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Showing posts from February, 2011

The Joys of Camping

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Yep, with the weather getting warmer and Spring on the way, my thoughts have, once again, turned to those forlorn memories of camping in the Olympic mountains. And then I shutter, and realize how great life is now. I suppose I once enjoyed camping because it was all I knew. Sure, I trekked into Seattle once in awhile to rendezvous with a girlfriend or visit Seattle Center, but most of my earlier family memories revolve around camping at some lake, sleeping in a tent, or under the stars. Oh, those bygone days of waking up in a freezing wet sleeping bag and running barefoot through muddy rocky dirt to find an appropriate bush to seek relief from my over-stressed bladder. Good times. The mornings were often filled with discoveries of new life forms cohabitating with me in my sleeping bag, melted sneakers found too close to the fire pit, and the mushy feeling between my toes derived from stepping on marshmallows dropped the night before. Yes, I remember days spent wearing nothing but

Excursion

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First off, let me apologize for my recent absence in the blogosphere. We took a short vacation this weekend and went south of the border. No, we did not splurge, and eat dinner at our local Taco Bell, We drove to South Florida to attend the wedding of a relative. I must give proper thanks to my cousin for inviting us to this wonderful wedding. We had a great time celebrating the union of two great people, danced like we were young again (I'm tellin' ya, we were "crunk" dancing and everything) and learned much about our extended families, and ourselves. I will not post pictures of the wedding as I have not asked permission to do so, but suffice it to say, I was a truly fabulous wedding. My personal thanks go out to the Bride's family for doing such a great job with the preparations. I would like to report that I found, what might arguably be, the best Cuban sandwich in Miami. One can find many reviews for this place on the web, but I will add my own. Our mid-

Prime Inhabs: Part Two

I've post the rest of the story "Prime Inhabitants" which is the first story I ever wrote (in full) back in the seventh grade, and, serves as the base for which all my other writing has come from. You might notice that all the female names in the story start with the letter "E" and the male names start with the letter "A." Not sure why I did that but I'm sure that, to my seventh-grade mind, the idea seemed pretty unique to me at the time. Prime Inhabitants, Part II Evek awoke with a sharp pain in her neck and ringing in her ears. Beyond the ringing, silence surrounded her. She had no idea how long she was unconscious or whether she was able to move, and was afraid to try. Sitting there, dead still, she took some deep breaths. Dull throbbing pain from the movement, that was good, at least she had feeling in her body. The shock foam had dissipated, although Evek could see almost nothing through the film it had left on her helmet faceplate. “Ada

From the Cellar

Here it is, the very first thing I had ever written that was available for reading by the rest of the world! It was a science fiction piece that garnished me a mediocre grade. Yes, you will see that I was not very imaginative with the names, but the theme of the story was very Heinlein-like or Jules Verne-like. I guess they had more influence on me than I ever thought before. I'm posting this exactly as pulled from my files without changing grammar, spelling, or other mistakes. As I read this, it simply amazes me how much my writing has changed over the years-and how much it hasn't changed. This is part one. I will post part two in a couple days. Please be sure to leave comments after reading. PRIME INHABITANTS  A rise in temperature activated the final landing sequence as the small craft skipped across the thick atmosphere – white-hot from deceleration. A rise in outside pressure deployed aero brakes with a violent jolt, slowing the descent, and increasing the angular tra

The Tax Man Cometh

Ouch, I'm feelin' the burn! It seems that there has been a slight increase in Federal Income Tax Withholding for 2011. Now, I try to stay out of the political arena, but when one takes money from me, I take notice. I read many articles explaining this inherent increase and found that our federal income tax system has apparently remained unchanged for the new year. But, on December 31st, the "Making Work Pay" program ended, bringing our federal income tax liability back to (where it was before?) This increase is partially offset by a decrease in Social Security taxes of two percent. Of course, that's only if you are currently paying these taxes-not collecting them. Am I angry? Hell yes! It seems our current system is set up  to overtax those in the middle class, coddle those who cannot/will not work as productive members of society, and ignore those who represent wealth in our nation. We have become a society of entitlement where services are freely offer