Love That "Cedar Fever"
All day I have been feeling tired and my eyes have been irritated. Finally someone reminded me that Cedar pollen counts have through the roof and that is most likely the cause. After seeing this short video I am sure they were correct!
Cedar pollen counts explode: kxan.com
Gotta love Central Texas this time of year. Great weather....if you can stand to be outside.
10K Here I Come
I drove the 10K course I will be running this weekend and it's not too bad. There are a couple of hills, one within the last mile (ouch!), that will make for a good challenge. Most of the course is false flats.
I am looking forward to being done with the 12 week program. Running is really not my thing!
Lance Armstrong Sighting
This morning I was out on a training run, I am training for my first and maybe last 10K, on Spicewood Springs Rd here in Austin. I had just started my run and a car pulled over to the side of the road just in front of me. I thought they were going to roll down their window to ask me for directions. I heard another car coming up from behind so I turned around to look at the car as they drove by and then I saw a bike rider coming up behind the car. I quickly recognized the rider as Lance Armstrong.
This was the second or third time I had seen him out training so, you would think I wouldn't be star struck. What did I do....I yelled out "go lance". LAME!!!
Oh well. Maybe I will do better next time.
Happy 15th Wedding Anniversary!
Guy and I have been married for 15 years today! 15 years!!!!
It's amazing to me what a wonderful life we have created together.
I am truly blessed to have married my best friend!
Cheers!
The US National Debt
I am not a super political person but our national debt really wears on me. During the past 8 years our fantastic government has cut through our money at an unbelievable pace nearly doubling the debt. Our debt grow by about $3.8 billion per day since late 2007. Each US citizen's share of the debt is about $35,000. Also, we spend out first six months of tax revenue just to pay interest. This makes me puke!
How did our debt grow so quickly over the past 8 years? Here are three of the basic reasons:
Bush did three things to skyrocket the debt from $5.7 trillion to $10 trillion:
1. He lowered taxes on the rich (by far the biggest item).
2. He invaded Iraq instead of winning in Afghan-Pakistan (another $600 B).
3. He deregulated Wall Street speculators. That bailout has now "invested" $1T.
This is not entirely the governments fault. I remember during the last years in the mortgage industry borrowers taking loans that were really putting them on the edge financially. Why? Because the loans got approved at ridiculous Debt-to-income ratios. Now these borrowers and lenders are suffering or in the lenders case just gone. Check out this web site to see what I mean by "just gone". It's called The Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter.
I am concerned for my generation but mostly for my kids generation. Unless our newly elected leaders set a new direction from a financial management stand point we are in real trouble. However, what do I know?
Cross your fingers and hope for the best!
Great Depression in the United States
I. Introduction
Great Depression in the United States , worst and longest economic collapse in the history of the modern industrial world, lasting from the end of 1929 until the early 1940s. Beginning in the United States , the depression spread to most of the world’s industrial countries, which in the 20th century had become economically dependent on one another. The Great Depression saw rapid declines in the production and sale of goods and a sudden, severe rise in unemployment. Businesses and banks closed their doors, people lost their jobs, homes, and savings, and many depended on charity to survive. In 1933, at the worst point in the depression, more than 15 million Americans—one-quarter of the nation’s workforce—were unemployed.
The depression was caused by a number of serious weaknesses in the economy. Although the 1920s appeared on the surface to be a prosperous time, income was unevenly distributed. The wealthy made large profits, but more and more Americans spent more than they earned, and farmers faced low prices and heavy debt. The lingering effects of World War I (1914-1918) caused economic problems in many countries, as Europe struggled to pay war debts and reparations. These problems contributed to the crisis that began the Great Depression: the disastrous U.S. stock market crash of 1929, which ruined thousands of investors and destroyed confidence in the economy. Continuing throughout the 1930s, the depression ended in the United States only when massive spending for World War II began.
The depression produced lasting effects on the United States that are still apparent more than half a century after it ended. It led to the election of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who created the programs known as the New Deal to overcome the effects of the Great Depression. These programs expanded government intervention into new areas of social and economic concerns and created social-assistance measures on the national level. The Great Depression fundamentally changed the relationship between the government and the people, who came to expect and accept a larger federal role in their lives and the economy.
The programs of the New Deal also brought together a new, liberal political alliance in the United States . Roosevelt ’s policies won the support of labor unions, blacks, people who received government relief, ethnic and religious minorities, intellectuals, and some farmers, forming a coalition that would be the backbone of the Democratic Party for decades to come.
On a personal level, the hardships suffered during the depression affected many Americans’ attitudes toward life, work, and their community. Many people who survived the depression wanted to protect themselves from ever again going hungry or lacking necessities. Some developed habits of frugality and careful saving for the rest of their lives, and many focused on accumulating material possessions to create a comfortable life, one far different from that which they experienced in the depression years.
The depression also played a major role in world events. In Germany , the economic collapse opened the way for dictator Adolf Hitler to come to power, which in turn led to World War II.
Read the rest at:
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/refarticle.aspx?refid=761584403
A Pirate Looks at 41
OK so Jimmy Buffet wrote it as "A Pirate Looks at 40" but it still applies. I cannot believe that I am this old. I still feel like I am in my 20's or at a minimum my early 30's. However my waist line reminds me that I am not in my 20's.
Here are a few facts that freak me out:
- I am the father of 3 kids. How the heck did this happen?
- I will be 56 when Dylan graduates from high school and 58 when Phoebe and Chloe graduate.
- I will be in my 60's when they are finished with College
- If trends continue, I could be 100 before we get them to move out of the house.
I am sure that I will have a great day tomorrow. The girls are going to the lake to visit their favorite babysitter, Ashley, who is working at a summer camp as a counselor. Her mother, Myra (our daycare director, is picking up the girls and taking them out to the camp where they will have fun playing, swimming, etc... My sister Terri is coming into town to spend the weekend visiting. I expect to get a few chores done around the house as well as get in a few bike rides.
I only hope I don't start farting dust anytime soon.