my interest rate or a refinance on a lower rate. If not, then they can add this house to the long list of bank owned real estate. I just am too tired to fight the battle anymore. Construction sales on the the skids and that means so am I.......Chaps and depresses MY ASS!!!

 

Here is a Halloween spook-TOMBIE ZOMBIE

I hope to hell I never grow up!

Today we have a great new interest rate of less the 1/2 percent. That's great,really great! But....where and how does that help me? I don't get to borrow money at that rate, I can't even get a loan because the banks are hoarding the $700 billion dollars that was given to them....by US!! How can the government allow AIG to give out million dollar bonuses to excutives that FAILED!! I would get fired or imprisoned for what some of these guys have done. And Madoff stole over $50 BILLION and just got house arrest and an ankle braclet. I hope it was diamond and platinum. I hate to think that a billionaire was wearing some cheap gold thing. I am back to thinking that we are gonna have to go back to the 1960's rallying call to "tear it all down and start over again". I hope....no, let me rephrase......I pray that Hussein Obama can get something...anything, going to right the wrongs that have perpetrated on the American people. I pray that the greedy, no-good bastards that have gotten us to where we are right now, have to beg and plead for forgiveness, then have to spend eternity standing in the same shit we have been forced to stand in. Do I sound upset, pissed off, antagonistic...you bettcha! And the whole damned thing just completely, totally CHAPS MY ASS!!!!!!

Where the hell is all the change that Hussein Obama promised? All he is doing is recycling an old regime, bringing back "THE CLINTONS". I voted to keep them out of politics and now ole Billary is the Secretarty of State? Where does this place Slick Willie? Right in the middle of the decision making process again, that's where! Can anyone believe that we have him basically in office again for at least another 4 years? What in God's name is happening to the brains of the American people? Stupidity is now the brand we have to wear. Were people so desperate for a change that we would have voted in a giraffe under the Democratic banner? Wait until the new tax burdens are put in place, then tell me you voted for change! The only change I can see coming is less of it in my pocket. But I don't give a shit-let the government take care of me. I want all the benefits Hussein promised me. I want unempolyment pay, free food, free health care-I'm damn tired of paying for what he said I would get for free! GIVE IT TO ME NOW! I WANT IT NOW! BULLSHIT-it ain't gonna happen in my lifetime, so we should all get over it or just get under it. The recent political scandals that have come out of Chicago should be a clue for what we have in store for us. Do you honestly believe that Hussein didn't know that the Governor was auctioning off his old Senate seat? Do you think that? God have mercy on the clueless, for that can't think for themselves.....makes me sad..and CHAPS MY ASS!!!!!

What the hell is happening to our world, not just our country? Is it the result of all of the years of overindulgence, apathy, greed, and just "don't give a damn about the other guy"? Are we going to have to start over again like they did in the '30's after the Great Depression? Maybe so, since there are so many things now that would not have been possible in those days. Like a black president, cell phones, high credit debt, too large mortgages, etc. Maybe we need to go back to our roots, learn to use our hands and our brains to survive. We are a weak nation. A people used to playing video games, 700 television channels, crappy music(most remakes of old songs, can't people use their imaginations anymore to write new lyric and music?), fast food drive thrus, cars that can't be repaired at home anymore, high oil prices resulting in high everthing prices, etc. I am sick of it, and too old now to really have a chance to start over. The building industry is on the skids which means my income is half of what I need to meet my obligations. A large part of the country is going thru the same if not worse, so I guess I should not complain. But that is what this blog is all about-complaining about crap that CHAPS MY ASS!

In my last entry, I revealed how I had become a victim of the sour economy by being fired from my sales job for "slow sales and lack of need for a salesman right now".
Fortunately, I found a job on the same day I was fired. BUT!!!...when I went in to settle the terms of my new employment, I received a call on my cell phone from my former boss's attorney. She informed me that I had signed a non-competition agreement when I went to work there in 2003. I looked it up and realized that I had inadvertently signed a "3 year-300 mile" non-competition form that I had forgotten about. To start, the terms(3 years-300 miles) is extremely excessive for ANY job. Then, I was" let go", I did not quit to pursue employment elsewhere. In my opinion, this should negate any non-competition agreement. Lastly, this profession is what I know, what I taught myself, and have customers who will "go where I go" or just go elsewhere if I am not in this business any longer. I am a strong believer in customer service and loyalty, and this has benefited me in the long term with a strong customer base, loyal to me, not my former employer. I have been threatened with a lawsuit and with a restraining order that would prevent me from going to my new place of employment. I ask, is this fair? Why would someone fire you and then tell you you can't work in the same industry? What insane idiot thinks that telling me that I am not needed because the economy is poor, then telling me I can't work, doing what I know, is fair? I WANT to be sued for this. I want a trial by jury. I want 12 people to tell me that this is just! I am dumbfounded by the lack of humanity, the lack of common sense, and just the plain lack of sympathy by this ignorant jackass. This man has to be the greediest, coldest person I have ever met,and I regret the day I ever went to work for him. I have made a lot of money for this company, and at the same time, for myself by being a good salesman with a knack for customer care and service. Traits that are largely missing in the retail/wholesale industry these days. And I don't apologize for doing my job well.

Well, the Great Recession? of 2008 just claimed another victim--me! I was a salesman for a local building material supply company(who shall remain nameless because I am going to make every effort to see that they fail) who's ignorant owner decided he didn't need a saleman in these slow economic times. He said he will just rely on the walk-in/call-in traffic to keep the doors open. Well, good luck(not really!)! Do I sound bitter? Maybe a little, but I feel that a large weight has just been removed from my back. Mainly because I carried that little company thru hard times and good times. Customers have told me that I was the only reason that they still bought there. Makes me feel good that I have been so well thought of! I am now trying to get on with what has been known as "The Competition". I will take as many customers with me as will go and increase this company's bottom line, all the while watching the other one slowly fade. (hands rubbing gleefully and smirking). I could never understand the mind of this past employer. No advertising, no price adjusting, no loyalty to employees-every one is there just to provide a warm body to get the job done, even if it is a poor job. Well, poor decisions have toppled many a bigger company than this one, so let the rumble start and walls crumble. Adios, good bye, and good riddance! Sell it off at auction and move to Colorado(a clue?). See ya!

Ever own a dog? Most of us have. I always feel that a dog owns you, not the other way around. Dogs lives are too short...too short, but you know that going in. You know the pain is coming, you're going to lose a dog, and there's going to be great anguish. So you live fully in the moment with them, never fail to share their joy or delight in their innocence, because you can't support the illusion that a dog can be your lifelong companion. There is such a beauty in the hard honesty of that, in accepting and giving love while always aware that it comes with an unbearable price. Maybe loving dogs is a way we do penance for all the other illusions we allow ourselves and for the mistakes we make because of those illusions. I hope I can always have a dog by my side, even as I grow into an old man. The love in a dog's eyes can even take the edge off of that, and can even give you a reason to keep going, to know you just can't let them down.
If it doesn't already show, I miss the dogs that have gone on to the other side of the rainbow bridge, and I hope they are waiting for me when I cross.

Dedicated to JAKE, JAZMINE, CHESTER, TAZMO, AND ALL THE OTHERS.

I'm tired!! So tired!!
I'm tired of U.S. companies packing up and going to Mexico to set up shop-what about the employees you left unemployed here?
I'm tired of Mexican's coming across our border to get free medical care, dental care, welfare benefits, unemployment benefits, and our jobs!
I'm tired of seeing "Made in China" stamped on almost every item I pick up!
I'm tired of mealy mouthed politicians who take money from any and every group to sponsor their causes to the detriment of American citizens!
I'm tired of working hard every day just to have it all taken away by my medical insurance(that pays nect to nothing), my house payments and insurance, my rising food bills, my rising fuel bills, doctors bills(from doctors who agreed on a cost to perform a service, only to hit me up for a large portion that they say the insurance wont pay) and the cost of anything even related to relaxation or life enjoyment.
I'm tired of crooks, politicians, doctors, poor customer service, and lousy cable tv.
I'm tired! So damned tired! So very tired that it CHAPS MY TIRED OLD ASS!!!

What my line/ Or what's my bitch. I'm sick of hearing of companies moving to another country because they can get it done cheaper, better and with less restrictions. What about the jobs lost here? What about the poor people who have to tell their kids that they have to cut back on EVERYTHING because the great job they had is now in Mexico? Wait a minute-all of the Mexicans are here! Why are they here and our jobs are in their hometowns? Why aren't they back there doing the jobs that have moved there? Do we live in the Twilight Zone? Have we all completely lost our minds? Why are we sitting back and letting this happen to us? I remember the Russian president in the 60's tell the United Nations that they would conquer America without firing a shot. Maybe this is his premonition coming true. How long do we stand by and take the bullshit handed to us every day from the leaders of this country?
I suggest-and only suggest- an uprising by lower and middle class Americans. One to surpass any seen since the 1960's. We should stand shoulder to shoulder, stop illegal immigration ourselves, forcebly throw any traitor polititian across the border to live in shame. Tell these Arab countries to get oil prices down to a reasonable level or forget getting our financial aid or military aid when they are in trouble. Tell dictators to treat their citizens with respect or get no respect from us. The list could go on forever, I'm just getting tired of repeating myself.
Here's and idea from the 20's, the 30's, the 40's, the 50's, the 60's and the 70's(the rest of the years were dedicated to fun, making love, making money, enjoying life). An old slogan by a very rowdy bunch-Tear it all down and start over again! Hey, we're doing it in Iraq, why not here? If we don't DO SOMETHING-it will all be over with before we can turn around. Can you speak Chinese? Me neither, and my Smith and Wesson says I don't have to learn. Yeah, I'm mad and my ass is VERY CHAPPED!!!

When is it gonna end? It has to end somehow, some way-over the rainbow? Bushter recently went on the boob tube and told us all that everything was gonna be alright. The war is good! The economy is strong! Don't worry so much! Worry, hell! I'm scared to death every day that my job could end and my poor pitiful lifestyle get even more pitiful. I work in the construction material supply industry. Feel sorry for me yet? My sales and the company's sales are down by half from last year, so far. No new housing other than a few custom houses are being built, and if someone is attempting a "spec" home, they are surely taunting the gods and tempting fate. Every day I hear of a different contractor/builder going under because of overwhelming debt-can't even pay the interest on some loans. Even worse are the poor souls going to the gas station and getting $5 worth of gas-less than 2 gallons. No wonder I see cars on the side of the road, out of gas. More of them every day. I say let's stop this bullshit-stop sending aid to countries who don't even appreciate it since the general populations don't even see it anyway. The "generals" or "presidents" hoard it all away, sometimes right here in own on banks, for their own use. Stop letting these Arab/Muslim countries use oil as a weapon against us. Stop borrowing money from China! What are we giving up to get this money?
Is it the end of days? That biblical doomsday that has been foretold for centuries? I don't know! I just keep my firearms cleaned and loaded, my meager food stores stocked, my bottled water put away. You know, we are at the point right now where we can't trust our food supply, our water(bottled or tap) or our politicians(ever). I wish I could buy some land with a cave where I could stock it up with supplies, put in solar and wind power, and put up a foot thick door and lock myself away. I would reread my books, learn to whittle, work out more, and watch Gilligan's Island reruns until the day I die, inside my private tomb. I wish the world was as simple as it was when I was a kid, but those days are forever gone. I'm afraid they are gone even for the kids of today-and that REALLY CHAPS MY ASS!!! And God save us all or at least forgive us.

Down,down,down she goes-looks like it's "goodby Billary"-Good luck! Go build a Habitat House!
Take care of Slick Willie! Anything but politics, because you make me sick. Hiding behind the Demo party should be beyond you, but, no, there you stand-promising new taxes, nationalized health care, ending the war, etc-all of the thing no one person can or should promise to a demorilized nation, wanting answers and results-not lies and bullshit political rants. Now, don't get me wrong-Hussein Obama ain't ever gonna get my vote. But why the plagerism outcry? Every black man in America can quote the good Dr King and the Rev. Jackson-so don't cry foul when they use their WORDS. Just hope they don't use their actions. The only problem with John McCain is his age-notice how they never show him walking very far and when he walks, he shuffles-like the little old man he is(71, 72 by election day). The question is-will he live out his term in office-maybe we should look to who his vice presidential running mate will be. That is who will most likely end up as the head Knocker. President Sonny Perdue? How about President Jim Bob Cooter? Maybe ole Fred "Mr President" Thompson!! Fred abandoned ship on me, and that kinda "chaps my ass"!

What's with all the university suicide killings? What gets into these young people's minds(besides drugs,alcohol,broken hearts,etc.)? The NEWS MEDIA is the culprit ,I believe. I believe this with all my heart and soul. If the Media constantly puts the photos of bodies, names and the name of the culprit on the television, radio and newspaper, then the person gets the idea that this is his/her legacy. That they will always be remembered for this last desperate act. The solution-don't report it for days on end, every hour on the hour, on every channel and every paper in the country. And if any student or teacher/professor has any feeling or idea that they know someone who is suicidal or a little off kilter, then report it. I don't believe in indivdual rights when it comes to other people's lives or saving them. You can only do the idiot a favor by reporting him/her to the proper authority. Getting help for a nutcase is not illegal or antisocial-so just frigging do it!!And procecute this asshole's girlfriend-she was forewarned, no matter what she says. Believe me when I say-come into a building or room that I am in and you have a gun-prepare to die or suffer if I can get to you-no pity, no laws-just going down, if I can get it done. Or it's "Fuck you, sucker-hit this moving CHAPPED ASS!!

It's getting closer and closer. November is just around the corner! Who will it be? Billary, Hussein, or McCain? I can only hope that the flu bug gets em all and we have to settle for a complete unknown.
Well, the housing bomb has dropped and is slowly imploding. The foreclosures are coming hard and fast, the gas goes up and down, food prices have seen an alltime high, stock market can't decide how low it will go, and the whole damn Senate and Congress are spending countless dollars(your dollars) to chastise Roger Clemmons and other ball players. Who gives a shit what these guys take? I don't care if they shoot up heroin, snort coke, ingest Preparation H, or abuse a donkey. Let it the hell go!!! Get on to important shit. Like soldiers dying in foreign countries that we have no business in anyway. Stop the political bullshit, get off the television screen and do the jobs we elected you to do. Economic stimulus package-bullshit---just one side trying to influence an election and the other side wants their input for votes, too. Keep my rebate if it will change anything-but it wont, so send it to me now!!! I can buy some very mellow scotch with $600.
Maybe that will help me heal-MY BIG CHAPPED ASS!!!
AND DON'T FORGET TO VOTE(AS IF YOU COULD!)

Well, folks, I guess Fred is dead. Let us hang our heads in sorrow for the Republican party. I will weep tears of sadness for months to come. Fred Thompson will not be president of these here United States. What in the world will we do now? My worst fear is that Americans will look at the slate of characters running and just cast a vote for the first name on the list. Or just not even vote at all! How tragic to have the first black muslim or the first woman president just because there is nobody else to vote for. Did anyone catch the mayor of Atlanta giving Bill Clinton a major jab in the gut for his remarks about Hussein Obama? Note: Hussein is Obama's middle name, no joke, so I will forever refer to him by that middle name, president or not. Now the race card is played and out in the open. The black folk gonna have a party over this one. How ironic would it be to have 99 percent of the black population vote and elect the black candidate? November is too near for me-I fear the worst for our poor little abused country. Oh, well, what else......Oh, yeah-when was it decided that a rope noose is now a racial statement? I was left out of that discussion. I guess the Clint Eastwood movie "Hang em High" is now a racist movie? There is a "shudder" noose shown on the poster for this movie. I guess that will be digitally erased from now on. Has there not been enough racism, bigotry, and slander to get it thru to everyone that enough is enough? But you know, without it there would be no famous Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton, names that have ridden the racist tide to financial rewards and infamy. And I almost forgot-someone, a black man, said that Bill Clinton was the first black president. What a country- I love that we can say what we want without reprisal-unless you count the lawsuits!! And that just CHAPS MY ASS!!!!