I Saw Our Solders

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This past weekend, I made several pizza deliveries to a section of Fort Bragg where the troops prepare for deployment - a sea of camouflaged people, an ocean of camouflaged emotions.

The new recruits have this cocky air about themselves, while nervously lighting a cigarette and rambling on about the weather. The more experienced solders have a sober swagger in their step and will tell you outright about their concerns.

The single members in ranks playful chat with nervous excitement about going. But they look with a faint sadness at the gather of families around their married colleagues.

The married ones say little. They have the stiff-upper-lip of commitment to their job; their brave, confident eyes hold back tearfully goodbyes for their visiting families.

Some of the troops believe they are fighting for an ideal of freedom. Most known they fight because that's what they are told to do - right or wrong.

In the end, all hope that they return - with as few emotional, mental, and physical scars as possible.

Australian research shows microbes may turn dust into gold

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I'm rich! I'm rich!! I just looked under my bed and I have a fortune!!! Australian research shows microbes may turn dust into gold

ET, blog home!

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When I first started blogging, I wondered if anyone would read my measly panderings. And now, I’ve come across http://www.bloginspace.com, a site that frees your blog from its earthly bounds by broadcasting it into space for the universe to read. I would how marketers would track that traffic? In any case, it was simple enough for me to link my blog site. Now I’ll just wait for ET to send me comments…

How ISPs plan to quietly kill VoIP upstarts

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How ISPs plan to quietly kill VoIP upstarts | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com

Equally disturbing is how the House of Representatives have gone to bed with the major phone companies and screwed us in the process

domino's mileage scam

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Domino's charges $1 for a delivery. Out of that, I get $ 0.95 of that IF it is a single delivery. If I take two deliveries, I get $0.40 for that second delivery. When I first started, it was $0.80 for every delivery. Of course, gas then was $1.95 a gallon. Today it was $2.90 a gallon.

At 25 mpg, it costs me $0.127 per mile. Some of our deliveries are 13 miles in travel, costing me $1.65 in gas. Is it right that Domino is, in effect, making me pay to deliver their pizzas? One of their mottos is "putting people [their employees] first". I'm beginning to doubt the positive implication that such a motto should have. One of the companies demands upon its employees is "integrity". Integrity? Where is the integrity when a company scams its employees?

So I think I can dance?

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First you take the range of people who believe they have the ability to dance. Then, you apply a standard of dance to that range --- those who can dance quite well to those who amaze you with their ability to just walk. Naturally, you have a good show. There are those who are absolutely amazing in their skill. And then there are those who simply wanted to be in front of a camera regardless of the embarrassment. Isn’t that what life is about? Watching those who are tremendously gifted and need a break to advance to their true potential. And then watching clowns that make the rest of us feel better about ourselves…..
http://www.fox.com/dance

worries of employment

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At my main job, people have been quitting and retiring in a high number these past six months. Last month, our CFO even took a job elsewhere. And yet, the powers that be have not replaced any of these empty positions. It doesn’t help that we haven’t had a pay raise in six years now. Naturally, rumors are growing like a cancer and eating away at the little moral that is there. Today the owners flew and took all of upper management for an off site meeting. I don’t know what will come of it. Something good????????

my initial thoughts on Pay Per Post

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Why is it that, when someone comes along with an good money-making idea, someone else refers to it as “selling your soul”? The whole basis for a honest business is to find a need and fill it. Here, Ted Murphy has taken the fact that everyone has opinions and most like to share those thoughts. He then found businesses that want those opinions as they can improve their business and he introduced the two.

So the question is whether PayPerPost is a valid business idea or not. People usually benefit after reading about a product or service or even a new idea. If the article was written by a news reporter or movie reviewer or professional writer, someone was compensated. Since I’m not a professional writer and I get paid for sharing my experience in the form of a blog, should that matter to the reader?

I’m assuming that Mr. Murphy’s concept of paying for a post is a legitimate one. If so, I’m not sure how getting paid for blogging your thoughts is going to ruin the Internet. Granted, Mr. Murphy isn’t paying the gobs of money that famous stars and athletes get for their endorsements. But for all their money, the world doesn’t seem to be any worse off. We need to look back on this after a year’s time and see what has changed, what has gotten better or worse from this exercise in capitalism. I have feeling that things will be alright.


http://www.payperpost.com

12 signs you're about to be fired

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While I'm hoping that none of this applies to me, it doesn't hurt to review.
AOL Jobs - Articles- 12-signs-youre-about-to-be-fired - AOL Find a Job

Fourth of July

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Today we Americans celebrate the 230th anniversary of winning our freedom from a three percent taxation. It wasn't the amount of the taxation that we celebrate. Rather, we won freedom from the idea that a government can tax without appropriate representation in that government. Things are much better now. Our money is taken by people who have been selected by "all of us". This, of course, makes them are our government. Fortunately, this representation has allowed them to take -- not ask, not earn, but take -- over half of our money. Not surprisingly, families have to have two or more wage earners to live. Still, we are a Christian nation, or so I am repeatedly told. This means our representatives are free from the commandment "Thou shalt not steal" .... somehow. And once our representatives, local, state and federal, take our money, we are very free to do anything we like with those remaining hard earned wages.... provided we have the permission of our representatives. Yes, thank god for our freedom and god bless America!

being broadminded

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A good female friend is a very strong feminist. She asked me if I was broadminded? "Sure I am," I answered, "I think about women all the time." Not the appropriate answer to give her. But she laughed. She knows that I'm an idiot... :)

trouble

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So here I am dead in the water. But at this point I’m thinking that I could have prevented this moment. Regardless, I got up this morning, thinking it was later than it really was. Reality set in when I realized that was up early than I thought. Good thing! I could get a lot done if I got into work earlier than usual. So I jumped into my car and excitedly turned the key in the ignition. The chattering noise from the engine wasn't the lively greeting that I expected to hear.

:: sigh :: I don’t know why but lately every inconvenience or minor nuisance makes me feel so overwhelmed. Have you ever felt panicky terror that grips your thoughts and you're unable to move or think? It’s though my life is on the line the line at the very moment and I don't have the right answer. Is it because I am getting older quarter is it just a stress of the last ten years catching up with me?

Any way, here I am now, unparalyzed and waiting for the tow truck to arrive. Now that the paralysis has passed, I was able to check the battery. Right now, all I need is a jump and a new battery --- I think. Two weeks ago when this happened, I thought it was a case of vapor lock because after 40 minutes I was able to start the car. Once the car was running, I checked the electrical system and all was fine. I thought about how the battery was almost five years old. Stupid me put it on my mental list of things to do --- which has become as useful as tying a string around my finger and forgetting why. Oh well, here's the tow truck now.

Post note: Yep! It was the battery. I could have prevented a lot of aggravation had I replaced it. How much more frustration could I avoid by remembering to do things that I need to do!

This isn't what they taught in school :)

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Pirates pursued democracy, helped American colonies survive

comic last standing

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On tonight's show of "Last Comic Standing", each comic was given a magazine and had to come out with jokes based on that magazine. If I were on the show, here’s my response:

For the magazine “Yarn”, I could probably make some catchy jokes if I were a knit wit. But I don’t want to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes. In fact, I feel sheepish be even talking about this.

The magazine “Farm Gardening” was so interesting that it got me excited about watching grass grow. However, I was disappointed with an article about prostitution at Christmas. It was entitled “Hoe, Hoe, Hoe.”

I thought that the magazine “Weapons of Death” about my ex’s cooking. I was wrong. So I started to read "Latina Wedding", but realized that it was a reprint of “Weapons of Death”.

At first, I thought that the magazine “ssCat” was about jazz. But I found out that it was about the care and feeding of pussy … cats. Boy, was I disappointed!

thoughts on my son's visit

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Well, I have returned my youngest son back to his other home. We had a good time while we were together here. But he seems to have a cap on himself as to what he can enjoy and what he can’t. When asked if he’d like to come back again he said, "Yeah maybe". When asked if he wanted to go back, he said, "Yes I have to take care of my chores."

I spoke with my daughter about his conversations with himself. She said that they have been working with him to try and stop him. I need talk to my ex and see if we need to get some counseling for him. I saw his last report card where he has failed science and language arts, his first two classes of the day. In the comments section, the teacher had written that he is often sleepy and unable to concentrate. My daughter said that she had gotten him to bed early and made sure that he was asleep. But think a lot of it has to do with his diet and his size. At this moment, he is as tall as I am but is also 50 pounds heavier.

I put his school picture up on the wall with the pages of my other children. I have it next to the picture that I took of him when he was five. In that picture he has a smile an excitement in his eyes. In his school picture, his smile is forced, his eyes have a look of someone who’s not sure of his surroundings. What am I going to do????

my son is here

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For almost three years, I would leave right after work on Friday and travel 300 miles to be with my children for the weekend. Sunday afternoon would find me back on the road returning to my other home. The hardest part of the journey was saying good bye to my children, especially my youngest son who didn't understand why I had to leave. One time, he clenched his hands together, got on his knees and pleaded for me to stay. My heart broke through that entire trip. If I could have found a job that would support my family, I would probably be there today. But that didn't happen and the woman that I had pledged my life to did nothing to help the situation.

Anyway, four years ago, those trips became every other month as I struggled through the divorce. Nightly phone calls to my children helped but they can't replace being there. Yesterday, I picked up my youngest (who is now 14) and brought him 300 miles to be with me this week. Hopefully to build what I couldn't when we were apart. This trip turned out to be the beginning of an adventure.

My ex has decided to be a trucker, which is fine. I'm glad that she is FINALLY working instead of being a moocher. The downside is that she has passed my youngest son onto my oldest, my daughter, my pride and joy. But she shouldn't have to play mother. And she shouldn't have had to put up with what I found upon my arrival yesterday. I discovered that the water pump to the pitiful trailer that they are renting from my ex-brother-in-law had died a few days ago. So they have been filling buckets of water from another trailer to use. This is no situation for my youngest to be in. So, instead of spending the night so that I could be with my other two children, he and I left and arrived here at two this morning. At 6 AM, he was up, excited about being here. And now, the lack of sleep has drained us both. He is finally asleep and I shall follow shortly.

Observing some of his mannerisms today has me worried. In one case, he frequently talks to himself in a low mumble. Often it seems as though he is answering questions. When I ask him what he said, he replies, "Nothing." We talked about it a little bit and he realizes that he does it. He says that he is alone a lot and feels lonely and talking aloud makes him feel better. I can understand that. Since I'm alone a lot, I've found myself carrying on conversations half aloud. Perhaps I have a defect and I've passed on to him.

The other thing that I noticed today is how he carries on two conversations with neighbors that we met. When he was very young, he was very friendly and outgoing. He had no problem walking up to strangers and starting conversations even though his speech wasn't very clear. His enunciation still isn't good. But his replies people are almost too quick in answering and his tone could be mistaken as accusatory and rude. I don't know. More to follow about this week...

Father's Day

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Had my father been alive today, we would have celebrated his 74^th birthday. But since he died at the ripe age of 57, all I can do is think about what might have transpired between the two of us. Yes, I have a lot of regrets now. During my high school years, he would come home after a long day and I would hear my mother or my sisters say, “ Dad’s home!” The idiot that I was would remain in my room and wouldn’t see him until supper. I didn’t realize how will important it is to have your children acknowledge your existence, that is until they didn’t say “happy father’s day” or “happy birthday”.

My girlfriend surprised me today. She woke me up with fresh coffee and breakfast from McDonald’s. I now realize that the she bought the meal with money that I gave her for gas so that she could come and visit me. Still, it’s the thought and the effort that touched me. Shortly after our breakfast, she returned to her home to celebrate father stayed with her dad. And I headed out to pick up my youngest and spend some time with my children. Only my oldest son mentioned anything about father’s day. Of course, only a really good father can have permission to feel hurt by his other children’s forgetfulness.

from "Pearls Before Swine"

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Pizza dough for humor

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Have you ever seen old pizza dough? Today at work, I watched what happens as a tray of dough reaches the end of its shelf life. Image a nine inch patty of dough that used to be white, now grayish and growing tumorous-looking bubbles. There it is, sitting, waiting to be made into a pizza. Yum! I ask my manager if I should throw it out. Touting the Domino’s policy, she said, “No, they need to be saved.” Saved? I could only say, “Well, you can take it to church but I don’t think that that will do it any good.” Then I pointed my finger at the dough and asked sternly, “Have you accepted Jesus as your lord and savior? Yes, I know YOU are risen but that’s not the same.” I turned to my manager who was now looking at me with open mouth look of astonishment. “We could baptize it if you’d like,” I said, “but I think we’re dealing with heathen!”

Now I’ve only worked with this manager a few days over the past couple of weeks. She thinks that I’m a quiet, hard-working kind of guy. But being an introvert has its advantages, especially when you say and act completely unexpected. And then you get to sit back and watch them connect the dots of the joke in their mind. Some do it slower than others. I think that they aren’t completely sure if I’m serious or joking. When they realize that it is a joke, their face lights up with such sheer joy that it is a wonder to watch. After hearing about all of her frustrations from that week, her laughter was rewarding. I like it when I can be a pleasant change of pace.

blog by speech to text

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The way things have gone these past couple of days it is no wonder that people believe in superstition. I received a letter from the IRS. Not the one with the $24,000 check that they owe me. No, it's a bill for $5,000. This is after my car has started making an intermittant metallic buzzing noise. Not a good sound... Today I was such a klutz, tripping up the stairs and falling all over myself. There was something else but I can’t recall at the moment. All I want right now is to sleep. I better stop this posting before it becomes a whining session. Oops, too late. So I’ll leave this as it is for now and get to bed. I see that my girlfriend has signed on but I don’t want to hear any of her drama at the moment.

Ok, I need to write about one good event. OH! I dictated this posting into my blog. Surprisingly, it only needed a few corrections. This method of blogging could be promising!