Because of unease, scratchy throat, under the weather symptoms, I decided on health... and in that epic debate between health and solving all of the worlds problems (which can only happen late at night when extreme tiredness makes you think you're really really smart)... I embarked on a get to bed early night for me. And because I went to bed so early, Mr. Sandman, maybe because we had such a good thing going before and I changed it... got mad and just up and left... but not before playing some really mean, cruel, and possibly dirty jokes on me.
For I woke up feeling the best you can possibly feel on a given wake up. I would go as far as to give it a label of uber great. And not until I looked at a clock did I realize that it wasn't even a sleep. That I wasn't even asleep. That technically... you would define what I had just done as a nap. It was only 3 hours from when I went to bed...I hadn't even moved on to the next day... the clock wasn't even past 12...
Can anyone explain this? I feel like Kramer on Seinfeld when he would only sleep in 3 hour intervals, and in consequence, was extremely wired whenever awake...
And I feel, in almost every way, that it should be morning... I should be eating cereal right now... one banana... an apple and/or an orange depending on how good I feel... and taking token vitamins because to this day I can still hear my mom's voice in my head scolding me to do it. Instead, however, an excess of energy only serves to hurt the immediate future... and I guess it's the price one must pay for not partaking in moderation... for refusing to combat extremes of all form... this blog serves as a reminder to never try to be too healthy... And in retaliation... in effort to re-align total universe back into normality... I will curb any healthy thoughts for the immediate future and partake in the age-old tradition of late-night popcorn and a movie until I can finally convince sleep that I'm not weird and he should come hang out with me again.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Injury Riddled
Another injury graced our teams presence last game... 2 the game before... and with 3 others already out on extended leaves of absence we are dealing with something in the way of a puzzle. And with no real answer to be found we content ourselves by giving our junior players a whole lot of experience playing up a level. See, no matter what, there's always a bright side to everything.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
$400 a gallon
The Pentagon recently released information that the cost required to transport fuel into Afghanistan is roughly $400 for every gallon of fuel. For shipping, trucking, airlifting, paying protection money to local tribal leaders for safe passage, to the actual fuel costs, it's easy to see how these costs escalate.
And the New York Times recently released information that it costs an estimated $1 million dollars every year to support each and every soldier in the Middle-East. There is obviously some overlap because fuel would be included in a soldier's cost... but that's still a whole lot of money. Goodbye economic crisis if this money got spent in the states rather than in Iraq.
Disheartening when you see top military officials stepping down because they believe the war is unwinnable.
And the New York Times recently released information that it costs an estimated $1 million dollars every year to support each and every soldier in the Middle-East. There is obviously some overlap because fuel would be included in a soldier's cost... but that's still a whole lot of money. Goodbye economic crisis if this money got spent in the states rather than in Iraq.
Disheartening when you see top military officials stepping down because they believe the war is unwinnable.
Where Do You Stand?
I really don't feel like being all that ground-breaking today. Just drag up one thought and re-iterate what a lot of other people have probably thought or said or wrote for thousands of years. And here is one already.
"Any government poweful enough to give you everything you want is also powerful enough to take away everything you have. Therefore the proper function of the state is to protect the life, liberty, and property of its citizens... nothing more. That government is best that governs least."
Sounds great! But is it true?
As a collectivist
MOST people do not know what is best for them. And over the years a countries government will set up laws to protect people from themselves. From having guns too easily because people seem to kill themselves with guns. From having drugs like cocaine or heroine because people ruin themselves on addiction. From any number of things because people screw up all the time.
Answer
But the more government does for people, the less they do for themselves. The more dependent they are on others.
And in the opposite corner as a... I don't even know... libertarian?
SOME people do not know what is best for them. And if you let them make mistakes these people get smarter, or others get smarter by their example. And the end result is more and more competent people in the world as the most competent are allowed to excell... not pay for others mistakes.
Answer
But the system is heartless and so many people fall through the cracks.
"Any government poweful enough to give you everything you want is also powerful enough to take away everything you have. Therefore the proper function of the state is to protect the life, liberty, and property of its citizens... nothing more. That government is best that governs least."
Sounds great! But is it true?
As a collectivist
MOST people do not know what is best for them. And over the years a countries government will set up laws to protect people from themselves. From having guns too easily because people seem to kill themselves with guns. From having drugs like cocaine or heroine because people ruin themselves on addiction. From any number of things because people screw up all the time.
Answer
But the more government does for people, the less they do for themselves. The more dependent they are on others.
And in the opposite corner as a... I don't even know... libertarian?
SOME people do not know what is best for them. And if you let them make mistakes these people get smarter, or others get smarter by their example. And the end result is more and more competent people in the world as the most competent are allowed to excell... not pay for others mistakes.
Answer
But the system is heartless and so many people fall through the cracks.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
For the Greater Good
"The greatest evil can sometimes result by attempting the greatest good." ... or something like that...
Here is a history lesson for today...
1) The US government wants people to be able to buy a house, so they make it easier for Americans to get loans.
2) The increase in demand... according to laws of supply and demand... raises the prises of homes.
3) People buy houses they can't afford because houses are overprices... yet they still get these crazy loans to help them out
4) Eventually the loan payments are too much and Lehman brothers files for bankruptcy.
5) All because government tried to help people out.
And in case you didn't catch that...
1) The US has tons of grants and laws out there to help people pay for tuition to go to college, because they want to help people and have a more educated society.
2) Colleges see the increase in demand and... raise their prices.
3) Tuition now costs incredible amounts of money that students only afford because of the government money and loans.
4) The end result is the students are in serious debt that they have to pay back for years after they leave school.
5) And now a tuition bubble exists where tuition at many schools has increased 50% in the past 10 years. All because the government tried to help out people.
Other side effects of these good intentions include...
(A) Too many 'smart kids' and not enough plumbers... or any other kind of trade.
And also
(B) Small universities trying to capitalize on this new inflow of cash... And they're crummy.
And
(C) With everyone going to college people are forced to stay in college even longer in grad school to distance themselves from their peers... More time away from giving value into the economy, taking more government grants... and... going into more debt... all because the government tried to help people out.
Here is a video to explain it rather well...
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIcfMMVcYZg&feature=channel
Or for lazy people... the main point of the video is: "It creates a culture of dependency where, because the government is involved and the prices are high, the people need to have government money to afford (insert government initiative here)... but the fact remains that if the government wasn't involved in the first place... the prices would still be low... and they wouldn't need the government to afford it.")
And now, in summary, here is where the lesson applies...
1) The US Government now wants to get into healthcare in order to guarantee health insurance for every American. Again. Really good.
2) But the thing about insurance is... it makes the doctors run a whole gambit of tests for everyone that comes in the door because it is not on the patient's dime... it's all insurance... (which insurance companies would try to limit by being petty, dirty, and cheap)... but on the government's dime, most likely all the tests will be done... again, all on the taxpayer's dime... because the doctor will do everything to make sure they don't get sued....
3) Thus greatly increasing the demand for health care in the states... Greatly increasing hospital costs... Greatly increasing debt...
... So in a sense I really don't like where it's headed... but I'm still for public health care because I still believe insurance companies have a conflict of interest between making profits and caring for sick people...
Here is a history lesson for today...
1) The US government wants people to be able to buy a house, so they make it easier for Americans to get loans.
2) The increase in demand... according to laws of supply and demand... raises the prises of homes.
3) People buy houses they can't afford because houses are overprices... yet they still get these crazy loans to help them out
4) Eventually the loan payments are too much and Lehman brothers files for bankruptcy.
5) All because government tried to help people out.
And in case you didn't catch that...
1) The US has tons of grants and laws out there to help people pay for tuition to go to college, because they want to help people and have a more educated society.
2) Colleges see the increase in demand and... raise their prices.
3) Tuition now costs incredible amounts of money that students only afford because of the government money and loans.
4) The end result is the students are in serious debt that they have to pay back for years after they leave school.
5) And now a tuition bubble exists where tuition at many schools has increased 50% in the past 10 years. All because the government tried to help out people.
Other side effects of these good intentions include...
(A) Too many 'smart kids' and not enough plumbers... or any other kind of trade.
And also
(B) Small universities trying to capitalize on this new inflow of cash... And they're crummy.
And
(C) With everyone going to college people are forced to stay in college even longer in grad school to distance themselves from their peers... More time away from giving value into the economy, taking more government grants... and... going into more debt... all because the government tried to help people out.
Here is a video to explain it rather well...
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIcfMMVcYZg&feature=channel
Or for lazy people... the main point of the video is: "It creates a culture of dependency where, because the government is involved and the prices are high, the people need to have government money to afford (insert government initiative here)... but the fact remains that if the government wasn't involved in the first place... the prices would still be low... and they wouldn't need the government to afford it.")
And now, in summary, here is where the lesson applies...
1) The US Government now wants to get into healthcare in order to guarantee health insurance for every American. Again. Really good.
2) But the thing about insurance is... it makes the doctors run a whole gambit of tests for everyone that comes in the door because it is not on the patient's dime... it's all insurance... (which insurance companies would try to limit by being petty, dirty, and cheap)... but on the government's dime, most likely all the tests will be done... again, all on the taxpayer's dime... because the doctor will do everything to make sure they don't get sued....
3) Thus greatly increasing the demand for health care in the states... Greatly increasing hospital costs... Greatly increasing debt...
... So in a sense I really don't like where it's headed... but I'm still for public health care because I still believe insurance companies have a conflict of interest between making profits and caring for sick people...
Sunday, November 8, 2009
And the Grand Prize!!!
... A cord of wood?
The volunteer firefighters had a charity fundraiser last night at the fire hall. And first of all, the German word for 'raffle' is 'lose'. Honestly... it's 'lose'... I would not joke about this. You would see all these firefighters in overalls walking around holding plastic pails with 'LOSE' written all over the side of them. Ironic... and I thought it was hilarious... and yet no one else seemed to think it was very funny. Doing their whole 'well, in Germany it's 'Low-zay' and it's all the rave over here. Second of all... third prize was a cord of wood... it was sitting next to the counter... and it was about as tall and wide as me... logs of wood.
First prize was an all-inclusive weekend for two in a five-star hotel. Second prize was an all year superski pass in the valley. Fourth prize was a barbie fun house.
And they only served local specialties... roast pork... some sort of cabbagy vegetable... and roasted chestnuts... and the thing about chestnuts is... they're liars... they smell absolutely amazing but taste like chewy crumbly oatmeal. A disappointment. But a very fun night.
The volunteer firefighters had a charity fundraiser last night at the fire hall. And first of all, the German word for 'raffle' is 'lose'. Honestly... it's 'lose'... I would not joke about this. You would see all these firefighters in overalls walking around holding plastic pails with 'LOSE' written all over the side of them. Ironic... and I thought it was hilarious... and yet no one else seemed to think it was very funny. Doing their whole 'well, in Germany it's 'Low-zay' and it's all the rave over here. Second of all... third prize was a cord of wood... it was sitting next to the counter... and it was about as tall and wide as me... logs of wood.
First prize was an all-inclusive weekend for two in a five-star hotel. Second prize was an all year superski pass in the valley. Fourth prize was a barbie fun house.
And they only served local specialties... roast pork... some sort of cabbagy vegetable... and roasted chestnuts... and the thing about chestnuts is... they're liars... they smell absolutely amazing but taste like chewy crumbly oatmeal. A disappointment. But a very fun night.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Budapest
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/album.php?aid=2259500&id=4640&ref=nf
I leave Budapest with a better feeling than when I arrived... the last day... finally... once we got off our schedule... and off the tourist map... felt like a vacation... we did what wanted... we saw what we wanted... on a whim we changed course to something that caught our attention... something that we thought was cool, instead of what everyone else said was cool...
... And it's not like the places we saw the first few days weren't worth it... it's just when you're on a schedule... trying to see as much as possible when museums open at 10 and close at 6... mapping routes between landmarks on opposite ends of the city... you aren't able to spend extra time to really see a place... you can't enjoy it before you have to move on to something else... you can't even sit down for a cup of coffee because you'll be late for the next bus to leave... and the stress that comes with rushing around hurts what is supposed to be a relaxing vacation...
... The hop-on hop-off bus was our first day... and because it only ran every hour on the hour it was more trouble than it was worth... without a choice we were forced to rush our tours in order to make them within the hour... or be forced to wait another hour for the next bus... I can see how the bus would be better in a place like Rome where buses leave every 15 minutes... but every hour, on a tight schedule, is no good... and even hurts your plans to eat a nice meal... if you have any... But I still really enjoyed the places we saw... the national art gallery, victory square, St Stephen's basilica and the Synogogue... and only the Synogogue may not have been worth it because there was little to see and yet costed more than the rest...
... The second day was a walking tour of Castle Hill... Because it was out of season, and cold, we were the only ones on the tour... And it made the experience very rewarding... Some of the information was not what I read on Wikipedia... and makes me wonder if... unbelievable I know... the internet might be wrong... Or if... similar to Rome... they add on to the story in order to make the history sound better... After a lunch we hit up the spa for the afternoon... and could have capped the night off well if not for the walking we did afterwards... giving Danelle a callus... and me a back ache... We crashed hard that night, even before Danelle could have supper...
... On the last day we saw the Parliament... we met a couple from Buffalo that said they have been to Budapest 4 times... Twice when it was a part of Communist Russia... they can't get enough of the place... and makes me wonder what we must have missed... They did say that we missed a winery that samples over 400 wines for the price of 35 euros... they loved hockey... and said their son was a great hockey player before he punched a ref and was banned for life from the league...
... And with a full day to drive home the feeling was different... no longer on a schedule... no longer a serious plan... as I already said... we shopped... drove... detoured... and really enjoyed our drive home... we drove through Vienna because I assumed merely a drive through was all the city would ever need... how wrong I was... as it might be the most amazing downtown that we have ever seen... And now our hearts are set on going to spend some serious time there... But with 8 castles within a 10 block radius it's hard to see how we cannot go back to rushing... and not learn the lesson we should have here in Budapest...
I leave Budapest with a better feeling than when I arrived... the last day... finally... once we got off our schedule... and off the tourist map... felt like a vacation... we did what wanted... we saw what we wanted... on a whim we changed course to something that caught our attention... something that we thought was cool, instead of what everyone else said was cool...
... And it's not like the places we saw the first few days weren't worth it... it's just when you're on a schedule... trying to see as much as possible when museums open at 10 and close at 6... mapping routes between landmarks on opposite ends of the city... you aren't able to spend extra time to really see a place... you can't enjoy it before you have to move on to something else... you can't even sit down for a cup of coffee because you'll be late for the next bus to leave... and the stress that comes with rushing around hurts what is supposed to be a relaxing vacation...
... The hop-on hop-off bus was our first day... and because it only ran every hour on the hour it was more trouble than it was worth... without a choice we were forced to rush our tours in order to make them within the hour... or be forced to wait another hour for the next bus... I can see how the bus would be better in a place like Rome where buses leave every 15 minutes... but every hour, on a tight schedule, is no good... and even hurts your plans to eat a nice meal... if you have any... But I still really enjoyed the places we saw... the national art gallery, victory square, St Stephen's basilica and the Synogogue... and only the Synogogue may not have been worth it because there was little to see and yet costed more than the rest...
... The second day was a walking tour of Castle Hill... Because it was out of season, and cold, we were the only ones on the tour... And it made the experience very rewarding... Some of the information was not what I read on Wikipedia... and makes me wonder if... unbelievable I know... the internet might be wrong... Or if... similar to Rome... they add on to the story in order to make the history sound better... After a lunch we hit up the spa for the afternoon... and could have capped the night off well if not for the walking we did afterwards... giving Danelle a callus... and me a back ache... We crashed hard that night, even before Danelle could have supper...
... On the last day we saw the Parliament... we met a couple from Buffalo that said they have been to Budapest 4 times... Twice when it was a part of Communist Russia... they can't get enough of the place... and makes me wonder what we must have missed... They did say that we missed a winery that samples over 400 wines for the price of 35 euros... they loved hockey... and said their son was a great hockey player before he punched a ref and was banned for life from the league...
... And with a full day to drive home the feeling was different... no longer on a schedule... no longer a serious plan... as I already said... we shopped... drove... detoured... and really enjoyed our drive home... we drove through Vienna because I assumed merely a drive through was all the city would ever need... how wrong I was... as it might be the most amazing downtown that we have ever seen... And now our hearts are set on going to spend some serious time there... But with 8 castles within a 10 block radius it's hard to see how we cannot go back to rushing... and not learn the lesson we should have here in Budapest...
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