The Scribbler

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The Scribbler

Is God Necessary for Morality

Obviously you know what I think. If you are interested in seeing the issue debated...well...enjoy.

Sign of the Times

A recession is when your neighbor loses his job.

A depression is when you lose your job.

This little site is a sign of the times.

Dead Malls

So is this article.

1,000 Apply for 50 Fast-Food Jobs

Remember...take time to enjoy the economic apocalypse.

I Stuck My Finger in the Potty Daddy

Here is an interaction I had with Millicent last Thursday. It was early evening and I had been home from work for about half an hour. Millicent had been totally naked since I walked in the door. This is not uncommon. I was in my bedroom taking off my shoes when Millicent came into the room, on her way to my bathroom, carrying some clothes and telling me she was going to the bathroom so I wouldn’t see her getting dressed (“don’t see me, Daddy”). Apparently it is okay for me (and everyone else) to see her running around the house naked all day long…but we are not to see her in the act of putting on clothes. She is far too modest for that. She also announced that she needed to go potty but claimed she could handle it herself.

Evidently, this is what happened in the bathroom….she put on her pants then stood beside the toilet and peed in them while sticking her finger in the toilet. I know this because she came out of the bathroom with totally soaked pants, holding up her finger saying, “I put my finger in the potty, Daddy. Look!” So Michelle and I did what all good parents do in a situation like this. We took a picture of it.

Some Cool Photos

These are not photoshopped.

Wanna see more???

Thanks for the Ride, Doak!

Once when I was a kid and hitch-hiking through the state of Texas a man by the name of Doak picked me up and gave me a nice tour through nearly 200 miles of the state. I remembered he said he worked with the NFL. So today, with that small bit of info and the power of google...I found a photo of Doak to go along with this small tribute. That's him in the cowboy hat. Thank you Doak Smith!

From Cool to Surreal

I found the photo below while cruising the internet one day and realized it was a trifecta. There are 3 things in this photo that used to be considered cool (remember I was a kid in the 80's) but are now, frankly, strange and surreal. Can you guess what they are? I will give my answer in a few days if no one guesses correctly.

This Winter....

Last winter we spent nearly $2000 heating our large and inefficient home. This winter we are on the Jimmy Carter plan. We never turn the heat up above 65 degrees in the day and we crank it down to 55 at night. In the day we wear socks and sweaters and at night we snuggle under numerous blankets. There are some other larger things we are doing to simplify, save money, and reduce our energy consumption. I can’t talk about them yet….but stay tuned…over the next year you will see some BIG changes in our lives. These types of things can be considered drudgery or adventure. We choose to think of them as adventure.

Obama, Oil, and the First Wave

The Obama administration is almost upon us. I have told friends and relatives for years that I do not envy the person stepping into the oval office in early 2009. Last week president-elect Obama acknowledged what we all know…the economy is bad and it will get worse. While it is nice to see the typical sunshine pumping about the economy that has been pouring out of D.C. for way too long come to an end…it is very apparent that our “leaders” are still a number of steps behind. In fact they are just as behind as they were 4 years ago when oil had never breached $40 a barrel and a number of concerned folks were trying to raise awareness about the danger we would soon find ourselves in with oil topping $100 and the unknown economic catastrophe triggers it could switch. Well, all of that happened.

I admit, while I did clearly see the energy side of the equation, the nature of this first phase of economic hardship was only learned by me as it was happening. So where are we now? This is just the first wave. Things are now happening much too quickly for our big lumbering governmental and political systems to have a prayer of keeping up. We must obviously fend for ourselves. Oil is hovering at $40 a barrel as I type this. Demand is about 86 million barrels per day (mbpd) while supply is about 87 mbpd. Numerous energy projects have been cancelled due to the recent price collapse. A lot of work that was economically viable at $80 a barrel is not even worth considering today.

Thankfully oil demand has been slowed by the economic downturn. When things start looking rosier, keep an eye on those oil prices. Demand can turn up in the blink of an eye. What happens when demand exceeds supply? The price keeps going up until something (something very big and important) breaks. Then the price comes down when demand has sufficiently been destroyed. Does that sound familiar? It should. You have just lived through a very mild cycle of it. It will get more exciting from here on out. It can be frightening or exhilarating…but that depends on how you have prepared. Of course most people won’t connect the dots and will do the easy thing….blame the government or the president or whoever else. Like I said, this is a bad time to be the president. Good day and God bless.

Running

Running. Have I ever mentioned why I love running. A lot of reasons really. Probably the most important is the spiritual aspect. After a while, on a good run, the body wants to quit. It begs to quit. Then the mind takes over and forces the body to run against its will. After another few miles the mind is exhausted. Then calmness comes and I am running….just running. Past the point of desire. Past the point of self discipline. Running within a will that doesn’t seem to be my own.

By the way…have you seen Chariot’s of Fire? Great movie.

When I Die....

When I die...no matter how horrible or traumatic it is....please don't do any of these things.

Please take note..someone I know has recently died. Pity me as you drive.

I too know someone who died. Leaving junk I bought at Wal-Mart alongside the road helps ease the pain.

Look, someone left a debit card...how thoughtful and appropriate.

I am sorry your loved one died. But please...roadside memorials and car memorials are stupid. Please cease and desist.

The Crash Course

A few of you may have noticed that there is a link stuck to the very top of my blog that says "click here now". This is an EXCELLENT course put together by a man named Chris Martenson. It thoroughly breaks down and explains a number of things that New-Think has addressed in a comparably amateur fashion over the past few years. You owe it to yourself to check it out. Many of you will not click on a more important link in the next few years. The entire course is about 3 hours long...but it is broken into bite size chunks. I encourage you to give it about 15 minutes of your time...if, after that, you think it's not relevant then move along...but be sure to save the link, because I believe events over the next few years will change your mind. If you like it, break out the popcorn!

Little Millicent