Google Maps

I have been having some fun (which is the same as saying I have been wasting time) with the new street maps feature of Google Maps.

Perhaps it is more dangerous than one would think at first.

Nebraska Technology

After having dug to a depth of 10 yards last year, New York scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 100 years and came to the conclusion that their New York ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago.

Not to be outdone by the New Yorkers, in the weeks that followed, California scientists dug to a depth of 20 yards, and shortly after, headlines in the LA Times newspaper read: 'California archaeologists have found traces of 200 year old copper wire and have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network a hundred years earlier than the New Yorkers.'

One week later, the 'Hemingford Ledger,' a local news paper in Hemingford, NE reported the following:

"After digging as deep as 30 yards in corn fields near Berea, NE, Larry the Cable Guy, a self-taught archaeologist and dyed-in-the-wool Husker fan, reported that he found absolutely nothing. Larry has therefore concluded that 300 years ago, Nebraska had already gone wireless."

The Job: A little too close for comfort

Daily Affirmations

From my dad.

• I no longer need to punish, deceive or compromise myself. Unless, of course, I want to stay employed.



• A good scapegoat is nearly as welcome as a solution to the problem.



• As I let go of my feelings of guilt, I can get in touch with my Inner Sociopath.



• I have the power to channel my imagination into ever-soaring levels of suspicion and paranoia.



• Today, I will gladly share my experience and advice, for there are no sweeter words than "I told you so."



• I need not suffer in silence while I can still moan, whimper and complain.



• As I learn the innermost secrets of the people around me, they reward me in many ways to keep me quiet.



• I assume full responsibility for my actions, except the ones that are someone else's fault.



• I honor my personality flaws, for without them I would have no personality at all.



• Joan of Arc heard voices too.



• When someone hurts me, forgiveness is cheaper than a lawsuit. But not nearly as gratifying.



• The first step is to say nice things about myself. The second, to do nice things for myself. The third, to find someone to buy me nice things.



• As I learn to trust the universe, I no longer need to carry a gun.



• Just for today, I will not sit in my living room all day watching TV. Instead I will move my TV into the bedroom.



• Who can I blame for my own problems? Give me just a minute... I'll find someone.



• Why should I waste my time reliving the past when I can spend it worrying about the future?



• I will find humor in my everyday life by looking for people I can laugh at.



• I am willing to make the mistakes if someone else is willing to learn from them.

Cruel and unusual punishment?

LAURA BRANIGAN: The Filipino prisoners are back, performing "Gloria".

Lawyer joke: When Grandma Goes To Court

I am so proud of myself, I did not forward this to everyone.

Lawyers should never ask a Mississippi grandma a question if they aren't prepared for the answer.

In a trial, a Southern small-town prosecuting attorney called his first witness, a grandmotherly, elderly woman to the stand. He approached her and asked, 'Mrs. Jones, do you know me?' She responded, 'Why, yes, I do know you, Mr. Williams. I've known you since you were a boy, and frankly, you've been a big disappointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife, and you manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you're a big shot when you haven't the brains to realize you'll never amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you.'

The lawyer was stunned. Not knowing what else to do, he pointed across the room and asked, 'Mrs. Jones, do you know the defense attorney?'

She again replied, 'Why yes, I do. I've known Mr. Bradley since he was a youngster, too. He's lazy, bigoted, and he has a drinking problem. He can't build a normal relationship with anyone, and his law practice is one of the worst in the entire state. Not to mention he cheated on his wife with three different women. One of them was your wife. Yes, I know him.'

The defense attorney nearly died.

The judge asked both counselors to approach the bench and, in a very quiet voice, said, 'If either of you idiots asks her if she knows me, I'll send you both to the electric chair.'

Even if you don't speak Dutch, this is funny

HEMA is a Dutch department store. The first store opened on November 4, 1926, in Amsterdam. Now there are 150 stores all over the Netherlands . HEMA also has stores in Belgium, Luxemburg, and Germany . In June of this year, HEMA was sold to British investment company Lion Capital.

Take a look at HEMA's product page . You can't order anything and it's in Dutch but just wait a couple of seconds and watch what happens.

Aspiring Pol Changes Name To Pro-Life

Now why didn't I think of this?

A Senate candidate has legally changed his name to Pro-Life and will appear on the ballot that way this year, state election officials say.

As Marvin Pro-Life Richardson, the organic strawberry farmer from Letha, 30 miles northwest of Boise, was denied the use of his middle name when he ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2006 because the state's policy bars the use of slogans on the ballot.

Now, though, officials in the Idaho secretary of state's office say they have no choice because Pro-Life is his full and only name.

Priceless

This is of course is why I have a blog - it keeps me from forwarding jokes to the world.

A man was being tailgated by a stressed out woman on a busy boulevard. Suddenly, the light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.

The tailgating woman was furious and honked her horn, screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection, dropping her cell phone and makeup.

As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up. He took her to the police station where she was searched, finger printed, photographed, and placed in a holding cell. After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.

He said, "I'm very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the 'What Would Jesus Do' bumper sticker, the 'Choose Life' license plate holder, the 'Follow Me to Sunday-School' bumper Sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk. Naturally...I assumed you had stolen the car."

TGI Friday

It has been a long week.

Last night I came home and found a big Styrofoam box on my doorstep from Omaha Steaks. There was a greeting offering condolences to Barbara for the loss of her mother. I unpacked the box and put the steaks in the freezer, after Barbara comes home we can thaw some out and see what they taste like.

Yesterday I went to John's school for to discuss his transition from high school in a year. I left the meeting feeling more positive about the future than I have from similar meetings in the past. At the end I mentioned that I had probably spoke more than I had ever in all the previous meetings since Barbara was not there to answer all the questions. She certainly is more up on the answers to those questions than I am.

From all reports the funeral last Monday was a success. Barbara has close to 100 first cousins and is one of seven children so it makes sense that the church would be packed. Barbara gave the closing prayer at the service, and James and Rachel participated in a grand children's chorus. I wish I could have been there of course but it just wasn't feasible.

John has been spending a lot of quality time with his attendant this week and will spend more this weekend. Should be fun.

Just Found a Red Sock in the Laundry

Found this on the way to something else. If you need a laugh.

LA Rally: Oprah Winfrey

What a great speech. I am almost convinced.

Sonny and Cher

I have to say this made me tear up a little bit. This was (is still really) one of my favorite songs. Made me think of old friends that sometimes I get reunited with.

The Onion does Romney

Mitt Romney Defends Himself Against Allegations Of Tolerance

Red State Update: A proper send-off for Chris Dodd and Joe Biden

Language warning:

Back to normal

Rachel flew back to Utah yesterday for her last semester in law school. Time flies whether or not you are having fun, but it is always fun having Rachel around. Barbara goes back to work on Monday and if I can get John up Tuesday morning he will be heading back to school also.

Red State Update on the Iowa Caucuses

A redneck satire on the elections.

Slate V- Explainer: How to Caucus

From my dad on his birthday: Wise Old Saying

Don't sweat the petty things,
Don't pet the sweaty things.

Club says winning essay in Hannah Montana contest was a fake

If I wasn't already cynical enough, I read this in today's newspaper. Apparently the girl's mother helped with the winning essay. She did admit that the information was false though.

Club says winning essay in Hannah Montana contest was a fake: "GARLAND — A 6-year-old girl who won four tickets to a Hannah Montana concert with an essay that falsely claimed that her father had died in Iraq won't be going to the show after all....

"We did the essay, and that's what we did to win. We did whatever we could do to win," Ceballos told Dallas TV station KDFW on Friday. "But when (Caulfield) asked me if this essay is true, I said, 'No, this essay is not true.' "

*'Twas The Day After Christmas*

From my dad....

Twas the day after Christmas, and all through the house, Every creature was hurting-- even the mouse.

The toys were all broken, their batteries dead; Santa passed out, with some ice on his head.

Wrapping and ribbons just covered the floor, while Upstairs the family continued to snore.

And I in my T-shirt, new Reeboks and jeans, Went into the kitchen and started to clean.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the sink to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash, Tore open the curtains, and threw up the sash.

When what to my wondering eyes should appear, But a little white truck, with an oversized mirror.

The driver was smiling, so lively and grand; The patch on his jacket said "U.S. POSTMAN."

With a handful of bills, he grinned like a fox Then quickly he stuffed them into our mailbox.

Bill after bill, after bill, they still came. Whistling and shouting he called them by name:

"Now Dillard's, now Broadway's, now Penney's and Sears Here's Levitz's and Target's and Mervyn's--all here!!

To the tip or your limit, every store, every mall, Now chargeaway-chargeaway-chargeaway all!"

He whooped and he whistled as he finished his work. He filled up the box, and then turned with a jerk.

He sprang to his truck and he drove down the road, Driving much faster with just half a load.

Then I heard him exclaim with great holiday cheer, "ENJOY WHAT YOU GOT ... YOU'LL BE PAYING ALL YEAR!"

Author Unknown

Bad Santas

From Slate...

The End of the World

All is well....

How the Southern Baptist Convention has tried to keep its members from becoming Mormons. - By Neil J. Young - Slate Magazine

I listened to the podcast version of this article this morning and thought I would pass it on. I thought there were more than a couple of interesting insights. Click on the link to see the entire article.

How the Southern Baptist Convention has tried to keep its members from becoming Mormons. - By Neil J. Young - Slate Magazine: "As the race for the Republican presidential nomination heats up, the competing theologies of the front-runners are getting as much attention as their differing policy proposals. Mitt Romney, a devout Mormon and the former governor of Massachusetts, faces a tough challenge from Mike Huckabee, a Southern Baptist minister and one-time governor of Arkansas. Huckabee's surge in Iowa owes itself in part to the strength of evangelical voters there who like his values and dislike his competitor's faith. He has catered occasionally to those supporters with sly references to their belief that Mormonism is a cult, such as his recent musing—which he later apologized for—in a New York Times Magazine cover piece: 'Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?'"

Twas the Night Before Caucus: The Democrats

Kind of funny

Mitt whopper fib: he didn't see his dad march with Dr. King

Interesting development. So much for a family legend. As I recall a lot of Mormons thought that MLK was a communist because that is what J. Edgar Hoover told then apostle Benson.

Sent to you by davidaustex via Google Reader:

Mitt whopper fib: he didn't see his dad march with Dr. King

Great Caesar's Ghost, I knew folks say Mitt Romney will say or do anything to get into the White House, but cripe -- there's a whole lot of bearing false witness going on...

The Phoenix's David Bernstein decided to dig into the GOP Clown Car occupant about Mitt's assertion that he watched his father march with Dr. Martin Luther King during the civil rights era in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. He recounted this fable not once, but twice -- first in his Faith in America speech ("I saw my father march with Martin Luther King."), and again on Meet the Press, where he said:

"My dad marched with Martin Luther King. My mom was a tireless crusader for civil rights."

From "Was It All a Dream?"

[W]hile the late George W. Romney, a four-term governor of Michigan, can lay claim to a strong record on civil rights, the Phoenix can find no evidence that the senior Romney actually marched with King, nor anything in the public record suggesting that he ever claimed to do so.

Nor did Mitt Romney ever previously claim that this took place, until long after his father passed away in 1995 - not even when defending accusations of the Mormon church's discriminatory past during his 1994 Senate campaign.

...And, Mitt Romney would not have known about the event, let alone had a chance to "see" it. He was at that time in the middle of his two-year mission for the Mormon church in Le Havre, France. By his own description and others', he was cut off from virtually all contact with his family; and at the time, King's Grosse Pointe appearance was no more than local news.

Oh my -- and it gets worse. You have to read the response from the campaign. It's after the jump.
Mitt was also aided and abetted by David Broder in perpetuating this falsehood, and the Detroit Free Press took a look at its archives and there's no Romney to be found at the march, for religious reasons:

Romney's campaign cited various historical articles, as well as a 1967 book written by Stephen Hess and Washington Post political columnist David Broder, as confirmation that George Romney marched with King in Grosse Pointe in 1963.

"He has marched with Martin Luther King through the exclusive Grosse Pointe suburb," Hess and Broder wrote in "The Republican Establishment: The Present and Future of the GOP."

Free Press archives, however, showed no record of King marching in Grosse Pointe in 1963 or of then-Gov. Romney taking part in King's historic march down Woodward Avenue in June of that year. George Romney told the Free Press at the time that he didn't take part because it was on a Sunday and he avoided public appearances on the Sabbath because of his religion.

Broder could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.

What was camp Romney's response to the charge that Mitt had his facts wrong about his daddy marching with Dr. King? (protect your keyboards):

"He was speaking figuratively, not literally," Eric Fehrnstrom, spokesman for the Romney campaign, said of the candidate.

Hat tip goes to David at Blue Mass Group, who said:

Faced with the unfortunate reality that Mitt was making things up, his campaign has retreated into a hilarious Humpty-Dumptyism about what it means to "march with" someone. You see, it doesn't mean that you were actually there. It means that, well, you participated in a march about a related topic on a different day, and maybe you thought about the guy while you were doing it.

a deterrent to holiday spending

Emily sent out a link to an interesting and sober web presentation. Below is a teaser from YouTube. Click on the link above to see the entire presentation.

Quick Change Artists on America's Got Talent

Now this is why I have a blog, so I don't end up sending stuff like this to everyone I know. Someone at work sent me this video, luckily I found the same thing on Youtube. It is pretty darn amazing (the video clip that is).

Wrong Gift?

It's that time of year again....

Rest in peace Dan Fogelberg

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg, famed for the soaring vocals and elegant instrumentation of tunes such as "Longer" and "A Love Like This," died on Sunday, three years after being diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. He was 56.

"He fought a brave battle with cancer and died peacefully at home in Maine with his wife Jean at his side," said a posting on his Web site (http://www.danfogelberg.com).



"His strength, dignity and grace in the face of the daunting challenges of this disease were an inspiration to all who knew him."



Fogelberg, a native of Peoria, Illinois, broke into the music industry in the early 1970s, at a time when it was embracing introspective songwriting, or "soft rock," by such acts as the Eagles and America.



Fogelberg, who distinguished himself with his angelic vocals and lyrics that celebrated beauty and romance, hit his commercial and creative peak in 1981 with "The Innocent Age," which yielded three top-10 singles, "Hard to Say," "Same Old Lang Syne" and "Leader of the Band."



His most recent release, "Full Circle," came out in 2003. The following year, he revealed that he had been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, and urged men over the age of 50 to get tested for the disease.

The Worst Christmas Movies Ever

Cream of the crop from Slate.com

globeandmail.com: Cellphone user rings up $85,000 bill

A 22-year-old Canadian learned about cell phone bills the hard way. He racked up $85,000 on his cellular phone. He used the phone as a modem for his computer. That wasn't covered under his plan. The cellular company reduced the bill to $3,243 as a good will gesture.

A little Christmas spirit, George W. Bush style

Great parody by Alec Sokolow. Click on the link to see it all.

On the first day of Christmas my president gave to me a preemptive war without an exit strategy.

I can remember a few years back when a lot of folks would think that something like this amounted to treason. At least here in Texas :)

I'll Be Home For Christmas

I am listening to Christmas music as I type this. I just heard the song "I'll Be Home For Christmas" and it brought back some memories.

When I was a teenager I went with my family to the church for a Christmas party. As part of the entertainment one man dressed up in what I remember as a WWII military uniform and he sang this song. At the end I noticed that most of the adults had tears in their eyes. I thought it was because to me it sounded like the guy had butchered the song, but then again I was just a teenager, what did I know.

A few years later I was sitting in the cafeteria in a department store in Tokyo having lunch with the other missionaries I was working with and I heard this song. For the first time I really got it, since I knew that for the first time in my life I would not be home for Christmas. The second Christmas in Japan I had been reassigned to the same area that I had spent my first Christmas in what was at the time called the Tokyo 2nd Ward aka North Branch, so for me it was kind of like being home for Christmas all over again.

Since getting married and having children I now realize that home for me is where I am. This year James and Emily with presumably be having their very first Christmas with just their three boys (I miss them already) and Russell and Sarah Jane will be visiting her folks outside of Pittsburgh so it will be a different Christmas for Barbara, Rachel, John and myself. There will of course be more than enough love to share and send no matter where everyone else in our extended families may be.

Below is a clip from Josh Groban. Enjoy!

Changes

I just dropped Barbara, Emily, Harris, Jack and Will off at the airport. They are flying through Denver to Salt Lake City today and will stay with Barbara's mother this evening. Rachel will drive Emily and the boys to Idaho Falls tomorrow (Thursday) to meet up with James and start the next chapter of their lives.

I am of course happy that James was able to find a job that he likes but at the same time I am feeling some sadness having his family leave. It is has been a true joy and a blessing in my life to have them here. With every hello there is a built in good-bye, at least good-bye for the time being.

I also said good-bye to my manager of eight years this morning. We had a big reorganization at work last week and he no longer fit in, according to upper management. My work group is still recovering from the death of a beloved team member a few months ago. Nothing is forever except maybe change.

The Competition

I enjoy listening to episodes of ‘This American Life’ on my Ipod. I am about halfway through the following episode and I had the reflect that my work situation could be much worse.

http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1220

Stories of the unintended consequences of market forces.

Prologue.

Host Ira Glass talks to reporter John Bowe about the story of John Nash Pickle, who ran a company in Tulsa, Oklahoma that made steel tanks used in the oil industry. According to 52 Indian men whom Pickle hired and brought to America, Pickle was trying to compete with foreign companies, doing something most companies never try. Instead of simply opening a factory overseas with cheap labor, the men say, Pickle decided to run an overseas factory with cheap labor...on American soil...inside his own Tulsa Oklahoma plant. (3 minutes)

Act One. Cowboys and Indians.

We continue the story of John Pickle. He hires skilled, experienced welders in India and brings them to the United States. He takes their passports, barely feeds them, pays them half the minimum wage. And when the men protest, Pickle insists he's helping them—doing them a favor in fact.

John Bowe's book, in which this story appears, is called Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy. (32 minutes)

Dog Driver

From my dad:

As I drove into a parking lot, I noticed that a pickup truck with a dog sitting behind the wheel was rolling toward a female pedestrian. She seemed oblivious, so I hit my horn to get her attention. She looked up just in time to jump out of the way of the truck's path, and the vehicle bumped harmlessly into the curb and stopped.

I rushed to the woman's side to see if she was all right. "I'm fine," she assured me, "but I hate to think what could have happened to me if that dog hadn't honked."

James starts work today

James started out bright and early Monday morning and drove to Idaho Falls. Barbara will fly up next Wednesday with Emily and the boys to Salt Lake City. Rachel will drive Emily and the boys from there to Idaho Falls.

James has already found them a place to live. Last weekend he flew to Pittsburgh to get their belongings out of storage and on to a truck to have it delivered to Idaho Falls. I already miss having James around the house and I am not looking forward to the rest of his family leaving. On the other hand, I am delighted that James has found a good job. Apparently Idaho Falls is not far from where James and Emily went to school at BYU Idaho.

For fun I went to Google maps and plotted the drive from our house to their new place.

View Larger Map

From my dad: Origin Of Liquids

The Kansas Board of Education voted today to eliminate mandatory teaching of the theory of evaporation from schools across the state. Most scientists believe that water and other liquids are spontaneously converted by so-called evaporation into the form of a gas, and carried off into the atmosphere. This, they say, is the explanation behind sudden disappearances of water all across the state.

Many non-scientists, however, stand by the widely accepted theory that a lovable invisible thirsty blue giraffe named Clarence is responsible for the disappearances. The two theories, evaporation and Giraffism, will now be taught on a more equal footing to school-children across Kansas. Parents are pleased, saying that Giraffism is easier to understand and far more comforting to small children. "There's nothing happy about evaporation," says Frank Nubbins, father of Jason, 6, and Sue Ellen, 4. "Clarence the giraffe is blue, and he's lovable. You can't say that about evaporation, that's for sure. I love my children."

"Nobody has ever adequately explained evaporation," says Dr. Harold Thumper, of the Kansas Board of Education. "With evaporation, we're expected to imagine that water just disappears, all by itself, with no rhyme or reason. That's ridiculous."

Clarence the lovable invisible blue giraffe, on the other hand, is always thirsty, an explanation which is simple and obvious. He has a well-established presence in children's literature. "Every culture on the planet," says Dr. Thumper, "has a story about giraffes, or thirstiness, or lovable blue things. Most of these have happy, happy endings. My children just love these stories. But I challenge you to find a single good story about evaporation."

The theory of evaporation is getting a dry reception in academia these days. At leading universities including Harvard, Stanford, and MIT, it's impossible to find a single professor of Evaporation on the faculty. "What's the point?" says Gwen O'Malley, dean of the Harvard Medical School. "It's not exactly a good career move to spend your life trying to explain evaporation to people."

Why Do They Hate Us?

Granted I would guess they don't pick the brightest bulbs to be contestants but really...

Faking it

Rachel wrote an interesting post in her blog Everything I need to know I learned in Kindergarten.... She probably picked up some of those feelings from me, I feel the same way at times. I often have the feeling that I missed an important day in first grade where everyone learned some basic key to understanding life that was so obvious that no one ever brings it up. I had hoped that my kids would come home from school and let me in on the secret.

Rachel is one of the smartest and most capable people I know. I know my telling her that is not going to change the way she sees herself anymore than when I hear someone say the same of me. I had a roommate in college who told me that I all but called someone a liar when they paid me a compliment so I have learned to be a lot more gracious when someone says something nice about me. And I will say that now I do let some of it sink in. As they say "Progress, not perfection."

I wrote the following comments on Rachel's post:

It is interesting that most people see us differently than we see ourselves. One of the things that I have learned as I get older (or is that wiser?) is that most people feel like they are faking it to some degree or other. In my world of computer programming there are things that I barely understand, somethings I can bluff my way through, and then there are the things that I know so well that I am an absolute expert (no one knows as much as I do about it).

When I was a young adult I was surprised to hear my father-in-law (a plastic surgeon) tell one of his children that they needed to take on of the grandkids to a pediatrician pronto. I figured since my father-in-law was an M.D. he would know everything there was to know about medicine when of course there is too much for any one person to know.

Live and learn.

The Onion: Poll: Mitt Romney Is Candidate Most Voters Want To Get Into Bar Fight With

Poll: Mitt Romney Is Candidate Most Voters Want To Get Into Bar Fight With

The Two Wolves

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all..

One is Evil.

It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good.


It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity,truth, compassion and faith.

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather:

"Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

A Hillbilly Love Poem

from a friend in Tennessee

Susie Lee Done Fell In Love;
She Planned To Marry Joe .
She Was So Happy ' Bout It All
She Told Her Pappy So.

Pappy Told Her, Susie Gal,
You'll Have To Find Another.
I'd Just As Soon Yo' Ma Don 'T Know,
But Joe Is Yo' Half Brother.

So Susie Put Aside Her Joe
And Planned To Marry Will,
But After Telling Pappy This,
He Said, "There's Trouble Still.

You Can't Marry Will, My Gal,
And Please Don 'T Tell You' Mother,
But Will And Joe , And Several Mo'
I Know Is Yo' Half Brother.

But Mama Knew And Said, My Child,
Just Do What Makes Yo' Happy.
Marry Will Or Marry Joe .
You Ain 'T No Kin To Pappy

Murdocks And Sons: Ok, So A Mormon, A Democrat, and A Lawyer Walk Into Idaho Falls...

Murdocks And Sons: Ok, So A Mormon, A Democrat, and A Lawyer Walk Into Idaho Falls...

A blog link!

Quest for the Nintendo Wii leaves many empty-handed

Interesting (at least to me) article in the paper this morning about the Nintendo Wii. Barbara was lucky enough to run across one recently and John was delighted to get one (plus the Mario Galaxy game from Harry and Jack, thank you James). With a little help John was up and running for several hours right after he got it.

I got all geeky and connected it to our wireless router so I could update the console and see the weather from the Wii.

My friend Andy bought John another game for the Playstation 3 console that my friend has at his house. John sat down with it last night and had a much longer learning curve. After an hour or so he was finished so he came into the other room with us as we finished watching the Hairspray DVD. Luckily John thought the movie was funny and laughed along with it.

Quiet Sunday

My friend Andy and I took John to dinner last night at a Chinese restaurant called BO Asian Bistro that I like and is fairly cheap. After we were seated the server asked John if he missed bowling. It turns out the server is a senior at a nearby high school and she was a volunteer for the Special Olympics bowling team. They finished their season a couple of weeks ago.

Needless to say the service was great (as was the tip).

Thanksgiving list

Here is a list in no particular order of things I am thankful for this year. I don't think with the small kids and John at the table tomorrow (and I am very grateful they will all be there) that there will be a lot of time for reflection.

• John has made so much improvement in the last year with his med changes. He went into the doctor's last week and it was obvious how much he had improved. Plus the fact he has dropped a lot of weight is a real bonus also.
• Russell got engaged to and married a wonderful woman. Sarah Jane is a great addition to the family.
  
• Russell got into law school here in Austin. This is purely a selfish thing, I am glad that we get to see him and Sarah Jane on a regular basis.
• James graduated from law school.
• James passed the bar exam! He was sworn in to the Texas bar a few weeks ago. Way to go James!
  
• James, Emily, Harris, Jack and Will have come to live with us while James is looking for employment. I am not sure James and Emily would count this as a blessing or not but from another purely selfish point of view, it has been wonderful having them here with us.
• Rachel! It was great seeing her this summer when she came to Texas from Pittsburgh with Emily and the boys. She stayed through Russell's wedding. I don't get to see enough of Rachel (how much would be enough) but I am incredibly proud of her.
  
• Barbara! She does so much for me and the rest of the family.
• Extended family members. We don't hear much from my side of the family so I assume that they are doing well in their lives.
  
• Good friends.
• A job. With all the layoffs at my company the last several years I am very happy to still have a job at my company that I enjoy.
• I am lucky that I get along with all of my co-workers. One of our beloved team members passed away a few months ago from breast cancer and it reminded me to appreciate the people around me while I can.
• Good health. I went out walking today before it turned cold and I took a few moments while I was huffing and puffing up one of the hills that I am fortunate to still be able to get out and about.

I am sure more things will come to mind!

So let your light shine

Heard an interesting sermon Sunday. What stuck with me was the question "What kind of a light am I? A night light or a spot light?"

funny

From my dad:

---------- Forwarded message ----------

This just in, and it is funny.

Joe

 

A cantor, the man who sings the prayers at a synagogue, brags before his congregation in a booming, bellowing voice: "Two years ago I insured my voice with Lloyds of London for $750,000." There is a hushed and awed silence in the crowded room. Suddenly, from the back of the room, the quiet, nasal voice of an elderly woman is heard, "So what did you do with the money?

Grandpa Joke

An old man was grocery shopping with his grandson. The toddler was crying and at times screaming at the top of his lungs.

As the old gentleman walked up and down the aisles, people could hear him speaking in a soft voice...

"We are almost done, Albert..Try not to cry, Albert...
Life will get better, Albert..."

As he approched the checkout stand, he carefully brushed the toddler's tears from his eyes and said again,

"Try not to cry, Albert...We will be home soon, Albert..."

As he was paying the cashier, the toddler continued to cry as a young woman in line behind him said, "Sir, I think it is wonderful how sweet you are being to your little Albert."

The old gentleman blinked his eyes a couple of times before saying, "Miss, my grandson's name is John...
I 'm Albert.....................................

Quote of the Day

I can relate to this one. I work with a lot of people at the office who are roughly my age and I find myself telling and hearing the same stories over and over again. I would stop them from telling me but I don't always remember how the stories end.

Why is it that our memory is good enough to retain the least triviality that happens to us, and yet not good enough to recollect how often we have told it to the same person?
- Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Bob in Trouble (Don't ever assume what you think is happening, doesn't desire the repercussions)

Bob works hard at the plant and spends two nights each week bowling and plays golf every Saturday.

His wife thinks he's pushing himself too hard, so for his birthday she takes him to a local strip club.

The doorman at the club greets them and says, "Hey, Bob! How ya doin?" His wife is puzzled and asks if he's been to this club before. "Oh no," says Bob. "He's on my bowling team.

When they are seated, a waitress asks Bob if he'd like his usual and brings over a Budweiser. His wife is becoming increasingly uncomfortable and says, "How did she know that you drink Budweiser?" "I recognize her, she's the waitress from the golf club. I always have a Bud at the end of the 1st nine, honey."

A stripper then comes over to their table, throws her arms around Bob, starts to rub herself all over him and says, "Hi Bobby. Want your usual table dance, big boy?"

Bob's wife, now furious, grabs her purse and storms out of the club. Bob follows and spots her getting into a cab. Before she can slam the door, he jumps in beside her. Bob tries desperately to explain how the stripper must have mistaken him for someone else, but his wife is having none of it. She is screaming at him at the top of her lungs, calling him every 4-letter word in the book.

The cabby turns around and says, "Geez Bob, you picked up a real bitch this time."

Bill Maher: Rove Reversal - Politics on The Huffington Post

Why didn't I think of this?

Bill Maher: Rove Reversal - Politics on The Huffington Post: "If the Democrats want to win in 2008 they must pull a 'Reverse Rove.' If the Democrats want to beat the Republicans, and I mean really beat them, not just by a few hundred votes in Florida, Ohio, or Pennsylvania, they've got to start thinking like the Turd Blossom. In the 2004 presidential race Karl Rove mobilized Republican voters by getting initiatives banning gay marriage on the ballots in 11 states. If the Democrats really want to mobilize their base they must push for swing state ballot initiatives that call for reinstating the draft. Even if it's a local draft, calling up young men and women to serve in their state's depleted National Guard units. That would really get the Democratic base to turn out en mass: young people, reasonable mothers and fathers, the anti-war crowd -- America's true silent majority."

Interesting statistics

Number of the Day

41: Percentage of Americans who, when asked to name a Republican running for president, couldn't.

Eighty-one percent of Americans polled by the Pew Research Center could name at least one Democrat running for president. And if you need one more sign that the Republicans are just a little obsessed with Hillary Clinton, here you go: When asked to name a Democratic candidate, 78 percent of Republicans named Clinton, but only 57 percent of Republicans could name their own front-runner, Rudy Giuliani.

Overall, 62 percent of Americans could volunteer the name of Barack Obama. Twenty-eight percent remembered that John Edwards is running, but no other Democrat cracked the double-digit barrier.

Asked to name any GOP candidates in the race, 45 percent of Americans named Giuliani; 30 percent said Mitt Romney; 27 percent I.D.'d Fred Thompson; and 24 percent mentioned John McCain. Only eight percent of Americans volunteered the name of Mike Huckabee. Seven percent did the same for Ron Paul.

A little Texas humor from my friend Susan

Three aspiring student psychiatrists from various colleges were attending their first class on emotional extremes.

"Just to establish some parameters," said the professor to the student From TCU, "What is the opposite of joy?"

"Sadness," replied the student.

"And the opposite of depression?" the professor asked of the young lady from Rice University

"Elation," said she.

"And you sir," he said to the young man from Texas A&M, "How about the opposite of woe?"

The Aggie replied, "Sir, I believe that would be giddy-up."

Check Out These Clever Ads . . .

If I read about it on the internet, it must be true

Dear All

Thanks to all those who have sent me emails this past year........

I must send my thanks to whoever sent me the one about rat shit in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet towel with every envelope that needs sealing.

Also,I now have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.

I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown); who is about to die in the hospital for the 1,387,258th time.

I no longer have any money at all, but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program .....

Or from the senior bank clerk in Nigeria who wants me to split $7 million with me for pretending to be a long lost relative of a customer who died intestate.

I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me, and St. Theresa's novena has granted my every wish.

I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.

Thanks to you,

I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward e-mail to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.

Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca-Cola because it can remove toilet stains.

I no longer can buy petrol without taking a man along to watch the car so a serial killer won't crawl in my back seat when I'm filling up.

I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.

I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica, Uganda, Singapore and Uzbekistan.

Thanks to you, I can't use anyone's toilet but mine because a big brown African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites my bum.

And thanks to your great advice,

I can't even pick up the $5.00 I found dropped in the car park because it probably was placed there by a sex molester waiting underneath my car to grab my leg.

If you don't send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 70 minutes, a large dove with diarrhoea will land on your head at 5:00pm this afternoon and the fleas from 12 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump.

I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbour's ex-mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's beautician.

By the way....a South American scientist after a lengthy study has discovered that people with low IQ who have infrequent sexual activity always read their e-mails with their hand on the mouse.

Don't bother taking it off now, it's too late.

If you can't trust Nixon....

Dumb but friendly: Good for a dog, not so much for a president

Just in time for Fred Thompson's GOP debate debut, ABC News has unearthed some vintage Richard Nixon commentary that fits in just a little too comfortably with the fast-emerging conventional wisdom on the man.

Thompson served as minority counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee, and it's in that context that Nixon says -- on tape, of course -- that he thought the young lawyer wasn't smart enough to go up against his Democratic counterpart, Sam Dash. "Dash is too smart for that kid," Nixon tells John Dean on one tape. On another, Nixon tells Alexander Haig that Thompson is "dumb as hell."

In June 1973, White House counsel Fred Buzhardt tells Nixon that the White House has developed "a pretty good rapport" with Thompson, who "came through fine for us this morning."

Nixon: "He isn't very smart, is he?"

Buzhardt: "Not extremely so, but --"

Nixon: "But he's friendly."

Buzhardt: "But he's, he's friendly."

Nixon: "Good."

Gettysburg Address

From Barbara:

This is a Power Point showing how bad the "Gettysburg Address" could have been had it been the type of presentations we are used to now.

Black Male President or White Female President?

Chris Rock on whether America is more ready for a white female president or a black male president—and the last line’s the best, so watch the whole thing:

Speaking of Sloth...

Doing this at the office :)

Greed:	Very Low
Gluttony:	Low
Wrath:	Very Low
Sloth:	Medium
Envy:	Very Low
Lust:	Medium
Pride:	Very Low

Take the Seven Deadly Sins Quiz

Mini History Lesson

I had to laugh

Saw this in the paper this morning. With housing costs what they are, I can see why a lot of college grads are back with their folks for awhile.

From a purely selfish point of view, I have totally enjoyed the times when my kids have had occasion to move back in with us.

Dear sir, my name is Natacha and I would like to marry you

A slow day at work....

An Australian sheep farmer traveled to Mali to pick up his bride and her dowry -- but ended up kidnapped instead.

Catherine Price

Aug. 14, 2007 | Here's an odd one for anyone feeling sombered by the AIDS crisis in South Africa and/or Roman Catholic disapproval of Amnesty's support of abortion rights for rape victims. The BBC reports that an Australian sheep farmer was taken hostage in Mali for 12 days when he showed up at an airport to meet his supposed bride -- a woman he'd met over the Internet -- and pick up her $86,000 dowry.

I don't know what their e-mail exchange was like (perhaps the woman had read "The Game"?), but somehow the man, 56, believed that a 20-something Liberian refugee named Natacha would be waiting for him at the airport, presumably lugging a huge suitcase of gold. Except, whoops, the men who greeted his plane and said that they were Natacha's relatives turned out to be kidnapping thugs instead. Talk about a bad online date.

Luckily, things turned out all right -- because while the Australian guy was dumb, his captors were dumber. The Australian authorities somehow convinced the man's kidnappers that he needed to pick up the money at the Canadian Embassy because, you know, one wouldn't want to use regular mail to ship $86,000 in cash. When they dropped him off to get the money, he was rescued. And when relatives were asked how he could have fallen for such a scheme, they suggested that he had been "blinded by Internet love."

Thank goodness no one actually got hurt. Still, I'm impressed that the incident happened, considering that it required two large leaps of faith: first, that a 20-something woman with an $86,000 dowry would be using the Internet to court Australian sheep farmers. And second, that a man who would come to Mali to pick up an $86,000 dowry would have $86,000 of his own to pay in ransom. It's the sort of story that makes you wish there were Darwin Awards for Internet dating -- and kidnapping schemes.

-- Catherine Price

Our one and only president

- Don't Let Them Eat Cake - washingtonpost.com

I love reading Miss Manners, she has great common sense and wit.

"Dear Miss Manners:

I appear to have committed a faux pas. My fiance and I are getting married in a concert hall at 6 p.m. He's excited to don a tux, and the bridesmaids are wearing dresses of their choice (so some of them are floor-length and some are shorter). I guess this means we're having a formal wedding, but we picked out colorful, modern-looking invitations.

Now, people are admonishing us for choosing informal invitations for a formal event. Is there any way to respond to their criticism? Is there any way to redress our error?

Since the invitations have already gone out, it is unfortunately too late for you redo the chief part you did wrong -- the guest list."

No wonder they called him Turd Blossom | Salon.com

No wonder they called him Turd Blossom | Salon.com: "At this point, the Current Administration is like a very, very bad canoe trip with a week left to go, and Mr. Rove is the Head Counselor who has found a path to the highway. He left the White House with a wave and a grin and not in handcuffs as some had hoped, followed by the usual backwash of commentary on how important he was, or how not important in comparison to how important some people thought he was, and what I find eerie about the man is his inexhaustible self-confidence and optimism. He was the Master Woodsman. According to some accounts, his positive outlook was responsible for the Current Occupant's sunny disposition in the face of bad news. No wonder Mr. Rove's nickname was Turd Blossom. He could put fecal matter on his lapel and call it a boutonniere."

Almost to Boise

James just called Barbara to tell her that they drove all night and will be in Boise shortly. I worry when people tell me they are driving all night, but on the other hand I know what it is like to travel with small children and how nice it is to have them asleep in their car seats instead of running wild and screaming in a motel room. Not that my children ever did that.

Years ago when James and Rachel were small we were driving back from a visit to my dad and 'grandma Mary' to Euless, and we couldn't find any motel rooms in Barstow, so we decided to keep driving. We finally found a room in Needles, CA sometime after two in the morning. We carried the two sleeping children into the motel and crashed. Since James and Rachel had rested all night in the car, they were up and ready to go at 7 the next morning.

Changes

James and Emily left with the boys this morning to visit Emily's family in Nampa, Idaho. I miss them already, though I am sure Emily's family will be very happy to share my grandchildren.

Last night Will rolled over for the first time, it has been amazing to have small kids in the house again.

From Misc summer p...

We were also very happy and more than a little amazed to see how well John handled having his nephews around the house. He pretty much left them alone unless they were doing something together like playing a video game or watching the Disney channel together.

The first dance

Sarah Jane was such a beautiful bride!

My Kids!

I am so proud of them, I certainly have wonderful kids!

Grandma and Will

Nice picture of Barbara and our grandson Will. It looks like Barbara was holding up much better than Will was.

Groom catches bouquet

In one of the truly memorable (if not most bizarre) moments of the reception, Russell managed to catch Sarah Jane's bouquet. Sarah Jane tossed the bouquet over her shoulder towards the eager group of single women, but the bouquet hit a ceiling fan and it ricocheted over to Russell.



Russell tossed Sarah Jane's garter. I don't remember who caught it but there was a push by some for John to catch it.

Jack and Grandpa

One of the nice things about getting older is becoming a grandpa. Here is a picture of my grandson Jack and myself. We were both having a great time.

John and David D

We were very happy to have one of John's friends David D at the wedding reception. John knows David from school, he is one of John's support staff (I think the term is para-educator but I don't know for sure) and David is also good enough to moonlight from time to time as an attendant. At the reception John needed a break from the program so John and David went to the bar and got cokes and a breather from all the commotion.

As one can tell by looking at the photo below, both David and John were having a great time.



One of the things that John does with David at school is to work out at a local fitness club where John can use the treadmill and go swimming.

Nice picture of Rachel

They are all nice actually..



We were very surprised and happy to have Rachel come and join us last Saturday. She wanted to surprise us by coming the open house but she got an unwanted surprise from the airline with a delayed flight and all (click here to read all the details from Rachel's point of view).

But it was WONDERFUL to have her here for Barbara's and my 29th wedding anniversary. The whole clan was present, so that was very special.

Andrea - Old friend

I was delighted to have my friend Andrea and her husband Corwin attend the reception. I have known Andrea since we both attended BYU together. One year we lived in the same apartment complex and became friendly when she cooked for the guys in my apartment. She also became friendly with my younger brother Richard and they dated seriously for awhile.

Andrea's husband Corwin introduced himself to my children at the wedding as the husband of their uncle's ex-fiance which pretty much summed things up.

22 years ago I had the opportunity to go to Japan for three weeks on business. I attended the english speaking ward in Tokyo and saw Andrea playing the piano at Sacrament meeting. I turned to the man sitting next to me and asked him if that was Andrea (I used her maiden name) and he replied that that used to be her maiden name but that it was now his last name. Small world as they say. Anyhow, they had Barbara and me over to dinner after Barbara arrived and she and Andrea became good friends, even though they have probably only met in the flesh a less than a dozen times.

Little did we know way back when that we would both settle in Texas.

James and John after the wedding

This is one of my favorite photos for a lot of reasons. As recently as a few years ago I never would have believed that John would be a groomsman at his brother Russell's wedding, or that he would be well behaved enough to sit for photos. John is very happy to have James and his family around right now and I could tell that he was delighted to be a part of Russell's wedding. He called his tux his 'penguin suit.'

From Disposable Ca...

Grace under fire

It was very hot and muggy outside the Houston temple when this picture was taken, and I am afraid my grandsons had taken all that they could. I am amazed that Emily was still able to smile when this photo was taken. I really hope whoever took this picture put the camera down afterwards and offered to help with the kids

Bibles on your porch

A few days ago there was an article in the Austin American Statesman concerning a plan to deliver bibles along with the Sunday newspaper. Here is one response.

Begging for no Bibles on the porch:

"Bibles on your porch

Re: Aug. 1 article 'How about a Bible with your morning newspaper?'

The idea of attaching little Bibles to the morning newspaper is obnoxious and offensive, the equivalent of seeing a couple of those Mormon missionary guys with their white shirts and skinny ties standing on your doorstep at 7 a.m. wanting to talk about 'saving your soul.'

It's also a dumb idea, which is pretty well summed up, though unintentionally, by the society's spokesperson, Paul Tolleson, who said, 'It's disappointing that anyone would object to getting a Bible, which is the best-read book in the whole world and has been for 100 years.'

Uh, right! There already are Bibles in practically every home and motel room in America. It's not like a few thousand more are going to make any difference.

BRUCE JONES Austin"

Bridges aren't supposed to fall down | Salon.com

Garrison Keillor has his say....
Bridges aren't supposed to fall down | Salon.com:
"The way to get money to fix a bridge is for it to collapse and kill people, and so Congress promptly awarded Minnesota $250 million for the fallen I-35W. The usual suspects held press conferences to express shock and concern, pledge support, etc. The governor called for a time of healing and he proclaimed confidence in his commissioner of transportation, a large ebullient woman in a bright red blouse. There were prayer services. The Current Occupant came to view the wreckage and to express, in that intense and aimless way of his, his hopes for a better life for us. And then, having raised our hopes, he did not resign from office after all."

August madness

Tomorrow is the open house for Russell and Sarah Jane, so there is a lot of activity going on at our house. Thank goodness James and Emily are there to help us out.

James has been busy out in the yard, the other day I saw him working outside with the our power washer and electric chainsaw (I didn't even know we owned those two pieces of equipment). The gardening gene passed me by but it looks like James has it in spades. My dad loved to work in his garden, years ago when we visited Dad and Mary in San Jose at their home on Urzi Ct my dad would proudly show off his garden and mini-orchard. My father-in-law was also an avid gardener, his flowers in the front yard were his pride and joy.

I think my part will be keeping John busy tonight and tomorrow and doing some last minute shopping for the open house.

Police: Workers killed after seeking raises - Crime & Punishment - MSNBC.com

I guess they could have lived without a raise.

Police: Workers killed after seeking raises - Crime & Punishment - MSNBC.com: "EAST POINT, Ga. - The owner of a car dealership has been accused of killing two employees because they kept asking for pay raises."

Welcome to Wal-Mart

A very loud, very unattractive, mean-acting woman walked into Wal-Mart with her two kids, yelling obscenities at them all the way through the entrance.

The Wal-Mart Greeter said pleasantly "Good morning, and welcome to Wal-Mart. Nice children you have there. Are they twins?"

The ugly woman stopped yelling long enough to say, "Hell no they ain't. The oldest one's 9 and the other one's 7. Why the hell would you think they're twins? Are you blind, or just stupid?"

"I'm neither blind nor stupid, Ma'am," replied the greeter. "I just couldn't believe you got laid twice. Have a good day and thank you for shopping at Wal-Mart."

Holy Land Sesame Street

Slate's Emily Bazelon assesses the mixed bag of children's television in Israel and the Palestinian territories, from rival versions of Sesame Street to the Mickey Mouse rip-off Farfour.

Slate V - Damned Spot: Romney's "Ocean"

John Dickerson analyzes a new ad by GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney. The spot tries to burnish Romney's credentials as a cultural conservative, but please, Mitt: Block that metaphor!

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Gmail - Kim Komando Show Daily News - Thursday, July 12, 2007

Kim Komando Show Daily News - Thursday, July 12, 2007: "Wii shortages may continue
Nintendo warned of Wii shortages this holiday season. The game systems are a huge hit. If you find the Wii in stores, buy it, company officials say. Those who wait could regret it. Also, the company promises about 100 new games by year’s end. It also plans new controllers."

This is bad news for John. Russell is taking his Wii with him.

Salt Lake Tribune - Kirby: The devil wears Dockers? Who knew?

Salt Lake Tribune - Kirby: The devil wears Dockers? Who knew?: "Wait, it gets worse. Apparently members of Carl's stake are exhorted to wear their best in engagement and wedding photos - and to not allow family members to be included in them if they aren't dressed appropriately."

I wonder if my goatee and shaved head would violate the dress standards for this stake president?

First-born kid a tad brainier than siblings, study says

I am sure my younger siblings would disagree.....

First-born kid a tad brainier than siblings, study says: "Scientists reported Thursday that first-born children, including those who become first after an older sibling dies young, tend to be smarter than subsequent offspring."

Fathers get no respect | Salon.com

Fathers get no respect | Salon.com: "Well, there is fatherhood in a nutshell. A big misunderstanding. We were young swashbuckling guys riding around in cool cars on a hot summer night and we pulled into the A&W for a root beer and these girls walked over in their little white summer dresses and the next thing we knew we had a house and a lawn and a teenager glowering at us and muttering something about us not understanding him. He thinks he's misunderstood -- hey, how about us? Look at Father's Day. All year long, we dads look forward to Our Day and think, 'Well, maybe this year there will be a big parade. A dads drill team, twirling rakes. A unit of Catholic priests in their big black shoes. A float with the Boston Pops on it.' And then, nothing. No fireworks, no music. A few people murmur, 'Happy Father's Day,' and that's it. It's about as festive as Arbor Day or National Pickle Week."

Back to walking

As the saying goes, anything worth doing is worth overdoing. A couple of weeks ago I went in for my annual exam at the doctor's office. I am not sure but I thought I heard him going 'oink oink' under his breath. He asked me about my exercise program and I had to confess that I hadn't been doing much if anything for a long time.

I posted back a few months ago that my back hurt so bad that I had trouble walking or standing upright more than a few minutes at a time. I got that under control with regular doses of Advil, so my doctor suggested that I start walking again. My big fear of course is that I would start walking and then have my back go out on me. So I started small and walked a few blocks away from my office. That worked out well, so I decided to see if I could go around the entire block. Long story short, after two weeks I am able to walk the steep hills around my office and my home. On Sunday I managed to do around six miles. Granted, it is walking and not jogging, but it does feel good to get out in the sun and breath all the nice allergens in there air. Barbara is convinced I have SAD and she might be right, I am feeling much better now.

The Ethicist: Donating Clothing

Live and learn. I really hadn't given much if any thought where my clothing donations go.

For years, I’ve donated old clothes to charity. Then I learned that many of these garments are shipped to poor countries where they are sold, devastating local industries and thus creating more poverty. The recipients do get inexpensive clothing, and my local charity makes money, but I fear I’m doing more harm than good. Advice? — Georgia Vogelsang, Baltimore

Even benevolent acts can have unintended consequences. Bama Athreya, executive director of the International Labor Rights Fund, says that the used-clothing trade “has contributed to the decimation of local garment industries, and therefore contributed to unemployment in Africa.” He suggests you ask your local charity what it does with used clothing and that you give only to charities that bypass middlemen and distribute donations directly to people in need, particularly to people in your community. This seems wise, maximizing the good and minimizing the ill done by your old “I’m With Stupid” T-shirt.

And yet. . . . Eric Stubin, executive vice president of Trans-Americas FSC, an exporter of used clothing, asserts that these are the only clothes the world’s poorest people can afford, and that companies like his “provide thousands of jobs while providing the essential clothing that has actually become part of the culture of Africa.” Stubin argues that as a country’s economy develops and its people are able to earn more, the used-clothing trade recedes. Until then, he says, the trade’s net effect is benign.

Alas, much that has “become part of the culture of Africa” is lamentable. But when experts clash over the facts, what is a civilian to do? She is to learn more. Doing good requires not only good intentions but due diligence — exhausting but unavoidable.

Runaway Bridezilla

From Miss Manners. Makes me very, very grateful for my children.

Dear Miss Manners:

My husband and I are at our wits' end trying to figure out what to do. Our daughter eloped last month while we were dog-sitting her two dogs and under the pretense she was going on vacation. She had not planned on sharing this information until after she returned home, but was unable to find anyone else to dog-sit.

On the day she returned to pick up her animals, she demanded a wedding gift and card.

We were totally surprised and very hurt that she would run off with her fiance and not include us in the event. As her mother, I was especially disappointed because she has commented for the past 15 years (she is 36) how she would like her wedding, what her dress would look like, etc.

She just sent out announcements that included notice that there will be a reception this summer (in a park setting). Our quandary is this: Do we owe her a wedding gift now or in July? Since she chose to exclude us from her nuptials, are we expected to pay for a portion of the "reception"? If so, what part or how much? This is becoming an issue between us. Her birthday is next week and she indicated she would like her wedding gift before she receives her birthday gift. Right now I feel so betrayed, I don't want to give her either. How do you recommend we handle this?

The same way she did -- by running away. Fast.

It will come as a shock to your daughter, and apparently to you as well, to hear that getting married is not considered to be equivalent to performing a service for others, for which they must pay.

The last Miss Manners checked, adults had control over their own money and had no financial obligations to their adult children. That so many of them sponsor their children's weddings and give them presents presumably is because these are supposed to be happy family occasions, and they take joy in pleasing their children.

If you feel that way, by all means accede to your daughter's demands. If not, Miss Manners would consider that you did quite enough for her on this occasion by minding her dogs.