Tuesday, September 30, 2008

I'M NOT SICK!

One of the salespeople at the station told me that some of the older residents of Madison have been asking if I was sick. I guess they saw my weight loss and my lack of hair and made assumptions.

I'm here to assure all of you that no, I'm not sick. I don't have cancer. I am very much healthy and feeling better than I have ever felt in my adult life.

As for the bald head... I like it.. I look 10 years younger so I'm gonna keep the look for a while. Actually, I look better now than I did when I WAS 23!

So please, spread the word...

I'M NOT SICK!!!

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

One helluva Obit!

When I die, I hope I have the same sense of humor as this guy!

DOUGLAS -- A celebration of life for James William "Jim" Adams, 53, will be held at a later date.

He died Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008 at Memorial Hospital of Converse County in Douglas.

Jim, who had tired of reading obituaries noting other's courageous battles with this or that disease, wanted it known that he lost his battle. It was primarily as a result of being stubborn and not following doctor's orders or maybe for just living life a little too hard for better than five decades.

He was born June 8, 1955 in Garrison, N.D. the son of James William and Ruby Helen (Clark) Adams.

He was sadly deprived of his final wish, which was to be run over by a beer truck on the way to the liquor store to buy booze for a date. True to his personal style, he spent his final hours joking with medical personnel, cussing and begging for narcotics and bargaining with God to look over his loving dog, Biscuit, and his family.

He would like to thank all "his ladies" for putting up with him the last 30 years.

During his life, he excelled at anything he put his mind to. He loved to hear and tell jokes and spin tales of grand adventures he may or may not have had.

He is survived by five sons, Jeremiah Adams and his wife, Nicole, Mica Olivas, Wade Olivas, Brice Simpson and Cole Adams; sister, Jerri Giegerich; two ex-wives, Vickie Harrison and Marilyn Williams; four grandchildren; two nieces; and two great-nieces.

He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother-in-law.

In lieu of flowers, he asks that you make a sizeable purchase at your favorite watering hole, get rip roaring drunk and tell the stories he no longer can.

Casper Star-Tribune Online, September 15, 2008

Rest in Peace, Jim. And thanks for one final laugh.

P.S. And who says death isn't funny!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

IT'S ALL OUR FAULT!!!

For those of you numbed with all the wonderful business news as of late, this'll come as a nice little wake-up call.

IT'S ALL OUR FAULT!

The Housing crisis? The Business bail-outs? The general gloom and doom that seems to be hitting Wall Street? Our fault! High Taxes? Lower standards of living? Our fault, too!

Health Care Crisis? Credit Card Debt? Look in the mirror and you'll find the problem.

I'm serious! We are rocketing away from being the independent, self-reliant pioneers of our forefathers and becoming co-dependent crybabies. We've abandoned our sense of accountability for feel-good politics and talking heads promising "Change".

Want proof? Okay.

Housing Crisis... Sub-prime mortages. People borrowing more than they can afford because the rates were so low. What they forgot to do was look at the fact those interest rates were VARIABLE, meaning they change. So when rates changed upwards, people had to pay more, and they got in debt deeper and deeper til the banks started to foreclose.

Debt... Two words, credit cards. I used to work at Citi, so I know all about interest rates, penalties, and the like. When I got a credit card eariler this summer, you best believe I made DAMN SURE I read the fine print.

Some people figure it's free money and charge like the Light Brigade in the Crimean War. And with about the same results, too! The average American has $6000 of credit card debt. And you can forget making the Minimum Payments. That only pays for the interest and a miniscule part of the actual debt. So if you're making minimum payments, you're paying through quite a few orifices for years! But hey, it's free money!

Priorities... It's funny... When times are good, money is secondary to our desires and impulses. It is only when we find ourselves in financial straits that we really take a look at our finiancial priorities. Hell, it happened to me and it was a damn good wake-up call. But some others are oblivious to this fact and continue to spend, and charge, and blow their money on wants and not on needs (like health insurance, mortgage payments, retirement, etc.).

Then when the crap hits the fan, they cry poor and ask the taxpayers for a handout!

I realize there are some people with real problems, and this is not geared toward them. But when you are making millions of dollars a year and you're crying poor, perhaps you best re-think the need for 15 houses and 200 cars! It's called living on a budget, people. Try it sometime. You just might surprise yourself. I sure as hell did!

Health Care... People complain that our health care system is in the tubes. Despite the fact we are among the world's leaders in medical innovation. Granted, not every job provides health care. But if that's the case, shouldn't you include at least some major medical coverage in your budget or better yet, find a different job? Or perhaps you can get medical coverage, only to turn it down because you can't swing that and your Jet Ski payments. Hello? Priorities, anyone?

And speaking of which, one of the biggest health issues today is obesity. Now granted, I wasn't always the picture of health, but I'm getting in much better shape and nipping this thing in the bud before I develop real problems. How many times a week do you eat fast food? When's the last time you turned off the TV and took a walk around the block? We're due for a major health care crisis and it's our own making. Dumb! Dumb! Dumb!

These are but a few of the issues. I could go about more but the simple fact is there is no politician, government program, or politcal party that is going to solve all this crap. The solution lies within us and our resolve to improve our finances, our lives, our way of life.

THAT'S when we'll have REAL change in this country... change for the BETTER!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Things to do today...

Treadmill workout... check

Lift... will do tonight

Interview coaches... 2 down, 2 to go.

Convince Cory Heidelberger and Todd Epp to join the Libertarian Party... um.. ah... Bridget, hold my calls. This might take a while!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Infiltrate and Conquer!

Some political thoughts as I was doing my morning run...

With the struggles that the Libertarian Party has in getting its name out and getting funding, I'm thinking it's about time that the party members look at other tactics.

By this, I mean infiltrating and conquering the Republican Party.

In the late 1970s-early 80s, the Republican Party was hijacked by the so-called "Moral Majority", who wanted government to pretty much enforce their religious views onto laws and government. Kinda like Iran, without the terrorism.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't like prohibiting religion out of public discussion. But to force-feed it down our throats is just as asinine.

But what the Moral Majority did is split away from the idea that Government should stay out of people's lives. And they've been firmly entrenched in power for the past 20+ years.

Frankly, I think they've worn out their welcome.

The nice thing about the Libertarian Party is that it says government needs to stay out of people's lives as well as their pocketbooks. Heck, even Ronald Regan said the Republican Party was established in Libertarian roots.

But sadly the party has lost its way. The party of individual freedom and limited government has continued to grow during Dubya's reign. And it's driven a lot of people away.

I think the true Republicans would welcome a return to more Libertarian ideas. I doubt the Democrats would be so key on goverment getting out of our checkbooks.

But hey, a Libertarian can dream, can't he?

So my Libertarian brothers and sisters, lets raid the Republicans, inflitrate the party and TAKE IT OVER!!! The Dems and the "Moral" Majority don't stand a chance!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Two Mantras...

I have a couple of mantras that I use when working out... motivational phrases, I guess.

One is from a British movie that I'd like to see and as soon as I have some money, I'll rent it...

"Run, Fat Boy, Run!"



The other is one of our slogans at Three Eagles..

"No Excuses! No Complaints! Find a Way!"

Impressive enough, but imagine it in the voice of Louis Gossett, Jr. ala "An Officer and a Gentleman!"



Is it any wonder why I've lost over 80 pounds? LOL

Monday, September 08, 2008

The last time...

The last time I stepped on a scale was back in 1999.

George W. Bush was the governor of Texas.

Bill Clinton was President

And I weighed 250 pounds, according to my D.O.T. Physical

Fast forward a few years, I probably gained another 20-30 pounds and got up to about 270-280 pounds before I got sick and tired of being sick and tired and started working out.

This morning, I broke my 9-year scale-less streak and stepped on the scale.

This morning I weighed 196 pounds... 11 pounds more than I weighed in high school fifteen years ago.

WOW.

I'm still in shock.

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Political thoughts...

Short post today.

I consider politics and politicians like diapers... Always on your ass and full of shit!

Happy Electioneering, kiddies! Vote Libertarian!

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Mail Filters

Added another person to my e-mail filter on GMail today... basically, that means I'll never receive another e-mail from them ever again. And good riddance, too!

He knows who he is, and he knows why.

He's not worthy of anymore recognition than that.