Been a long time!

Not that anyone is reading this blog anymore, but I am going to try and get back in to the spirit of blogging. For those of you who don't know what I have been up to, here is a summary:

• Work
• Getting house ready to rent and move in with Jen
• Buying a new car soon
• Trying to fix a lawn mower
• Going to China in July
• Going Rafting with Jen in September
• Figuring out all sorts of career goals
• Paying off debt
• Getting in shape
• Playing with Devo and Penny

Well that about sums it up...

Updates

Devo the Whippet Lives On

Just an update... Devo is doing really well. She had her staples removed a couple of days ago and aside from being extremely lazy, she is getting back to her old self.

Wine Making is Fun

I started making wine the other day. Next time I make a brew I will take photos of the process. But basically you need to buy a kit containing a bucket, glass carboy (6 gallon jug), a bunch of tubes, a corking contraption, a hydometer (to measure density and alcohol content) and a wine juice kit to make wine without crushing grapes. It is fermenting right now, should be delicious!

Thanksgiving in the U.S.A

So I was watching football, some movies and having a couple of beers today. I have no family in town and all of my friends are busy doing family things so I am left alone on Thanksgiving. So with all my time to think I have discovered one thing. People are stupid.

I was reading an article about how Obama isn't releasing their menu to the public for their thanksgiving meal. Not obviously a big story. So as I scrolled down I realized that there was 129 comments about the story, but most of them were just people bitching about how Obama is a bad president or how Republicans suck. It just amazes me how one day a year we get to reflect on how great our country is and how much we should be grateful that we live here and not in Afghanistan or Zimbabwe. Yet we squander it in a forum on a story that isn't even a political story.

Be thankful for what you have and live your life. Thanksgiving is once a year and you shouldn't spend it reflecting on politics or not reflecting at all. You should truly reflect on how your world would change if we lived somewhere else. Not on what the first family is eating or not eating on thanksgiving and why.

Devo the Whippet Leg Amputation

I am very tired of telling the story of how I got to this place with my dog Devo. So here is a summery of the experiences and cost so if you are presented with a similar thing you can make an educated decision.

Devo had a lump on her front leg and went to get it removed. The surgery didn't go so hot and I chose amputation as an alternative to reconstructive surgery and chemotherapy. The cost of the initial sugery and post sugery treatments totaled $1200 in 4 days and 13 vet visits.

I was quoted $4000 for reconstructive surgery, $950 in visits for 3 weeks worth of rewrapping her origional wound and wasn't quoted chemotherapy which I estimate at another $3000 - $4000. I was also quoted $2000 for an amputation by the local emergency pet hospital.

So on 11/25/09 I had her front right leg removed by a very helpful animal shelter that I had volunteered at. Though I didn't qualify for any discounts or anything they were still 1/3 the cost of the local animal hospital and very capable of doing the surgery.

It has only been 10 hours since her surgery and she is on some morphine type patch and other pain meds and is more or less out of it. She whines occasionally but seems to be doing okay. After I picked her up she actually jumped into the car by herself. So she seems to be rebounding pretty good. Her pictures right after surgery are below:




I will keep the updates coming so if you end up with a tri-pod dog you can know what to expect from the surgery.

Reflecting on my decision to not vote

A few days ago I posted about how I no longer want to be a part of American politics because I no longer feel it can change. This may sound like I am just another part of the problem. Though at first glance this may seem true, but this doesn't mean you have to vote to change America. My thought is that America is so broken that voting for things (especially in national votes) won't change them.

So what do we do? We concentrate on our communities and schools. We work hard to make the communities we live in a good place to live. The good we do in a community will translate to the bigger picture more than one person could by themselves. Community by community and state by state things will change until the federal government finally has to change.

A friend told me that there is a feud of generations going on. The two have very different views and do not see eye-to-eye. On may get their news from online media and social media circles and one gets their news from traditional media such as tv, radio and papers. But this doesn't make either side wrong, it just shows that the country is transitioning. Things will change, and I am sure both sides deep down know it will happen, but for now it is frustrating. I am sure many things will done and said that people will regret on both sides, but in the end we should end up in a better country. Hopefully in the end we will end up a bit more unified.

Discouraged with American Politics

I have been thinking about our political system in America a lot recently. I am disappointed with the direction I see this country going and I am more disappointed with how our politicians and political pundits have been acting. This disappointment is leading me down a path of disinterest and indifference. Simply put, I am fed-up.

To those that don't know me, let me preface this by saying my beliefs are the following:

I am fiscally conservative, socially liberal and moderate on most of the other issues. Therefore, I feel that I can find middle ground with just about anyone. I also feel that most people in the US are moderate but we only hear about a few primary issues that define who is liberal and who is conservative.

• Do I think America is a great country? Yes.
• Do I think America is better than most countries? Yes.
• Do I feel that America is royally screwing things up? Yes.
• Do I blame it on Democrats? No.
• Do I blame it on Republicans? No.
• Do I blame it on the media? A tiny bit.
  
• Do I blame it on us? YES!

The people are the problem. We elect the representatives that we complain about. We watch shows and give ratings to opinion columnists, not news broadcasters. We are the ones who want our news fed to us so we don't have to think about the facts ourselves. Why make our own conclusions when someone can make it for us!

This problem is nothing new, it is just new to me. It took me a while to come full circle and end up exactly where I started. It is sad when the system give the people ALL the power but we cannot agree on anything to the point where no one gets what they want. It is sad when we feel like no matter how we vote it has to be for one of the two parties or we are throwing our vote away. It is just sad that we all go through life looking for the differences in our opinions instead of trying to find out what we have in common.

It is for this reason that I am officially resigning from the political process. I am no longer going to vote until I see things change. I truly believe that any president in office today would get nothing of impact passed because of all the bickering and name calling at lower government levels and I cannot see that changing. Only time will tell.

Race in the Media

Recently I had a discussion about the president and the media. During it I brought up race because for the first time in my life I actually believe that racism has a visible part in our belief system. I am one of the people who agree with Carter when he said that some of Obama's opponents are racially motivated.

Now let me say that I do not believe conservatives or republicans to be racist. But I do believe that more and more of what the conservative media, particularly talk radio, programs is about race than ever before. I also don't believe that a majority of people that disagree with Obama do so because he is black. Simply, I think there is a small, but vocal group, of conservatives that are uneasy with the idea that a black president. Because they feel that a black president may represent other groups over themselves first, or perhaps they feel that the policies have another agenda.

But why now? I think having a black president has given a "green light" to white people to discuss race publicly without worry that we are going to be labeled racist. So the talk shows have gotten on the bandwagon first. Unfortunately, it turns out that they are a bit racist and the more racist they get the more their ratings go up.

Glenn Beck's ratings doubled once he said the president had a deep seeded hatred towards white people. Limbaugh's ratings continue to grow the more he brings up race as an issue. He is not even allowed on Monday night football anymore because of his inability to refrain himself from making negative comments about black football players.

I just hope that through all this race discussion we don't make race relations worse. I don't want the discussion to start as something that is good and genuine and to end up like a reality show on tv where everyone looks like a looser.


Interesting Stat about how bad race relations are. Sure hate crimes may be down, but what about just plain old "They are not like us and that isn't as good" attitudes:

In 2009 where 1/8 people still consider themselves racist.
(On the bright side, 35% of Canadians consider themselves racist -- or maybe they are just more honest)

Interesting Stat 2:
3x's as many black people get pulled over and issued a ticket that is dismissed for "improbable cause" meaning that they were pulled over without reason.