Go green when building your next home- not! - 05/31/08 11:47 AM
Technical information for everyone who says that I never post about home building: With advanced framing techniques a builder can frame a home much faster than in years past. The home can be framed in 1/2 of the time and use about 1/4 less wood. Using these techniques will also save on labor costs as well as interest charges on the building loan.
Oh, and there is proof that advanced framing techniques, while saving all of the above, and making everyone feel better about themselves, are not structurally sound. Many builders refuse to use these "advanced" techniques on the homes that they build. I … (6 comments)

Europeans socialists paying $8 per gallon for gas - 05/30/08 10:25 AM
Today it was reported that Europenas are paying $8 per gallon for gas. Obviously they buy in liters but the article called it per gallon. The article cited that Europeans drivers pay the highest gas taxes in the world, with the tax on diesel in Britain accounting for 65% of the retail price. In Britain, the politicians are actually considering raising the taxes on fuel.
This article, to me, sums up how well socialism works. Lots of fools like to say that our capatalist system does not work as good as Europe's socialist ways. Once again, here is some proof.
Now … (7 comments)

Offend me and go to jail - 05/29/08 11:55 AM
I have learned something new this week. If you don't agree with what someone writes in either a blog or a comment, you simply flag them. Yeah, thats right, instead of actually using some good old fashioned logic and debating them, you just turn them in to the AR powers. I guess it works much better than wasting your time trying to counter their point with your own point. Why think when you can just push a button. And the best part is that if you tell on them enough, they will eventually get kicked off AR. Pretty cool.
I can … (27 comments)

Humor for the day. Funny sayings. - 05/29/08 11:05 AM
I am in the mood for a bit of levity this morning. Too much serious talk has made my head spin. Don't worry. It will stop spinning and I will start pissing everyone off again, but for now. how about some humor?
Yesterday I saw a guy wearing a T-shirt that said: Silence is golden, duct tape is silver. I laughed my rear end off. There is nothing like simple humor.
There used to be a general contractor running around my town with a sign on his truck that read: We rip off the other guy and pass the savings on to you.
… (4 comments)

Vocabulary word of the day - 05/27/08 11:15 AM
Lemmings- A very bad animal to be compared to especially if you are a member of a group that tends to vote heavily for one political party that just keeps doing nothing for you.
… (2 comments)

There is a new bad word - 05/26/08 10:36 AM
I have a friend that I grew up with. We were the type of friends that did everything together. We played on the same baseball and football teams, learned to swim together, joined Boy Scouts together, attended school together. We lived right across the street form each other so we were at each others homes daily most of our young lives. Like typical boys, we were always trying to outdo each other.
My buddy seemed to always outdo me. In Judo he achieved a higher belt.  He got higher grades, he ran faster, hit more balls,etc. We both played college football … (15 comments)

Dropped like a hot potato - 05/25/08 10:36 AM
I have picked up some good customers from this site. They read my blog and gave me a call. They saw my flag logo and really liked that I was a flag waver. I know that is hard for some to swallow around here.
I am a firm believer in this country and what it stands for. I am a firm believer in the Bill of Rights. I am a big supporter of our freedom of speech. And that brings me to the removal of Bill Burress form this site. I realize that this is a privately owned site and the owners can … (25 comments)

Republican parents, Democrat kids? - 05/25/08 10:12 AM
I am curious so I will ask here on AR. I was raised by fairly conservative parents. My mom was a right leaning Democrat and my dad was a pretty solid Republican. As I grew up I started out as a Democrat but quicklly discovered that I did not agree with most of their platform. When Ronald Reagan ran in 1980, I became a full on Republican.  My wife was raised by pretty left leaning Democrats. Her parents campaigned for Adlai Stevenson and thought Jimmy Carter was too conservative because he went to church. My wife and her family were very active in Democrat politics and … (7 comments)

Protected groups - 05/25/08 10:00 AM
Throughout our lives we are members of all kinds of groups. Some of the groups we join, others we are cast into. Most of us like to see our group as being better than the other groups. We talk about how our group is better and how the other group needs to do this or that in order to "see the light". All of this is human nature.
Sometimes one group will decide that they have been too harsh on another group. They determine that by being so rough on the other group they have actually injured them. Because of the … (19 comments)

Waving the special flag - 05/24/08 10:45 AM
Have you ever had someone tell you what amounts to an obviously fabricated story. It is so far from the truth that it insults your intelligence. When I was in the military we had a name we would use whenever someone told such a story. We would raise our hands and wave an imaginary flag in the air. Without saying anything, everyone knew what we were saying. We were waving the "bull shit" flag.
After reading up on the reason that Bill Burresss was kicked off Active Rain, I have come to a decision. It is time to wave the imaginary … (6 comments)

What are you doing this Memorial Day? - 05/22/08 10:55 AM
I was just thinking about all of the things that need to get done before my family and I get to relax a bit this weekend.  We are doing the typical American Memorial Day thing, I think. We are going boating with some friends, doing a big BBQ picnic, and then having a big party at our home that night. During the weekend, our family goes to the cemetary with the Boy Scouts to place flags on soldiers graves. Pretty basic stuff I guess.
How about you? What are you and your family doing this Memorial Day?
… (9 comments)

Getting kicked off AR - 05/22/08 10:47 AM
Lets get it out in the open. What did Bill Burress say that got him kicked off Active Rain? Did he actually do something that no one else has done before? Did he make a comment about a "protected" group of individuals? Did he call someone a new name that has yet to be used on this board? Did he offend someone in a non-politically correct manner? Does anyone know any of the answers?
I am sure that by now all of the posts that he made are safely deleted. I think we would all like to know, so we can … (9 comments)

Becoming losers like France - 05/21/08 10:50 AM
There are many problems in our country right now. I am sure that we can all come up with a huge list of them.  The list and the fighting would be endless. But I have been thinking about one particular problem for a bit now. This problem seems to cause a whole lot of other problems.
It seems that more and more people in this country want the government to take care of them. No matter what happens to them, they always seem to want good old Uncle Sam to bail them out. No examples are necessary because we can all … (35 comments)

Are liberals pessimists? - 05/20/08 11:19 AM
A few weeks ago I was reading a blog about the high price of gas. The comments were the typical ones complaining about gas and how we need alternative energy and that we need to drill in our own country. Of course, there was also the "Bush is an idiot", "Exxon and Bush are in bed together", "the Bush family and Saudis are getting richer" type comments. Being an optimist myself, I tried to inject a bit of positive thinking into the dialogue. Big mistake. The attacks came in from all sides. I was called all sorts of derisive names because I … (11 comments)

Barack does not like us to drive SUV's! - 05/19/08 10:19 AM
Now I am really pissed off. I must apologize for my wording, but when I read about Mr. ( I am starting to wonder why I even address him as as Mr.) Barack and the statement that he made in Oregon, I get really mad.
This fool says that we may not be able to drive our SUV's and heat our homes to 72 degrees without the rest of the world getting mad at us. I for one am sick and tired of this kind of mindset. If it was not for green weanies like Mr. Barack, we would not have … (53 comments)

How to get an 18% approval rating - 05/15/08 10:12 AM
The US Congress broke a record last week. It broke a very long standing record by sinking to a new job approval rating of 18%. That is far below a grade of F in my book. Lets take a look form an American citizens point of view and see where they may be going wrong.
I am sure that somewhere in the Constitution it says something about Congress having oversight over both pro and college sports. Our Congress has investigagted steriod use in baseball and how the number one college football team is determined. Roger Clemons testimony was of national importance. Lets … (95 comments)

King for a day! - 05/12/08 02:06 PM
My son had to do a project for school the other day. In it he was asked to explain in detail what he would do if he were king for a day. The rules and caveats were simple. He was king of the US. He had no one to answer to, not even a set of laws. He could do whatever he wanted. I read his essay and was pretty impressed by it. Kids have a great sense of fairness and openness that we tend to lose as we get older.
I started thinking about what I would do if I were king … (18 comments)

What do you like best? - 05/11/08 10:39 AM
America is a great country made up of a lot of great people. Our great country has evolved over 200 plus years and it is still changing. But even after 200 years and lots of changes, I see this country as the best in the world. We are still the place that many people in foreign lands aspire to be. And if they can't be here, they would like to be like us.
As the Fourth of July approaches, I always make a list of the things that I like best about America. I post in on my refrigerator and try … (27 comments)

Liberals hate America - 05/08/08 11:34 AM
I have been thinking about this for some time now. Whenever you read a blog post done by someone who leans left, it always spells out how bad this country is. We are bad, everyone in the world hates us, everything is our fault, we should all feel guilty, blah, blah, blah. Of course if you question the liberal theme, you are told that it is good to question our hated Administration and that we should try to make America better. Nice try. I believe that liberals hate America and would like to see it destroyed. At least as we know it. Check … (89 comments)