Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Joseph's Song Michael Card


I've never heard this before and thought it should be shared. Fr. Tim at Queen's sang it before Midnight Mass.

Monday, December 27, 2010

A LETTER FROM SANTA-

One of my kids has been the voice of Santa for many years after his major attempt at making sure he was believable by making tracks on the roof and leaving a bicycle for his 5 year old leaning against the chimney because "it wouldn't fit." The latest effort:

Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas to the Peterson Family!

Cyber Santa is coming to you from Lola's computer. You don't know how much Santa appreciates the fact that you left the computer on for me to write you a little thank-you note. If all gift recipients were to do what the Peterson's have done, Santa wouldn't have to pay overtime to the reindeer. This evening's trip could be done in the traditional 8 hours rather than the 16 hours it has take for the last 2000 years.

Hey, that is no exaggeration,folks. You figure that old Santa can type 55 words a minute with no errors compared to the 17 words a minute that I use to dictate to Carla and then Edith has to edit, well shoot, that is 38 seconds saved per home times 2.7 billion homes and yes, race fans, Santa would be faster than Jimmy Johnson at Talladega. Who are Carla and Edith you ask? Well, they are both reassigned to the "Letter to Santa Reply Department" which will make them happy, both don't really like the high altitudes and never did get reindeer humor. Moving along on the improved efficiency Santa doesn't need Carla the Copy Queen and Edith the Editor to proof my work, which leaves room for two more elves in the sleigh which makes present sorting and delivery so much more efficient. I'm not sure how to market this for it to spread by next year.....Hmmmmmmmmm......

I have it!!! Lola, use your blog to spread the word. I know you weren't' a card carrying member of the TEA Party but could you be the lead marketer of the newly created JESUS Party? This is a neat way to spread the word that if people help Cyber Santa be more efficient by leaving their computer, I-phone or any suitable device turned on, it will save Santa time and make sure the North Pole Enterprises doesn't go bankrupt. Lola, use your Blog to start the message and just like any worthwhile grass roots movement it will grow and be a huge success. And just think--if you do this for Cyber Santa you will also be reminding the entire world of the reason for the season, JESUS, at the same time. Santa is smarter than you thought, eh?

More questions I see...Why is Santa calling it the JESUS Party? Good question, I got ahead of myself and didn't explain this very well, although as smart as the Peterson family is I thought you would have it figured out by now. Yes, Miss 97% Anna Kate....., don't you know? Mr. Stanford man, any guesses.....? Well, Cyber Santa needs to get to Indiana by 12:18 to keep on schedule so I'll just tell you.

J Just
E Enough
S "Syber"
U Usage
S Saves time

Not bad for a spur of the moment thing, eh?

Hey, before I go, it must be said, Thanks for the Georgia Peterson's to come north for Christmas, and Aunt Kath from the Carolina's for birthdays.

PS. Not to be a downer but I get so mad when Santa is taken for granted. Paula, didn't you read the fine print in the metal roof literature? Oh, stupid me, you are like your Dad, you don't read manuals...Anyway, all owners of metal roofs are supposed to contact Santa by December 23rd to alert Santa and his team of the new "slippery" roof surface. I now have two reindeer on the DL, one with a torn hoof and the other with a black and blue nose instead of a red one. As your brother so lovingly reminds us, "it is not always about you."

Well, Merry Christmas, and say a prayer for Santa and the quick recovery of his team.

PSS. The cookies were great as usual, don't be mad but I shared them with Bo.

There you have it--including a few inside the family references which brought huge laughs, but when Santa asks, we accommodate, right?

Trusting that your Christmas was blessed, Merry Christmas! (Now I'm going to start doing my Christmas cards which will carry the notice that my Christmas Season starts with Advent but doesn't end until Epiphany--just a bit of rationalization.)

A LETTER FROM SANTA-

Monday, December 20, 2010

Thoughts on Education

Disclaimer: Now that I'm officially in my 80s, I need to realize that I just don't see things the way the next generations do, but I'm honor bound to share a bit of general philosophy that I only hope does not get lost as time goes by.

Premise: I've been reading lately about the horrible placement on a global marking system the United States holds. And that Asian countries are far and above us in intelligence and performance.

Question: Just as we constantly debate the "nature vs nurture" question, are we sure that we want to emulate those who test better than our kids do? Has it occurred to our politicos who are up in arms about the results how any one group arrives at the final ranking? In other words, does it occur to them that many of the Asian countries are Communist? That the talented children are taken from their homes to lead lives without any outside activity other than learning facts, figures and perhaps, theories? (The parents of Asian kids who top the scales in the U.S. also put top priority on education.) The other option is to be put in those classes or left in their homes where they will lead lives of "service" to the elites?

Can the other side of the coin be found in taking the theories and bringing them into the market place as a product or a new way of looking at a problem where it is more important to solve the problem than to be rewarded for the intelligence used to arrive at the conclusion? At one point in time everything from automobiles to electronics were invented in the U.S. and the production (also methods adopted from those developed in the U.S.) was refined elsewhere.

Granted we didn't invent "everything" but you see what I mean.

Take it a step further. Would we give up the freedoms and opportunities we have for a rigid society where individual thought is stifled? Would you give up taking your children to the zoo, Disneyland, the park or just over to Grandma's house for the chance to send them to a boarding school where they always wear the same clothing, eat the same food, take the same classes, their futures are predetermined according to IQ tests, etc.?

Does anyone younger than I remember lying on new mown grass in the middle of summer looking at the skies at night for Northern lights and shooting stars and catching lightning bugs in jars or in the daytime recognizing patterns in the clouds of watching a storm move across the horizon? Would you deny your children that kind of opportunity?

I just can't help wondering if curiosity is one of the missing elements in the education of our kids.... I wonder if ideas aren't more important than memorization. I believe I have shared with you early on that other than "Everything I needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten" to my high school debate squad and the Senior Govt/Econ teacher who taught that it wasn't "what you know, but knowing where to find it" is the key to education. And now you have the internet and computers! What largess!

And at this Christmas season it should go without saying that the freedom of religion sets us apart from many of the other parts of the world where it might be said that education is their religion. That topic could take up many more pages, but I leave it to you to determine its importance in your life.

That being said, this is the last week of Advent--the preparation for the commemoration of the birth which is the "reason for the season" and I wish you the most blessed of Christmases.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Important Video on Drunk Driving

I need to ask you to be patient and understand why I can't make this easy for you. I received a You Tube video which is the most powerful "scared straight" type I have ever seen. The thing is, it isn't just for drunk or drug impaired driving which is the obvious lesson to be learned; it demonstrates what any distraction can cause and how important it is to be alert and attentive and practice defensive driving techniques at all times.

The problem with just going the usual route of embedding a video in the blog is that it doesn't include the sound due to some copyright problem. The person who sent it to me used an address which I will attempt to duplicate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=Z2mf8DtWWd8

If that doesn't automatically get that line under it so you can just click on it, I'm quite sure that if you type it into the address line it will go directly to the video. Time consuming but worth it. I can't imagine why they would try to keep people from seeing it else why did they put it up in the first place?

Why am I so adamant about this? Probably most of you are unaware that in 1988 one of my four sons was killed in a motorcycle accident. Fortunately there was no alcohol or drug involved, but it may have been had it been another time. I can guarantee you that it is every Mother's prayer that if anyone in her family is involved in an accident that her family member is not at fault causing an innocent person to be hurt or killed and that her own child or family member is not a victim of the same kind of behavior.

God bless....
.....and be vigilant-

Monday, December 6, 2010

There are Heroes and There are Heroes...

With the heroes who fought in WWII which, by the way, is being remembered on Tuesday the 7th of December, numbering in the thousands upon thousands, you'll forgive me if Charlie Rangel and his friends and a number of "admirers" who referred to his heroism as part of the reason why they will forgive him his crimes rings hollow in my ears.

The ordinary veteran of that war and others that have followed are the men and women who make up the backbone of this country and very, very few of them have committed any kind of crime at all let alone try to justify their actions by saying that their many heroic and good deeds makes up for their "mistakes." Of course, the worst part of the entire story lies in the fact there are so many people who accept and agree with that reasoning.

How our culture has changed. True humility would be to simply admit his wrongdoing, not defend himself.

It would seem to me that the unemployment question regarding how long to continue benefits might be partially solved if the amounts are reduced on a downward sliding scale. Example: the average amount is about $1000 per month. So how about reducing the amount by 5-10% per month so by the end of a year it would be only half or less so it would pay them to get at least a part time job and be working to be free of unemployment comp. Just thinking...

Not only should government employees take a 10% pay cut, but those employed in the last few months, should be either laid off or go part time or job sharing.

Subsidies for green energy both in transportation and utilities should be stopped. If the private sector cannot work profitably, too bad.

And last, did you know that Chrysler/Fiat are investing more than $1.3 billion American in a plant in Milan to build Jeeps, expecting that over half will be sold in North America. We're subsidizing a foreign car company, folks. How does that grab you?

The cold temps are early this year.
God bless......