Giving Thanks

What a great weekend. Not much to report, but it was great to relax and spend time with family and eat until I wanted to puke. Definitely have to hit the gym tomorrow. Back to the routine.

It was a pretty uneventful weekend (great for blogging right?) but it seemed really long, which is nice since these things typically go by too fast. My sister and nephew were in town for the holiday which was great, because they haven't been out east in 2 years.

Thanksgiving was wonderful. My step-mom, Nancy, is a fantastic cook and there was an unbelievable spread to feast upon. The stuffing was especially delicious and was the first dish to disappear. She really knows how to do Thanksgiving right! The table was beautifully set and the house was decorated tastefully in traditional fall garb. It definitely made it feel like fall had come, and winter was soon to follow. The day was mild but crisp... it was just a quintessential movie-like Thanksgiving day.



We had my Christina (sister), Connor (nephew), and Sean (little bro) over to our house on Wednesday night. The boys are a handful together and they probably felt a little trapped in our small house, but we made due and did some puzzles and watched The Incredibles, which was actually a cool movie. Sean made us a breakfast of pancakes (he's only 6) which were delicious, and then he helped me make an apple pie. He thought it was funny to eat the skins!



The one event that actually got us out of a house was Saturday. My Dad and Nancy treated the family to dinner and a show. We saw White Christmas at the Marquis Theater and it was quite a treat. I have never seen the movie, but I was told the live show is similar. The music was fun, and I am a sucker for the old time Christmas feel. All the men wore suits and said things like "golly" and "its a million dollar proposition!" Funny.

We spent today (Sunday) hanging out at the house, winding down. Erin has come down with a wicked cold and she was glad to have today to work through it. I had a little school work to do and pulled out the Christmas decor. Now, I am glad to sit down with one of my home brews and watch the Vikings winning (for now) at the dome.

Hope all of your holidays were happy and healthy. A few more pics on Flickr.

Financial Times Ahead

As I read in the paper about the bailout of yet another major financial institution, I start (progress) to get worried. The bailout of Citi is a signal, not that the other major bailouts were not. It makes me worried because I am not clear of the scope of this crisis. I do not know how deep the rabbit hole goes, and I do not know the consequences. But it is clear the government does. I am worried because I trust that the government would not bail out these institutions unless it was absolutely necessary.

Even Obama says it is going to get worse, and he is the ultimate political optimist. But I guess it is back to reality now that the election is over. It is my understanding, from the papers, that Obama and Bush are working on financial solutions together at this point, telling me that these bailouts and extreme government interventions are agreed upon by both parties. Scary.

The government keeps buying up the economy, and owning our futures. Is this the end of capitalism in America, or is that too dramatic? What do all of these extreme government interventions mean for the financial system? Will they help? Do you think the government will give back their stake once these institutions gain the appropriate liquidity, or is this for the long term?

I would like to know what you all think. I know my readers are a small group, but I respect your opinions. Where are we headed financially, and are these bailouts good or bad? Are we headed in the right direction financially?

I am worried...

School Help

Hey everybody! I am taking a course right now on research and design solutions and for the current assignment I need to create and distribute a survey about vacuum cleaners. If you have a couple of minutes, please fill it out. It is completely anonymous, and will help me get the data I need for this assignment.

If you wouldn’t mind passing it along to a few others as well, it would definitely help. The more results I get, the better I can analyze the data.

Thanks in advance for your help! The link is below:

Vacuum Cleaner Survey

About Beer

Larger image if you click the pic - and yes, I know how self aggrandizing my new background is. I like it anyway. I like me!

An open letter to old guys at the gym

Dear Old Men,

It is time for a change.  I would like to be able to come to the locker room without seeing one of you nude, sauntering around like a sharp dressed man.  I understand changing clothes, showering, etc. requires a certain level of nudity, but hanging out, chatting, taking cell phone calls, using the scale, and general loitering are activities that require clothing.  

If your wife calls, put on a pair of undies and call her back.

Want to weigh yourself?  Put on your favorite pair of boxers and I will gladly spot you the extra pound.  Helpful tip: If you weigh yourself with your clothes on every time, you can keep pretty good track of you fluctuations in weight.  No wrinkly coin purses please.

I appreciate your cooperation,

Locker Room User

PS: I am not a prude, but just a concerned citizen that has been exposed to more old wieners in the last month than any human should have to endure.  

Clarification

After recieving comments on my post from yesterday, I just want to clarify.  My impatience is with the media and the pudits, on either side.  I do not want to discount the gravity of an Obama presidency, and I realize the positive nature of the impact it has on black people in America.  Now they can literally tell their children, "You can be anything you want, even president" and mean it.  That is huge, and stands in sharp contrast to the negative messages that are displayed to and about black people daily.  That is definitely a positive thing.

The media is giving itself a collective pat on the back, and gloating all the way.  It is silly and worthless, and annoys me.  Piggy-backing all the way on Obama's victory in a blind grab at credit and power does not benefit anyone.  This media is an outlet of partisanship, and goes against every journalistic code.  

Joe, I agree that Obama has the ability to be great, but it will be a struggle not to let us down.  The bar has been set so high by his campaign staff, that it is going to take a masterful four years to get done what everyone hopes will get done.  Actually, yesterday in the NY Times was already published comments from his staffers saying they need to draw back some high expectations and set some more realistic ones.  Absolutely neccessary, but it will make some loyal voters angry.  A lot of promises were made... big ones.  My hope is he keeps them, no matter if they are against my political beliefs or not.  Americans need to believe politicians can be honest and trustworthy again, and in this he absolutely cannot let us down.

Bottom line, on January 20th he is my president.  Regardless of politcal beliefs I will support him and my country, but also speak out when I think he is wrong.  That is the beauty of this country.

Now what?

Well, first blog back after the election. Having had time to let it sink in a little I still really don't know what an Obama victory means for America.  It does seem the rest of the world is "proud" of us though.  I guess we got that going for us.  Maybe we can get the respect as a country that we deserve, no matter who leads.

The reality is, everything is still the same for now.  Same financial crisis, same war, same country.  The rhetoric will now end and maybe we will get a glimpse at what Obama's true policies are.  A lot will become clear with his presidential appointments, which I understand are already in the process of being made.  

All we hear in the media is how proud we should be for "growing" as a nation.  How proud to have a black president, and I cannot help but remember how all of the pundits did not want this race to be about race.  We shouldn't vote for him because he is black, or shouldn't not vote for him for the same reasons.  Considering only 4% of black people voted for McCain, I would say Obama got a lot of votes for being black.  That is based on the assumption that I believe more than 4% of black people hold views different from those on the far left.  Anyway, the race that wasn't supposed to be about race was going to be about race no matter who won.  Great if he wins, racist if he doesn't.  I don't know, maybe I am just bitter and fed up with the pundits and the media garbage... I just feel nothing about it.

maybe that is the nature of politics.  Two years of build up and, NOW WHAT? Wait and see?  I guess I shall...

Go Vote

I don't care who you vote for, just vote.  It is not just your right, but your duty as an American.

May whoever wins protect America and its people... retain our integrity and strength.

Halloween Weekend

Halloween weekend was especially fun this year because Erin's parents came for a short visit and it motivated us to go out and see the sights.  Fall foliage is a little past peek, and took a hit from the snow last week, but we decided to go up to the Delaware water gap and take a short walk.  

After slowly cruising a couple trails we came to a crossroads where we had to decide whether to head back or make the commitment to go all of the way to the top (1500 ft) of the gap and loop around on a different trail for the way back.  We stood around, no one wanting to be the one to make the decision, but came to the conclusion that we didn't have anything else planned, so what the heck.  This was bold because we did not bring any lunch... or water for that matter.

It was totally worth it.  When you get to the top it is like standing on the edge of the earth.  You can see for miles and miles.  Pictures do more justice than my writing skills.

There are more pictures on Flickr.  After a much steeper climb down (glad we didn't go up that way) we headed to my Dad's house for a more traditional Halloween celebration.  You could say he enjoys this holiday.  The house was just as decorated inside as it was out, and was scary enough to make kids cry and one peed their pants (not due to scariness actually, but waited until the last minute to tell her parents it was time to go).