ARRRRRGH!!!!!

OK. I am not an old man, I am not necessarily a young man, but I am NOT an old man. 38 is pretty d@^^n young if you ask me.

So I was walking around the Sooper Dooper got everything store, you know the blue one, and not the light (does that narrow it down enough for ya?).

I was looking for canned tuna. Pretty easy, huh? Well think again, ten minutes into walking aisle by aisle looking for Tuna, I realized that I had yet to see a blue-mart employee. As a child, I can remember not being able to find something in a store, and within an aisle or two, there was someone stocking, or cleaning, or something. Now here is the kicker, that employee would have actually known where the tuna was!! Now I understand that when you have 55 acres under roof, it can take a few people to cover all of the bases, but come on, no one on 12 aisles??

So I am walking around this forest of food products that I did not need, looking as lost as the next person was feeling I am sure, I was gone so long, my wife sent my son out on recon to see if he could find me. Finally, I notice a sign that is MAYBE the size of an index card with the words “CANNED MEATS” on it. Who would have thought that you would find tuna in the canned meats aisle? Out of the 55 acres of covered warehouse that they call a super center, they had a 5 foot section on one aisle dedicated to Canned Meats.

My wife just read this over my shoulder, and pointed out that any woman who reads this is going to say that I should go to the store more often. Well, I am man enough to admit to that being part of the problem, but you cannot tell me that women never walk into a store and say “I know it should be here somewhere, where did I see that stocker again?” I know women are a better species than men, but that much better they ain’t.

This is just another example of the fleecing, or the breakdown, or whatever you want to call it, of America. As my profile says I live in small town Texas. I live in a town of 3500 people. I have lived here since I was 5, save 12 years of early adulthood, so basically for my entire memorable life. I can remember thinking for most of my childhood that I could not wait to get out of this Podunk little town. Soon after getting out, I realized how much better small town life was, and therefore, spent 12 years away from here, trying to figure out a way to get back. I did finally succeed. Life in a small town is completely different than in the city. When I walk down the street, or go to the store, or whatever, I am guaranteed to see someone that I know. I lived in Georgetown for several years, and I could run errands for several hours to this store and that, and not see anyone that I knew. I am an intensely private person, but I can tell you, that it is nice to go to town and be able to talk to people that I actually know and who know me, not just people that see each other at the little league fields.

The importance of community is lost in America! My parents are still friends with people whom they lived next to, in a neighborhood in Dallas, 50 years ago. I have no idea who any of the people were, that I lived next to in any of the incalculable apartments, rent houses, and houses that I have lived in during my adult life.

The federal government is making the mistake of trying to be our neighbor, and it is time that we stood up and told them that our neighborhood is full. There was a time when people had trouble, they would cry on their neighbors shoulder, and their neighbor would honestly listen and do what they could to help. Now most people don’t even know who lives next to them much less what kind of trouble they are in.

I saw a news report on the Houston news awhile back about a man who killed his teenage daughter for something. I am pretty sure that she was pregnant, and her father believed that to be a disgrace to his family (I agree, but that does not give him the right to kill her.) The reporter interviewed his “neighbors” and you could tell that they really had no idea who this man was. They new of him, but you could tell they were not a close knit community.

I guess my mother-in-law is right. Church is the only place that you can get that in this day and age.

By the way, I did find the blue-mart employees; they were all sitting on the curb farthest from the store talking about something far more important than their jobs, I am sure.

Until the next time, I wish only the truest love and the happiest days upon you and yours.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Well, technically, I am not 40, nor am I a student, but I will be both soon enough.

I am 38 years old and looking at my life(mid-life crisis I guess). I look back and I do not see anything that I have finished! I flunked out of college the first time, with a whopping .7 GPA(thank goodness for band!), I was kicked out of the army for being too fat, and I was "fired" from my first job after the army. Also, my first marriage ended after ten years(second one is going great though.)

Now, all that being said, I am a productive member of society, I am not a dead beat Dad, and I have a job. Actually I am the Assistant Plant Manager. I feel that I am overworked and underpaid, but then who doesn't? I am married to a wonderful woman who takes very good care of me. We have 4 children(2 are hers, and 2 are mine) and enjoy an "above average" lifestyle.

Upon close examination, I realized that my career is going nowhere. I will be climbing neither the corporate ladder, nor the income ladder, in any significant steps. I have sat back, analyzed my life, and decided that it was time to move on to something else. Yes, this is the first time that someone did not decide for me. Now the only question is what to do? I have settled on the medical field for reasons that I am sure that I will discuss at a later date, but am having trouble deciding between Radiography(X-Ray Tech) and Nurse Anesthesistststttsss(I think that is how it is pronounced.)

Nurse Anesthesia is a much longer program, but with much better pay in the long run. It also has the drawback of not getting accepted to a school for CRNA after my RN school. But I am not sure that x-ray will hold my interest for the next 40 years, but then my wife and I can travel and take 13 week assignments in the future.

Yes I said 40 years. I have accepted the fact that the letter that tells me how much Uncle Sugar is going to pay me when I turn 67 is sent for the purpose of making me feel better about the money they are taking from me to pay for my parents Social Security.

Anyway, that is a brief introduction to me and my motivation. I will post to this blog on occasion, whenever I feel that something important; or unimportant, but deserving comment; has happened in my life or the world. This is not going to be so much a catalog of how to go back to school, but just the humble opinion of an everyday Joe. Call me a plumber I guess. I will discuss politics, religion, life, and anything else that strikes me as needing to be fixed in the world.


In short it will be the forum for my “If I were King of the world!” ideas.

Who knows, maybe some of you will agree with me. I know a lot of you will not, but that is what makes life fun, the debate.

I hope that your loves fulfill you, and that you have wonderful days until the next time!