Gone Conventioning

Yep, I'm headed out to the desert today to attend the 2007 Conservative Leadership Conference in Reno.

Then I'm going camping with my brother for a week from Tahoe to Death Valley.

Then we're going to swing through Vegas to pick up my son.

Then the three of us are going camping for another week from the Hoover Dam to the Grand Canyon.

Then to Phoenix and a short hop home.

Damn, don't that sound nice?

Maybe I'll start blogging again after I get back.

Then again, maybe not.

Things I've already learned today

1. 5 am is too early for functional human activity.
2. Early morning radio sucks more than morning radio.
3. Keeping at least one eye cracked open while driving to work is a very good idea.
4. Rammstein at full volume cures the above three items.
5. I need new speakers. Again.

Take the Citizenship Challenge

MSNBC presents 20 of the "more difficult" questions that immigrants must answer on a civics test in order to become naturalized citizens. The only one that I missed concerned the name of an INS form (not something a citizen should need to know), though I will admit to taking an educated guess on number 8.

You answered 95% of questions correctly. Here's your rating:

0-20%: Maybe you're still thinking too much about the Old Country.
25-40%: Mmmm. Do you really want to be a citizen? This kind of performance isn't going to impress those nice immigration folks.
45-60%: Not too bad, but you really need to break out the civics books again -- word is, the INS is looking for an 80 percent score.
65-80%: Hey, you may make a good citizen yet! Look at your wrong answers and a little revision should do the trick.
85-100%: Welcome to the United States! (And, truth be told, you know more about this great land than most Americans.)

I believe that last one. Looking over this particular set of questions, I doubt that most Americans could pass. I know I couldn't have before my great political awakening in 2000 as Gore tried to litigate his way to the White House.

Letter to Dr. Daniel Robinson, Oxford University

Dear Dr. Robinson,

I am writing to you to convey my profound thanks to you for having entered into an agreement with The Teaching Company. I have just finished your 60-lecture series, The Great Ideas of Philosophy.

I must admit that I purchased these lectures with more than a little trepidation, as I am a middle-aged American conservative with some distrust of the academic world. But the lure of the subject was too much for me to resist and so I purchased your course.

My fears were groundless as I found you to be thoughtful, thorough and balanced. While your knowledge of philosophy is remarkable, I was more impressed by your perception. My favorite lectures were Justice and Just Wars (I listened to the whole thing twice) and your thoughts in God – Really? (I listened to the final two chapters three times).

I also enjoyed the smattering of dry humor that all too occasionally made their way into your teachings (my favorite, “God could have limited the creation to angels – or beagles, comparably delightful.”)

So thoroughly pleasant was the experience that I look forward with great anticipation to listening to your series, American Ideals: Founding a "Republic of Virtue". Your students are luckier than they can imagine. If this were a just world then you would be more famous than a rock star. You are certainly far more interesting.

With Gratitude and Deep Respect

I urge everyone who commutes, spends a half-hour on the treadmill, or otherwise has a few minutes a day to immediately click over to The Teaching Company. A half-hour lecture is a rewarding way to spend otherwise wasted minutes of the day. The Teaching Company finds the most gifted educators and offers courses on everything from ancient history to particle physics for non-physicists. They even offer courses on fuzzy subjects like art and music.

Go now, there's a bundle of courses currently on sale.

Now you will have to excuse me. On the theory that you cannot understand that which comes later without understanding the origin, I am about to start Introduction to Judaism. See ya.

Waiting Room Musings

Doctors offices. Who doesn't hate them?

This one is new. Fresh carpet shows the footprints of the sickly that have tramped through today. The faux velvet covering on a chair's seat clearly displays a perfect imprint of the previous occupant's butt. Ick. Looks like the occupant was 350 pounds or more.

I wonder, what bizarre illness prompted the unknown waddler to come here? More importantly, what writhing organisms lived in the mucus that no doubt coated his hands as he sat clutching the arm of the chair in his illness-induced haze, waiting his turn?

I decide to remain standing. In my own stuffy-headed haze, I take a look around.

The usual pathetic attempt to cheer up the place consists of a few cheap appliques stuck to the glass of the sliding window behind which the nurses hide, safe from the diseases teeming outside. Brightly colored butterflies of green and purple fly amongst even more bizarrely colored flowers. The butterflies are pasted so that it appears they are fleeing from the center of the glass, as if seeking to escape the flower patch of death. Or perhaps they are preparing to attack, 2 contingents in perfect formation flying off in opposing directions on a mission of dire consequence, belying their cutesy appearance.

Predictably, my thoughts turn morbid again. Egad, how many door knobs did l touch on the way in here!? Just what was that slime that coated the buttons on the elevator? Have I been watching entirely too many Monk episodes?

It probably doesn't matter, I feel like death anyway. What's a few million additional deadly microorganism crawling over me?

Depressing places, these waiting rooms. Everyone craning around to look at the too-perky girl who randomly and seldomly pops out of the coveted door to the interior, hoping that it is their name that is called as she announces the next person to win the Waiting Game.

At last it is my turn. I feel the jealous eyes upon me as I am ushered into the labyrinth of austere tiny rooms. But I know that I am just trading the large, crowded waiting room for a more private waiting hell. Why is my time so little valued by those with M.D. following their name? Bastards. This one had better make me feel better.

I sit in the jet-black power chair, which is evidently on the default setting, "Maximum Discomfort". But even ill I am restless, and so I get even for my second enforced wait, poking into drawers and playing with the chair settings. With a little fiddling it is soon as comfortable as a Barcalounger.

No wonder men wait so long to see a doctor. What with childbirth, raising vomiting, pooping, disgusting little aliens and putting up with men, women are used to pain and punishment. Not so the proud males of the species, inventors of microwaves, bass boats and the 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham. No, we men like our creature comforts and don't have the patience to put up with those that stand between us and our happiness. It's no wonder God gave women the responsibility of propagating the species. If it were up to us, mankind would have died out long ago.

As miserable as I am, I swear that it will be a cold day in Hades before I put myself through this again. Finally the doctor swaggers in and I silently promise myself that if this arrogant son of a bitch doesn't make me feel better, I will hunt him down and kill him in the street like the worthless offspring of filth and scum that he is. Then, as he steps out, having summed up my reason for misery in a few brief moments, I wryly admit to myself that I would have to feel much, much better to trouble myself to hunt for belly button lint, so doc is probably safe no matter how incompetent he is. But I always remember that half of all doctors finished in the bottom half of their class.

The Bad Midland*

You wouldn't think that an online test could tell you anything about how you talk, but the What American Accent Do You Have quiz is actually pretty good.

AlphaWife and I both have the same accent — which is to say that we don't really have one. I can see it for me 'cause mine came from the melting pot of military brats (although one of my siblings evidently has a Southern accent). But you'd think a south San Antonio gal would end up with a distinct accent. Maybe she's been around me too long?

 

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland   "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The South
Philadelphia
The Inland North
The West
The Northeast
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

I interviewed an applicant over the phone one time before bringing her in for a second interview. After we'd worked together several months she told me that her first impression of me was that I should be in radio. All well and good, I just don't think the money would have been there; I'm no Howard Stern . . . or Rush, for that matter.

* When I first saw the results of the test ,"The Midland", I figured it was going to tell me that I talked like I was from Midland, Texas. Imagine my surprise when I found that I talk like those damn Yankees from north of the Mason-Dixon line!

I Am Angry

. . . that I have to spend days trying to satisfy Big Brother's intrusive questions into my personal life, where I work, how much I am paid, what I spend my money on, whether I am married or not, how many others depend upon me for financial support, where I bank, which charities I support and how much do I give, how I choose to invest, where I choose to invest, whether I am attempting to start a small business, and so on.

And if I calculate incorrectly, I can be subjected to the further indignity of an even more intrusive audit, fined and even imprisoned.

Yes, I am doing my taxes. How dare "they" ask these questions. What business is it of anyone but me and mine? How did we get here?

When our elected servants die, may they appear before the Founding Fathers who sit in judgement as to their fate.

Hmmm . . . maybe I should start a new religion. I'm pretty sure there's a tax break for that.

A Little Cool

So there I am, waiting for the Bartlett GOP meeting to start and talking to a woman I had just met.

No one told me it was the featured speaker, Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Janice Holder.

What's fun about going to political events is that you never know who you'll be sitting next to.

But she wouldn't give me a hint about whether a Tennessee income tax was unconstitutional or not. Bummer.

Global Warming My ASS!

Now I realize that people put up with this kind of crap all the time, but those people are generally damn Yankees that choose to live where it is so cold that penguins scrounge for fire wood.

Me? I'm a transplanted Texan. I wear flannel shirts in August under my sports jacket. I'm just not made for cold. I don't reckon it's natural. Man is made to sweat, not shiver.

Tuesday morning I opened my eyes and thought to myself, "It's the middle of February. That cold stuff should be gone and I won't have to see it again until next year."

Then I got up, looked out the window and saw snow flurries. I swear I heard God laughing.

This morning I woke up to sixteen degrees and the lake looks like this:

Yeah, that's ice. On a lake. In Memphis. Way below the Mason-Dixon line.

This just ain't right.

Global warming my ass.

Auction Booty

We're kinda new to the fundraising scene, so for any neophytes out there let me give a word of warning.

At an event like a Lincoln Day Dinner, there's always a silent auction which has all kinds of stuff donated to help raise money for the party. Tonight there was everything from gift certificates for Chick-fil-A to crystal bowls with pewter elephant heads for feet (if you can picture that).

I figured I'd get things going by putting some starter bids on a few items. After all, there were 650+ rich Republicans in the room and surely someone would put down a Jackson for a $40 bottle of wine!

Uh, maybe not. We walked out with an armful of stuff and a much lighter wallet. But the wine alone was worth more than we spent, so we did good . . . right?

Jeesh, when we bid I hoped that we would walk out with one item. Instead we took home five, losing only one item (I found the guy paying for it — a bottle of wine from Spain — and thanked him for outbidding me).

Now why don't my bids at the NRA banquet win? I'd love to bring home a $200 gun for forty bucks. But noooooo, on really cool stuff like guns I get outbid!

Me and JC Watts

AlphaWife and I went to the 32nd annual Shelby County Lincoln Day Gala, and a gala it was. We heard Congressman Marsha Blackburn speak; once again she proved why she is one of the fastest rising stars in the Republican Party today.

But JC Watts, Jr. was the featured speaker, and he was the star tonight. Some presidential candidate should fill out his ticket with this man; eloquent, grounded, true Republican values.

It was an honor to shake this man's hand.

Life Lesson

If you are driving to work and realize that your car is hydroplaning, and then this thought almost idly floats across your consciousness:

Ya know, I should probably open my eyes right about now.

then you are probably still too sick to be driving.

Not that that happened to me. I'm just saying.

A Different World

Me: I'm going to see JC Watts next February. Can't wait. I got the email notification and went out that day to buy the tickets.

AlphaFriend: Uh . . . yeah . . . I've got tickets to My Little Pony, World's Biggest Tea Party. Live! Did I mention "Live"?

Talk about living in different worlds.

Got George's Christmas Card

I guess the person maintaining the Christmas list didn't check to see that I didn't give any money to the Republican party this year.

Check Choices

So I'm sitting at home, taking a vacation day to catch up on chores before Thanksgiving (like paying bills) and as I'm shredding four boxes of checks because they have our old address on them, it occurs to me that I need to order some decent ones before too much longer.

Well, first it occurs to me how great my Ativa X1800 shredder is (as it chews through a book of duplicate checks that I rip into just three sets to feed in), but I've blogged about my shredder before.

I loved my old checks — they even had my website and tagline on them:

But after the GOP Senate ruled like Democrats for six years instead of like their conservative colleagues in the House, I refuse to get something that labels me "Republican" again.

The site I use doesn't have any Neolibertarian checks (imagine my surprise), but they have something very close:

I can't think of anything more Libertarian, neo or otherwise, than the words and images of our founding fathers.

But then I came across these, and I must admit, it's just kind of hard for the chauvinist in me to resist:

Not a Morning Person

As I'm standing in the bathroom this morning with a razor in one hand and an open toothpaste tube in the other, trying to figure out where to put the toothpaste, I realized that even though they don't know it there is someone out there lying on an operating table who should be really happy that I'm not a heart surgeon. (It has been my experience that most surgeries seem to take place at obscene hours of the morning.)

As I was leaving the bathroom I took a glance at the atomic wall clock and realized that I really should take the time to set the clock on my nightstand for standard (not daylight savings) time. (I didn't.) It was far too early to get up and go to work.

As I'm parked on the street waiting for the doors to open at 6 am, I discover that I can get email fairly easy if I hold my laptop up above the dashboard. It seems to boost the wireless connection.

Finally, I discover that listening to Rammstein at full volume in the comfort of my car is a fine way to start work in the morning.

Here's a Hint

If you enter someone's house to do work, take a few seconds to introduce yourself and your crew. Take the time to talk to the homeowner for a minute.

This person is letting you into his/her home, probably the biggest invest of their lives outside of their children. They want to know that you are trustworthy and that you are not a drooling idiot.

In the past week I've had three crews in my house for several hours(today's crew is here to fix something that the first crew screwed up). Seemingly sullen youths who come in, mumble to each other and try their best to ignore that I even exist. This does not make me feel real comfortable and I certainly won't be having them back when I need more work done.

And for heaven's sake, you're at work. Stay off the damn cell phone and pay attention to what you're doing!

Of Patriots and Advertising

Congratulations to Angelo Cobrasci and all of the volunteers that put together the first Patriot's Day Gala.

They sold out of seats and scored Mark White for the keynote speaker. It was a very entertaining evening (but I'm waiting to hear if any of my bids won in the silent auction — we had to leave a little early).

In an effort to support the Coalition of Conservative Republicans (a fine organization), I purchased a quarter page ad in the program and it couldn't have turned out better:

Thanks to Paul for doing the art and graphics work on the ad.

Call Me Dogface

You scored as United States.

Your army is the American army. You want your home front to support the G.I.'s in their pursuit to liberate world from more or less evil tyrants.

United States		81%
Poland		81%
Italy		75%
British and the Commonwealth		69%
France, Free French and the Resistance		56%
Finland		50%
Germany		38%
Japan		38%
Soviet Union		25%

In which World War II army you should have fought?
created with QuizFarm.com

HT to Stormy Dragon, who seems to be 6% less French than I am.

Hummingbird Pics

Caught this little guy this morning just as it was starting to rain:

Of Grandchildren and Slave Labor

I haven't posted for the past six days because AlphaSon and family came for a visit.

That translates to six days in a house with a four-year-old and an almost-toddler.

It was great.

Not only did I get to relive the days of yore, I rediscovered some things:

1. Living with a four-year-old is 16x7x365 chaos. Sometimes more.
2. The reason that God doesn't let us have grandchildren first is that raising children is for the young. The only time, I think, that youth isn't wasted on the young because they need the boundless energy that only youth can provide.
3. Young children are both a trial and a joy.
4. Older children make great slave labor.

I will be finding bits of Playdough on the floors and individual Cheerios in the carpet and furniture for weeks, but it was worth it. And not only for the time spent with the grandkids; I took full advantage of AlphaSon's presence to get some things done (hence, item four in the list above). Boxes moved, speakers installed, and this:

This was a Pergola-in-a-box, some assembly required. OK, a lot of assembly required. But everything was going well until towards the end of the project when the instructions read: "It is recommended that six people perform this step."

That would be the step where you lift the entire trellis onto the four corner posts and secure it.

While I was still grappling with how the two of us were going to accomplish that task, AlphaSon suggested that we just put together the outer frame and lift it up, something the two of us could probably do. The point here is that he actually thought of a way to solve the problem before I did, something that does not happen often (as I am older and much, much wiser) and gives a dad much pride. (Of course, I improved on the suggestion and we built the frame on top of the posts, but it was his suggestion that set off the chain of thought and he insisted that I record that fact on my blog.)

Yes, children are a trial. But in the end, I think they are worth it. If not for the pride, then at least for the slave labor.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all dads out there, but especially to this one:

May you be as blessed as I am, with the opportunity to spend this day with your father.

Technorati Tags: Fathers Day.

Lakeside Platform

Building the platform for the little bench pictured below took me somewhere in the neighborhood of 14 hours spread over five days (the pile of dirt behind the wall is bigger than it looks in the pic) and cost about $100, plus the iron bench and end table (which was on a half-price sale). Yet more evidence of why I am a project manager and not a construction worker!

Because it took me three days longer than I expected, I missed the Bartlett GOP meeting and the Mainstreet Journal political mixer. Mick has pictures from the mixer over at MSJ and Mike Hollihan has a killer review of his experience. I'm kicking myself for not making it.

But now we have a place to sit beside the lake and watch the ducks — and I think it'll last forever.

Most importantly, it's time to get back to politics. Hmmm, I wonder if I can pick up a wireless signal down there . . .

Mommy Raised a Jew

Who knew?

My parents are Methodist but I was pretty much raised non-denominational Protestant. I thought that I tended towards the neotheist end of the religious spectrum, in spite of the dangers traditional Christians fear.

And yet, when I took the Belief-O-Matic quiz at Beliefnet, I find that I belong in a different category altogether. Anybody got a Hebrew for Dummies book?

My results:

1. Reform Judaism (100%) 2. Sikhism (94%) 3. Bahá'í Faith (90%) 4. Orthodox Judaism (85%) 5. Islam (78%) 6. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (76%) 7. Liberal Quakers (74%) 8. Unitarian Universalism (69%) 9. Neo-Pagan (64%) 10. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (60%) 11. New Thought (57%) 12. New Age (56%) 13. Mahayana Buddhism (55%) 14. Jainism (54%) 15. Scientology (52%) 16. Hinduism (49%) 17. Taoism (45%) 18. Eastern Orthodox (45%) 19. Roman Catholic (45%) 20. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (43%) 21. Theravada Buddhism (42%) 22. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (42%) 23. Orthodox Quaker (42%) 24. Secular Humanism (37%) 25. Jehovah's Witness (36%) 26. Seventh Day Adventist (34%) 27. Nontheist (26%)

Also, according to Beliefnet's What's Your Spiritual Type quiz, I am an Old-fashioned Seeker — "Happy with my religion but searching for the right expression of it."

Good. One should never stop seeking truth. That search led me away from liberalism!

My Last Post?

This has been an incredible weekend, with the kind of weather that we in Memphis are rarely blessed with. We purchased a new umbrella for the patio furniture and a Weber grill. AlphaWife cooked a fantastic meal and we ate outside, sipping wine and watching as God put on a light show.

After the thunder started, AlphaWife retreated inside as I continued to sit, contemplating the nature of God and how fabulously lucky I have been in this life. (I love thunderstorms.) 

Then the sirens started up and a look at the weather channel showed heavy thunderstorms moving through the area with possible tornadoes. So I put away the wine (Californian, not French) and poured a couple of fingers of scotch (Glenfiddich -- single malt but not overwhelmingly expensive) and am sitting out back to see what comes (rather than huddling in the tub in an interior bathroom).

Every once in a while God makes it abundantly clear that He can take away everything that he has given. As I sit watching for a tornado, hail begins bouncing off the concrete with enough force to bounce up and hit me as I sit under the covered section of my patio and the sirens continue to wail.

But if I am to go down, a good way to go will be with my computer handy and a glass of single malt in hand.

Update: The sirens have gone silent, the hail has stopped and our house has seemingly escaped without harm (must check roof tomorrow -- that was some big hail). But for now, our good fortune continues.

AlphaPatriot Revealed

This picture was taken during the time that Senator Frist graciously granted the bloggers covering the SRLC some interview time.

My writeup of the interview is here.

Technorati Tags: AlphaPatriot, Bill Frist, Senator Frist.

Snow: Beautiful or Obscene

It is said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

This is what we are faced with this Friday afternoon as schools close and businesses allow employees to go home early:

Mike Hollihan says "Whee, it's snowing now, ahead of schedule!" Ah well, we all know Mike is only half baked.

On the other side of the state (and this is a long state), Brian reports that the Knox County Lincoln Day Dinner was cancelled due to the possibility of inclement weather. (Rob thinks this will guarantee that snow won't appear. I think he's wrong.)

Just a Bump in the Beltway says:

I like being snowed in. There's something cozy about knowing that I really can't do anything but stay home and drink cocoa.

But she's a liberal so you have to take that into account when listening to her.

After driving for an hour and a half in slush (the usual drive is 20 minutes), AlphaWife comes home to this view:

"Isn't it beautiful!" she exclaims. (AlphaWife is definitely not a liberal, so I have no explaination for her bit of insanity.)

In my opinion, no, no, no, a thousand times no! I am from Texas. And not that weird part of Texas that's in the panhandle which is flat and featureless, frozen in the winter and on the doorstep of Hell in the summer.

No, I am from the pretty part of Texas. Where the Hill Country is just a stones throw away. Where camping in the piney forests was common. Swimming in San Marcos, hiking in the desert, tubing on the Brazos. I grew up with the beach a tantalizing few hours away to the south.

No, snow is unnatural. It shrouds the landscape under a sterile blanket of frozen water. Water that should be liquid to be enjoyed. It covers beautiful green grass and coops up people and animals alike. And snow does this to the roads:

It's slushy and slippery and messy and dangerous.

Still, even I will admit that AlphaHouse is pretty in the snow.

On the other hand, this really screws up my plans for the weekend.

Technorati Tags: Snow, Memphis.

Just Registered

For the 2006 Southern Republican Leadership Conference. Early registration has been extended through 15 February.

"Southern" is somewhat of a misnomer, though, because the Midwestern region decided to join us. So 13 Midwest states will be represented in addition to the 13 Southern states. And these are some red, red states!

There are currently 68 confirmed speakers so if you can't find something interesting to go to during the breakout sessions then you just aren't political. We're talking heavyweights, like:

Bill Frist, M.D. Lamar Alexander Marsha Blackburn Arnold Schwarzenegger Mike Huckabee

Rudy Guiliani Newt Gingrich Karl Rove Fred Thompson J.C. Watts

At 150 bucks this is a real bargain. My problem is that it won't last long enough and that I won't be able to hear enough. Ah well, go register and I'll see you there. (If they print my name tag the way that I registered, it will say AlphaPatriot.com right below my name so look for me there! We can share notes between sessions.)

Technorati Tags: Republican, Southern Republican Leadership Conference.

Happiness Is . . .

. . . getting high-speed internet installed! I was without connectivity at the new house for a week due to an Earthlink misunderstanding. It was brutal.

But everything's all right now and as soon as I get some more of those damn boxes unpacked and put away I'll resume normal activities. Like a certain blogging obsession . . .

AlphaLibrarian

I don't know what erudite is, but I am one according to another of those silly internet quizes:

The Librarian
You scored 65 erudition!

Congratulations! You're well above average when it comes to your knowledge of English grammar, history, and literature. You may have missed a few questions, but if you keep your studies up and stay away from genre fiction, we'll have you ready for Stanford in no time! Who knows, we just might be reading your columns in Talk of the Town a few years from now.

"Well above average", eh? This would amaze any and all of my English teachers.

Take The Are You Truly Erudite? Test to find out how you would score. Hint: it's a lot harder than you'd think.

HT to Dragon Lady, who did even better than I did.

Move Complete

AlphaWife and I have just completed moving. Although our new home is only a little over six miles away from the old domicile, it was a time-consuming, unbelievably stressful, and incredibly expensive experience. Our new home has piles of boxes in every room save one (a spare bedroom upstairs) and I am still without a high speed internet connection (curses!).

Things are slowly coming together and the cats are slowly acclimating (some slower than others). Hopefully life will return to some semblance of normalcy soon. In the meantime we have tables without tops, a garage in which only one car will fit, and no one knows where the cat toys are.

House Purchase

The frantic search for a new home has been completed as negotiations were finalized yesterday. The new AlphaHouse is further east and has this fantastic view from the rear of the lot:

Posting has been light and will possibly be impacted in the coming three weeks as we are closing in a mere 17 days and must finish packing as well.

Ah well, at least I had a good real estate agent:

Just kidding. I used John Green and my agent is great.

Perhaps I'll host a bloggers bash this summer . . .

Technorati Tags: Personal.

Scary Housing Problems

Some time back I related that AlphaWife and I were preparing our house so we could move. In fact, after a losing her job to a round of downsizing I encouraged AlphaWife to stay home and fix things up rather than seeking employment. It was tough financially but worth it as she did a bang up job.

So good, in fact, that we sold our house without it ever being on the market!

A neighbor knew that we wanted to move, his daughter (and husband) came and looked, and a deal was banged out in short order. We went to Texas for Christmas and learned that the sale had to be completed before we got back. Thanks to FedEx the papers were overnighted for our signatures and then returned, and so we are now homeless. (Actually we can stay until the end of February but we don't actually own a home any more.)

It is my belief that each of us has a special power. For instance, mine concerns cars. I drive like an absolute maniac. I once had a sales guy from Houston (a town that prides itself on aggressive driving) who had to pry his fingers from my dashboard after a ride in my car as he grudgingly admitted that yes, I drive aggressively. I have had people take one ride with me and refuse to ever ride with me again. I have rocketed past cops doing paperwork on the side of the road so fast that it actually rocked their patrol car, yet they did not pursue and give me a ticket. I have rolled a car and walked away unscathed.

I'm just lucky that way [sound of knuckles knocking on a wooden surface].

We have owned two homes and each time AlphaWife has worked magic to sell it quickly and painlessly. I told her that I believe that she is a house genie.

On second thought, perhaps my luck is finding AlphaWife.

All this is to say that posting has been light and probably will remain so as we frantically search for the next great place to live. I attended a rather good debate between candidates for county commissioner tonight (after looking at a house after work) but won't be posting anything until tomorrow because I have to do price comparisons.

Blech, I hate it when real life interferes with my hobby.

Technorati Tags: Personal.