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The House voted on that “credit rescue” bill today, and I was pleased to see that my representative Phil Gingrey represented me well by voting against it. I called his office to offer my appreciation. You should call your representative and thank them for voting it down (assuming they did). Or call and fuss at them if they voted for it. You can get a list of who voted how here.
Maybe it was voted down for the wrong reasons, but still it was voted down. I wonder how many of those “no” votes were because of Pelosi’s remarks before the vote. I also can’t help but think that some of the “no” votes were because they’re looking for a different version of the plan. Maybe some were because they fear being in the unemployment line after the election.
No matter the reason it didn’t pass, it didn’t pass. Kudos to Phil Gingrey and the other 227 House members that voted against that atrocity of a bill.
I found this quote from Ronald Reagan that seemed appropriate for today:
“I have a special reason for wanting to solve this [economic] problem in a lasting way. I was 21 and looking for work in 1932, one of the worst years of the Great Depression. And I can remember one bleak night in the thirties when my father learned on Christmas Eve that he’d lost his job. To be young in my generation was to feel that your future had been mortgaged out from under you, and that’s a tragic mistake we must never allow our leaders to make again.”
Tonight after we ate, the kids helped me setup our new (to us) DVD player. The first DVD I picked up was Andrew Peterson’s “Behold the Lamb of God” concert recorded at the Ryman Auditorium a few years back.
We settled in to watch. My wife was on the love seat with our girl, and I sat on the sofa with my almost-5 year old boy in my lap.
Andrew sang the story of Jesus’ birth and my boy watched very closely. While Andrew played there on our TV set, Brett asked me questions about heaven, about Jesus, and about forgiveness.
We talked through the concert and then sometime near the end of the DVD, we excused ourselves to his room. I asked him questions as best as I could, to be sure he understood salvation. He did.
There seated on his bed, shortly before 8:00, with me kneeling beside him and with toys spread across the floor, he prayed the sweetest prayer for forgiveness. What a joy it was to be a part of this event in his little life!
We called the grandparents and told them, and then I tucked him in and kissed him goodnight.
I called Andrew to share my exciting news. I got his voicemail and left him the most rambling message in the history of voicemail, telling him what happened and thanking for using his talents for good.
I’ve shouted praises for this album many times before, and I’m thrilled that this music had such an impact in our family tonight. But that impact wasn’t because Andrew made some great album. It’s because Andrew was telling a great story - THE great story - in the best way he knows how, and there in our living room tonight, he connected with my son.
Brett is a new person tonight. What a special Friday this has been.
We’ve never been big on Halloween in our family. I know a lot of people who don’t make a big deal out of Halloween. A lot of them are of the “oh no, it’s Satan’s holiday” persuasion. Me, I just don’t care to make the effort.
I think I got this apathetic approach from my dad, who had the brilliant idea to take my sister and me to the drug store and let us just buy whatever candy we wanted on Halloween. It was really win/win for everybody. Dad didn’t have to drive us around the neighborhood. We didn’t have to dress up (we were old enough to not dress up but young enough to want the candy). And my parents didn’t have to feed the little ghosts and goblins that came to our house. It was an ideal solution.
But I’ve got smaller kids, so we need to do something. The kids’ school usually has something where the kids can go beg for candy. It works, and you generally don’t have to worry about tainted candy. That’s always a plus.
The kids really get into the whole costume thing. Me, not so much. Last year I “went as Superman” (read: “wore my Superman t-shirt”). Maybe I’ll do the same again this year. I’m the adventurous type, you know.
I’d be much more into the whole costume thing if it was a group effort or if the celebration/party was something for me to enjoy. Can you guys see me with the wife as Homer and Marge Simpson? Or maybe Fred and Wilma Flintsone? Peter and Lois Griffin? Yeah, see, that’d be cool. Recently I was looking at some costumes at BuyCostumes.com
and found an Incredibles costume. I could totally pull of Mr. Incredible. (Don’t laugh. You all know I could.) Plus we wouldn’t have to wonder about what the wife and kids would wear, because we could just get an Incredibles costume for every member of the family.
Seriously though, I’ll probably just go as casual as I can and let the kids wear whatever $8 costume we can pull out of the heap at Wal-Mart. I long for the day when I can just take the $16 I would have spent on those $8 costumes and buy candy with it.
Soon…
I saw something this weekend that got me thinking about racism. My neighbor has a McCain sign in his yard.
This neighbor is a Democrat - a real Democrat. You know the type - born as a Democrat, live as a Democrat, die as a Democrat. Satan could run for President and get votes from my neighbor. He’s a great neighbor, but he’s very set in his ways when it comes to politics.
So what’s changing my neighbors political views? I know him well enough to be convinced he hasn’t magically become in favor of Republican values. My guess is that he’s voting for the white guy.
I don’t think Obama’s the man we need. (For the record, I’m no fan of McCain either.) Maybe I just don’t understand the mentality of 65 year-old white Georgia men, but how can this be the issue that determines your vote? There are plenty of other reasons not to vote for Obama - race can’t really be one of them, can it?
Anyway, the whole purpose of this post is that I’d like to hear some input on whether you think Obama’s lack of being white will sway enough of those old-school Democrats to make a difference. Are there enough people like my neighbor who will vote against the black guy to change who would win the election?
And no matter what you say, I won’t call you a racist (even if we both know it’s true).
This has been a crazy week with all the economic turmoil going on in our nation. I’ve been watching pretty closely, and it’s quite a mess. Then I just found out that a friend’s mom lost her battle with brain cancer this week.
Ugh. I’m just glad this is all temporary. It doesn’t fix economic problems or heal cancer, but it’s good to know.
Fun concerts are coming to Atlanta soon:
Ron’s note: I was invited to review “The Road of Lost Innocence” by Somaly Mam for the blog. It’s not the typical type of book I would read - it’s not even the typical type of book my wife would read, but I accepted the invite. The book arrived in the mail, my wife opened it that afternoon and literally couldn’t put it down until she finished. Here is her review:
Before I review this book I want to make two clarifications.
- I never read true stories because they never end the way I want them to. I revel in the happy endings provided by fairy tales.
- I am a suburban housewife who tends to bury my head in the sand when it comes to current events and global news. My life is already full of the drama that accompanies a husband, two children and a diabetic cat so I don’t usually go seeking news of the misfortune of others.
The Road of Lost Innocence is a true story told by the author, Somaly Mam. She was orphaned at a young age, then given to a cruel taskmaster as an indentured servant and finally sold into sexual slavery in Cambodia as a young teenager. When I picked up this book, apprehensively I must admit, I was immediately captivated by her simple storytelling style. While the housewife in me desperately wanted to go bury my head in the sand again, the avid reader in me was sucked into the story and I could not put the book down. She used very simple language to lay bare the atrocities of the sex slave industry that is happening all over the world, particularly in Asia, and in the end calls on the reader to be a part of the solution. Her ability to be forthright about the horrible circumstances surrounding her life amazed me, yet through it all there is a note of hope that there is a solution and she was going to be part of it.
This book is definitely not suitable for young readers, but it is definitely a topic that needs to be made more public. I am grateful that she has had the courage to come forward with her story and fight so hard for the many girls who are trapped in this industry. If you are a person without a cause this is a great one to crusade.
And in case you’re wondering, this book does not have a happy ending, but it does have a hopeful ending.
Once again I was asked to review a book. This time around it was “Saturdays With Stella” by Allison Pittman. It didn’t look like anything I would ever enjoy, but my wife expressed interest. Here’s her review:
I really enjoyed this book! It was a quick, delightful read that at the same time was thought provoking and insightful. I think I will leave this one in my “upstairs library” for a future second read rather than relegating it to the basement to sit a box for a couple of years. As a confirmed cat person, this book almost convinced me that I might like to own a dog one day.
In this book Allison Pittman wrote about her dog, Stella, and their experiences in their Saturday dog/master training school at the local pet store. Each week they learned a new command that they had to master: settle, sit, down, drop it, leave it, take it, let’s go, come, wait, watch me, and stay. Her stories of the other dogs in the class, as well as her own beloved Stella, were quite comical.
From those lessons each week the author made a comparison to how those same commands coming from our God should command our obedience. The scriptures she chose to go with each lesson were very well chosen and provided a solid foundation to the application she was making. As a child of God, I often forget how lavishly my Heavenly Father wishes to treat me and how I often prevent Him from doing so. Pittman did a wonderful job of reminding me through her scripture choices and her light, whimsical writing style.
(No, we’re not getting a dog. Ever. End of discussion.)
Ok, as promised, here are the lawn mower photos. What a machine this “old girl” is. 
Notice the date of manufacture - January 1993. My father-in-law bought it new that spring.
Next up, a more complete image. Check out those totally sweet mismatched wheels.
And a closeup of the “repaired” (I use that term loosely) handle. In this shot you can see the edge of the 1×1 stakes that hold the thing together. There’s some electrical tape (below the stakes) that I used about a year the handle broke completely off. That’s when I added the 2nd stake and the half roll of duct tape.
For a while, the stakes went out past the edge of the mower. Like about 8-10 inches. It was pretty ghetto. I had to saw them off because I could only mow up against the house/trees/woods in one direction, and that got pretty frustrating sometimes.
So I’m going to keep using this thing for a while longer. When she dies, I’ll make sure you all hear about her glorious, tragic death.
Yesterday’s post about my Murray lawn mower was a lot of fun, and I’m excited to say that it didn’t take 3 business days for them to reply to me. Here’s the response I got from them:
Ron,
Thank you for your email.
You are so funny!
I sincerely apologize for the stubbornness of the Murray lawnmower, for not wanting to let you replace it with a newer model.
Murray took great pride in their products.
Let the “old girl” do her job and retire when she’s ready.
Thank you for making my day.
Sincerely,
R. Young
Briggs & Stratton/Murray
eCustomer Support Representative
So I guess the official word on Murray lawn mowers is that you’ve got to just let them die. It is what it is. I didn’t get photos last night, but I’ll take some tonight. It’s quite an amazing sight.
