Today I need to express my love for my Princess Bride.
39 years ago today she looked at me across the alter and said "Yes" to the question of being my wife, lover, confidant, companion, housekeeper and friend. And in just a few days she will experience her 60th birthday.
Over the years we've been poverty stricken, fairly well-to-do, and all points between. Today we live modestly on a very modest wage. At the end of the school year she will leave her employment and again be a stay-at-home mother, grandmother, and wife.
She has been a stalwart support to me over the years when I was much gone from home and she had to deal with the children, home, schools, and bills alone. I would drift by occasionally and say hello, sleep for 6 hours and leave again.
When we were first married I had in mind to enjoy 4 children. She had other thoughts and we wound up with 7 natural children. Along the way I semi-adopted two more. We love each of them. We are grateful for their talents. Even our children that refused to take music lessons are musically inclined and are doing something to develop that talent. Three of them play the piano, one plays the trumpet, one plays the trombone, one plays the sax (good son that he is), one plays the guitar, and one plays the stereo. One left this earth a little early so didn't get much chance to develop her musical talent. Each of them learned to love music because of their mother.
I have no idea how she did so well. I asked our children to write letters to their mothers expressing their love and respect to her. They have done well. Each one has expressed their feelings in a way that brings tears to my eyes. She has been the rudder that has kept our family headed in the right direction.
I admire my Princess Bride. When I saw her the first time 45 years ago, I knew she was someone I should get to know. However, we didn't live in the same town and I kinda lost sight of her for a few years. Just over 39 years ago I knew I couldn't live without her. I'm grateful that she agreed. I love her, I admire her, she lights up the room for me when she come in, she is the balance that keeps me upright.
I wish every man could have wife and relationship as perfect as I have.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
The "Middle Class" is Disappearing?
According to the liberal left the middle class is shrinking and will eventually disappear. News reporters say this is the reason the Ayatolla Barry Obama wants to tax the so-called wealthy heavier and eliminate taxes on the ever growing "poor".
After some review of the reasons the "middle class" is shrinking, I believe I have some answers. It will take a little review of the way things used to be.
I remember when it was possible that an ambitious young person could decide on a profession and go do it. There was little fuss. If he did well, he got more business. If he did poorly, he got little business. It was a cause and effect. Today if a young person wants to enter a profession, he must go for some government required education for that profession and spend megabucks to get it done. Then he must tender a hefty bribe to the appropriate governmental agency in order to obtain a "license" to practice whatever service he wants to perform. And if he wants to construct a building to contain his business he must pay and pay and pay before he ever even purchases the materials and labor to effect its construction.
The expense of beginning a business is extreme because of regulations, fees and taxes that few individuals are interested or able to enjoy what imagination and drive they may have. Additionally if the business selected is not on the "approved" list and the governmental agency has not classified it for licensure, then the business may not be permitted to open in some areas. State and local governments have learned that they can extract more and more money from business by increasing "impact fees", License fees, property improvement rules, employment taxes, required employment benefits, higher energy costs, and other fees and taxes. And because of oppressive environmental rules, often an expensive "environmental impact study" must be completed. No wonder few people want to risk valuable and scarce resources to enter into a high risk proposition. And don't get in the way of environmentalists who do not approve? They file lawsuits just to make it untenable for an unapproved business to open.
So these light entrepeneurs don't take the risk and instead plod along in their mundane jobs that they may or may not even like. The reason? Lower risk and lower pay, but steady income. They expend their innovative spirit on behalf of employers who aren't able to reward their imagination and energy.
The bottom line is this: The middle class will disappear because of excessive taxation, regulation, and intimidation. In order for the middle class to survive government will have to get out of the way and let it happen by relaxing regulation, reducing energy costs, stopping the intimidation, lowering taxation on self-employed and small business, and enjoying the benefits. By so doing welfare rolls will diminish, unemployement will reduce, GDP will rise, crime will reduce, and the economy will expand.
My expectation is that it will never happen. National, State, County and local politicians are addicted to the power they perceive themselves to have. Neither Democrats or Republicans have the courage to affect the changes necessary.
After some review of the reasons the "middle class" is shrinking, I believe I have some answers. It will take a little review of the way things used to be.
I remember when it was possible that an ambitious young person could decide on a profession and go do it. There was little fuss. If he did well, he got more business. If he did poorly, he got little business. It was a cause and effect. Today if a young person wants to enter a profession, he must go for some government required education for that profession and spend megabucks to get it done. Then he must tender a hefty bribe to the appropriate governmental agency in order to obtain a "license" to practice whatever service he wants to perform. And if he wants to construct a building to contain his business he must pay and pay and pay before he ever even purchases the materials and labor to effect its construction.
The expense of beginning a business is extreme because of regulations, fees and taxes that few individuals are interested or able to enjoy what imagination and drive they may have. Additionally if the business selected is not on the "approved" list and the governmental agency has not classified it for licensure, then the business may not be permitted to open in some areas. State and local governments have learned that they can extract more and more money from business by increasing "impact fees", License fees, property improvement rules, employment taxes, required employment benefits, higher energy costs, and other fees and taxes. And because of oppressive environmental rules, often an expensive "environmental impact study" must be completed. No wonder few people want to risk valuable and scarce resources to enter into a high risk proposition. And don't get in the way of environmentalists who do not approve? They file lawsuits just to make it untenable for an unapproved business to open.
So these light entrepeneurs don't take the risk and instead plod along in their mundane jobs that they may or may not even like. The reason? Lower risk and lower pay, but steady income. They expend their innovative spirit on behalf of employers who aren't able to reward their imagination and energy.
The bottom line is this: The middle class will disappear because of excessive taxation, regulation, and intimidation. In order for the middle class to survive government will have to get out of the way and let it happen by relaxing regulation, reducing energy costs, stopping the intimidation, lowering taxation on self-employed and small business, and enjoying the benefits. By so doing welfare rolls will diminish, unemployement will reduce, GDP will rise, crime will reduce, and the economy will expand.
My expectation is that it will never happen. National, State, County and local politicians are addicted to the power they perceive themselves to have. Neither Democrats or Republicans have the courage to affect the changes necessary.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Shortage of Truck Drivers?
Yesterday I read an article reporting a shortage of truck drivers in the United States. I disagree. There are plenty of qualified, licensed truck drivers. They don't want to drive! Why, you might ask? Let me see if I can help you to understand.
Truck drivers are in one of the highest regulated industries. They are mandated as to when they must work, how they must work, how often they must "rest", how many hours they may work per week and they must furnish law enforcement the means to incriminate themselves. The 5th amendment does not apply to truck drivers.
They are told they cannot rest when they are tired, but must rest when the government says they are tired. They may not drive when they are not tired, but rather when the government says they are not tired. The work rules change every few months so they must keep abreast of government actions. They must have permits for various loads. They must recertify their qualifications every two years. They must submit to medical qualification in order to provide their families a living wage.
Just last month new regulations came into effect that will potentially cut drivers' wages by over 15% when cost of living is increasing. Line haul drivers are expected to be away from home for 1-3 weeks at a time, but are prohibited from driving more than 11 hours per day. That way they can sleep 7-8 hours per day and be bored out of their mind for 4-5 hours per day.
Team drivers, meaning 2 drivers on a truck, still cannot manage their time in order to work efficiently. They must still take 10 hours off after each shift of 10-11 hours. I know of few drivers that can efficiently sleep in a moving truck for 8-10 hours. It used to be that a team could work to their best advantage. Most of them would work in 4-5 hour shifts. Sleep was sufficient, driving time was not overbearing, and best of all, the drivers were always alert. Today's new rules do not permit efficient and safe operation. They are that a driver must take a 30 min break by the end of 8 hours, but can't exchange drivers until the end of 10 hours in order to make a team operation work.
Drivers are tired of having to adapt their lives to government issued nonsensical rules, so they are exiting the industry for greener pastures all thanks to over regulation.
Many other professions are suffering similar exits. Local, State, and Federal governments are regulating business and industry right out of business because the people do not want to be fettered with unreasonable, incoherent rules written in unintelligible language that do not make an ounce of sense and cannot be understood by reasonable non-lawyers. Added to the mix are law enforcement officers that also do not understand the rules and often do not even read them, but who make determinations of how the rules ought to be enforced.
After all we live in 1930's Nazi Germany, I guess. Or at least it feels that way.
Truck drivers are in one of the highest regulated industries. They are mandated as to when they must work, how they must work, how often they must "rest", how many hours they may work per week and they must furnish law enforcement the means to incriminate themselves. The 5th amendment does not apply to truck drivers.
They are told they cannot rest when they are tired, but must rest when the government says they are tired. They may not drive when they are not tired, but rather when the government says they are not tired. The work rules change every few months so they must keep abreast of government actions. They must have permits for various loads. They must recertify their qualifications every two years. They must submit to medical qualification in order to provide their families a living wage.
Just last month new regulations came into effect that will potentially cut drivers' wages by over 15% when cost of living is increasing. Line haul drivers are expected to be away from home for 1-3 weeks at a time, but are prohibited from driving more than 11 hours per day. That way they can sleep 7-8 hours per day and be bored out of their mind for 4-5 hours per day.
Team drivers, meaning 2 drivers on a truck, still cannot manage their time in order to work efficiently. They must still take 10 hours off after each shift of 10-11 hours. I know of few drivers that can efficiently sleep in a moving truck for 8-10 hours. It used to be that a team could work to their best advantage. Most of them would work in 4-5 hour shifts. Sleep was sufficient, driving time was not overbearing, and best of all, the drivers were always alert. Today's new rules do not permit efficient and safe operation. They are that a driver must take a 30 min break by the end of 8 hours, but can't exchange drivers until the end of 10 hours in order to make a team operation work.
Drivers are tired of having to adapt their lives to government issued nonsensical rules, so they are exiting the industry for greener pastures all thanks to over regulation.
Many other professions are suffering similar exits. Local, State, and Federal governments are regulating business and industry right out of business because the people do not want to be fettered with unreasonable, incoherent rules written in unintelligible language that do not make an ounce of sense and cannot be understood by reasonable non-lawyers. Added to the mix are law enforcement officers that also do not understand the rules and often do not even read them, but who make determinations of how the rules ought to be enforced.
After all we live in 1930's Nazi Germany, I guess. Or at least it feels that way.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
The Holiest Holiday
Tomorrow we celebrate the holiest day the world has ever known. We will celebrate the resurrection of the Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth, or Jesus the Christ. The world largely does not understand the importance of the events surrounding the rising of my Lord and Master. He suffered the complete withdrawal of the Spirit of God in order to experience ALL of the pain, anguish, sins, misdeeds, disease, and evil the world has ever known or ever will ever know. He was not anxious to do it, but He did it willingly because there was no other way to offer salvation and exaltation to His own brothers and sisters, you and I and everyone that ever has/does/will live on this world or any of the other worlds Heavenly Father has created through his Son.
What an enormous sacrifice! It is hard to understand just how this event worked to cleanse all of us of sin if we are willing to repent. It isn't hard to understand, though, that He loves His brothers and sisters enough to do vicarious work for us. We are offered the opportunity to do vicarious work for our own ancestors and their families. We have only to prepare and do.
For myself, I love knowing that the great Jehovah presented himself as a little child who grew up knowing what his future would bring. I love knowing that He did it to fulfill all righteousness and to offer us the opportunity to do likewise. I love knowing that He broke the bands of death and now resurrection or salvation is available to all of us. It is a free gift He has given to us. I love knowing that He has shown us the avenue of earning our position in the post-death existence by living righteously, extending service to our fellow men, and doing work for others that they cannot do for themselves.
I love knowing that Heavenly Father and his Son, Jehova/Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are interested in us individually and personally. I love knowing that the Father and the Son are physical personages and that we are created expressly in their image and likeness.
I love knowing that Jesus Christ has called a Prophet to whom he communicates currently. I know that Prophet to be Russell M. Nelson. I hope each of you will come to the same understanding and knowledge that I have.
What an enormous sacrifice! It is hard to understand just how this event worked to cleanse all of us of sin if we are willing to repent. It isn't hard to understand, though, that He loves His brothers and sisters enough to do vicarious work for us. We are offered the opportunity to do vicarious work for our own ancestors and their families. We have only to prepare and do.
For myself, I love knowing that the great Jehovah presented himself as a little child who grew up knowing what his future would bring. I love knowing that He did it to fulfill all righteousness and to offer us the opportunity to do likewise. I love knowing that He broke the bands of death and now resurrection or salvation is available to all of us. It is a free gift He has given to us. I love knowing that He has shown us the avenue of earning our position in the post-death existence by living righteously, extending service to our fellow men, and doing work for others that they cannot do for themselves.
I love knowing that Heavenly Father and his Son, Jehova/Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are interested in us individually and personally. I love knowing that the Father and the Son are physical personages and that we are created expressly in their image and likeness.
I love knowing that Jesus Christ has called a Prophet to whom he communicates currently. I know that Prophet to be Russell M. Nelson. I hope each of you will come to the same understanding and knowledge that I have.
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