I’m no expert, and I’m not really following the situation. To me Iraq and Iran are two basically identical countries right next to each other.

I remember when Saddam Husseins Iraq invaded Kuwait, and George Bush Sr sent General Schwartzkopff to liberate Kuwait from Iraq. I saw on TV, when it was pretty much over, the General said, pointing over the desert, Bagdad’s 200 miles thataway, with nothing between us and them. We could take Bagdad while we’re here.

George Sr said “No, the mission was free Kuwait, not invade Iraq. Mission accomplished, come home.” Which I think was the correct thing to do.

Saddam Hussein, said “good, I woulda kicked your ass” which isn’t true, and he knew it, but was just saving face in front of his people.

Skip Bill Clinton and enter George Bush Jr. I personally, had a 401K retirement plan that was getting ready to hit $100,000 when George Jr got elected. It dropped back down to $30,000. The US economy crashed.

I think George Jr said to somebody, “Make something happen, so that the people blame that for the crash instead of me.”

Then 9/11 happened.

I don’t think George Jr knew the specifics, but I suspect 9/11 happened because of George Jr’s request. And then they couldn’t find Osama Bin Laden. Why? Every news agency that wanted to interview him, interviewed him. I know somobody here that say they met him twice. Why couldn’t the US find him? Because he was hiding in the White House basement, that’s why.

Meanwhile, George Jr is upset that Saddam is making fun of his daddy. Later on he decides to do something about it. “Intellegence” comes up that Iraq is producing Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs). He tells Saddam to disarm or be invaded. Inspectors go in and find nothing. Every day on CNN, there’s videos of Iraq destroying missiles. Looked to me like they were complying as best they could.

But the US went in there anyway, never found any evidence of WMDs, and in the end Saddam Hussein was killed. I don’t have anything good to say about Saddam Hussein, but I can see why the US is so untrusted there. I will say this, If Saddam was never killed, ISIS would have never happened.

To me it doesn’t make sense, the US goes and kills their leaders, (crappy leaders I admit). Leaving kindling for chaos. (I won’t mention Mohamar Quadiffi.) Then those places go to hell, and it doesn’t seem to benifit the USA, or anybody else, at all.

The other day, a US drone killed this Iranian general. I don’t know the circumstances. But I imagine, what if the roles were reversed? Some foriegn government kills a US politician or Pentagon official remotely. What would that be like? But as ex-military, I back up my leaders, knowing I don’t have all the information.

I remember kindergarden, big kids picking on me, thinking “I can’t wait till I grow up, and we’re all adults, all this crap will end, Well, it’s never ended. The wars and the stories in the news we have today are exactly the same as kindergardners squabbling in the playground.

I think people are fundamentally the same, but we do have differences that we cannot recognize in each other. When I was a teeny tiny little kid, I figured out that cats were female, and dogs were male, Horses were female, and cows were male. Even after I grew older and became educated on the subject, and know that it isn’t true, I can’t un-do the basic idea in my mind. I think this is an example of the differences we can’t understand in other cultures. Different is not necessarily evil. The people we see as bad guys for what we think are legitimate reasons see us as bad guys for what they think are legitimate reasons too. And probably, in reality, none of our reasons are legitimate.

This post is going on too long, I started it yesterday, and don’t think I’ll finish it today, so I’m just going to post it. But know that I don’t trust the historians version of history, and I don’t trust politics.

Have a great day!

I guess it was delayed as long as possible, which, upon examination and reflection, I’m not sure is a good thing or a bad thing, but the years first Monday is today. The above picture depicts my emotional response to that.

The first work week of 2020, while it was only two days long, was a long and brutal week. This-un should be a whopper!

The weekend was acceptable. Made it to the beach yesterday. Friday we had somee friends over for a cookout.. The thought occured to me that we should always do something Friday night, as it makes the weekend seem longer.

Its breezy and cool, wondering about the rain part though. I guess today is a van day, not a scooter day. The van needs an oil change and I’ve been wondering why I’m not getting the customary email fromthe garage reminding me of the fact.

Anyway, I caan tell I’m boring you, so I’ll shut up.

Have a good first Monday of 2020!

Most of Y’all know I don’t drink and am in A.A.

Yesterday I celebrated 29 years. At the meeting, there were people visiting from Chesapeake, Virginia. Chesapeake is where I moved here from, and the Tidewater area is where I first got sober. They knew a lot of the same people I knew. It was fantastic beyond belief for me.

Friday! Yeay! It was a long, hard week!

2020 is very pleasing to type, isn’t it?

First day of the 2020 workyear today, I’m back on my routine. Got up at 4:45, walked the dogs. Sitting out back with the coffee and the post posting.

Not sure if I’d call it a good vacation or not, only made it to the beach three times, no diving. I gotta go diving, I didn’t dive much in 2019.

Yesterday I pressure washed the back porch. There’s this grey concrete dust stuck all over the place. It didn’t come out well, once it got wet, I couldn’t see the dust, and when it dried, I could see pressure washer marks on the deck. It’s better than it was, knocked all the big chunks off…

Not much to post about today, its Thursday, and I think it’s good to have a short week to start off the new year.

Happy 2020 and have a great year!

Last day of the year, last date in the decade. But it’s not the last day of the week, and I have to go to work Thursday.

I’m out on the back porch, Wife’s still sleeping, It’s cloudy and the tempurature reminds me of the first cool day near the end of summer in high school. You know, later in the morning, that it’s going to get hot, but you can feel a twinge of coolness in the morning. And there’s a quality of stillness.

2020 Tomorrow. I remember Y2K. Computers are going to blow up! Planes are going to drop out of the sky! I knew nothing would happen.

I’m rambling, just started the second cuppa coffee. Have a good 2020 and beyond!

Goodbye 2019! Hello 2020!

In 2020 I’ll turn 60. It seems like I just turned 40 a few weeks ago. When I turned 40, I figured my life was about half over. Let me tell you, that second half goes by a lot quicker than the first half.

It was just the other day when I turned 50, in Tuluum, Mexico

My father died at 79, my grandfather died at 75. I figure 60 is the beginning of my last two decades. If I’m lucky.

But back to the title of this post, I decided that 50 is the best age.

When I was 50, I felt as strong, physically, as I always did, plus, I have a broad life’s experienes. Now, I notice weakening of the body. It was hard carrying those 80 pound bags of concrete, and more than one of the 94 pound bags of cement pushed me to the limit. And I notice that shovelling and pickaxe-ing gets me winded pretty quick. (I’ve been trying to remove the lake of cement left by the construction team.)

This isn’t intended to be a morbid post, I’m just telling you that so far, I think 50 is the best age. I don’t want to die, but I’m not afraid to go. I just hope it’s quick, no painful, drawn-out, senile, brain-dead lingering burden of an illness for me.

But I sure am going to miss my wife, more than anything.

My friend, since grade school, turned 60 a few days ago. I called him on the phone and he said “I made it! I made it to 60!” That’s a better attitude than I had, and it gave me a new perspective.

I rekkon these last 20 are going to go fast, and I better enjoy them.

Found an interesting article HERE, Betelgeuse is dimmer than scheduled as per its particular pattern of brightness variation.

Orion, where Betelgeuse is found, is a very common constellation. It has two triangles, one perfect and one imperfect. Betelgeuse is the red looking star in the perfect triangle. When I was a kid, I decided I needed a lucky star, and picked that red one because I was sure I could find it again.

The article says it may go nova, or has gone nova already. Going Nova means blow up. Explode.

Just my luck, I finally get a lucky star and God blows it up. It would be cool to see though. It possibly would be brighter than our sun for weeks or months.

Have a great weekend!

Christmas went better than expected. Got it out of the way.

Really got nothing planned for the rest of the year.

I haven’t taken a single photo since I don’t know when. Let me check.

This is the last picture I took, December 20th

This is the excess electrical materials the electrician bought. The box is all full of light switches and plug-in things. I was able to return it all for over $400. Thank you Cox Lumber! In contrast, the plumber had very little excess material left over. I have very few leftover cement blocks, the electrician was very wasteful, and didn’t submit the paperwork for the added breaker panel that’s holding the whole project back. Not impressed with the electrician. But hey, I fuckup often too, so I’m letting it slide.

Today, I don’t really have plans. The wife is getting a new office at work and wants me to go help her move her computer.

That’s about it. I have aleftover bag of cement, and I’m thinking about expanding my motorcycle ramp in the carpark. Maybe, maybe not. probably not today.

Have a great day!

I feel a lot better this morning than yesterday morning. Better attitude. I talked to the wife, and we’ve been on the same page.

There’s a strong wind from the north, quite cool.

Last night we went and saw Jumanji 3. It was quite good. I think they’ll be another movie made in the future.

Apologies about my rant yesterday. Have a great day!

I didn’t plan on writing a poem when I sat down to post my post, but here goes:

Every single damn year, 
I feel the same fear.
It hurts in my head
from ear through to ear.
It's dumb, you agree,
but it's important to me.
That I buy you more shit,
than you bought for me.

Worry fills my head
No joy, only dread.
I transmit bad vibes
like angry bee hives.
Everyone can tell
that I don't feel well
Dogs and cats they all run,
they sense I'm no fun.


Friends and family will ask,
"What did you get?"
Your answer must not
fill me with regret.
So I must buy still more stuff,
to feel I've given enough.
To get you more shit,
than you got for me.

The morning will come,
I'll feel very dumb.
You will be sad,
I'll feel so bad.
whether or not
I got more shit for you,
than you got for me.

The wife and I agreed, months ago, this was going to be a no-gift Christmas. What if I followed through and she didn’t? What if we wake up on the morning and I have to open gifts while she has none to open?

I fukken hate this shit. I hate the feeling in general this time of year. I hate the pressure of trying to find appropriate gifts. I hate acting like I like some piece of junk that I don’t need or want, and being stuck with it forever. I hate the self-doubt of getting you something you don’t like. I hate that I’ll feel bad if I feel like I didn’t get you enough, and I hate the worry that you’ll feel bad if I got you more than you got me. I find very little good in this time of year. There’s no winning.

And usually, I never feel like I’ve gotten enough. Usually I run out of time. No matter how much I buy, the fear never goes away.

Believe me whan I say, I have everything I want. I have no desires that can be put in a box. Believe me when I say, someone asks me what I want, I draw a blank. I honestly can’t think of anything. And I can’t think of anything to get you either.

Pretty much up till now, this year, I’ve been focused on the building project, and woke up thinking of this this morning.

Get me through this.