Obama Survey

"Did you get your Obama Survey yet?" I was asked. She was holding an envelope that had come in the mail marked "Obama Agenda Survey".

"My what?" I replied.

She went right into it: "Every American has to fill one of these out or pay a $5,000. fine."

I asked "what's in it?"

"They want to know what all you have so that when they're ready for it, they can come take it."

"We must be on different mailing lists" was my only explanation. If I thought I could get away with it I would have said I was on the list of people they would give your stuff TO. But this lady (mentally) lives out where the buses don't run so I didn't antagonize her.

My wonder though is ??? Are there people really saying things like this in the Republican party? Or is this just what she took away from what she thought she heard?

I don't watch Fox news or listen to the radio nut jobs anymore, they make me embarrassed for all involved. The Right Wing "Pundits" get to distort anything, anyway they like because they are expressing their opinion. I'm all for that, but shouldn't there be a disclaimer somewhere that reminds the audience of that? I get the feeling many think they are listening to a newscast.

Children of the Recession?

'Been seeing the TV "news" programs featuring this title, and the first thing I thought of was the pitch meeting. "Let's see, what can we do? . . . done the financial crises to death. . . we need something with Innocent Children suffering. . . I've got it! Children suffering in the financial crises!"

So here they were, kids who had to be told they had to cut down from going to the mall 3 X per week. "Gonna have to wait a bit til Dad gets a new job to buy those $160 sport shoes. Some teens were even told THEY would have to get a job to buy their own toys, etc.

With rare exception, I did not hear anything that truly broke my heart, and I'm a softy when it's the real thing.

If this is sacrifice, I must have come up in the depression and didn't know it. Anybody remember the mid-to-late 60's?

I started earning my own money working after school when I was 11 (I lied and told the super market boss I was 13). 'Made a buck an hour, worked as much as 20 hours a week. Talk about wet behind the ears! I didn't have any idea what was going on... But I figured it out.

I read a great quote last week: "The easiest way to teach your children about money is don't have any".

Time Machine Trip

I enjoy fantasizing about time travel and what I would do if I could go back a mere 50 years.

This began several years ago when I ordered a medium drink at a Whataburger and was handed a 32 oz cup.
For those of you who don't understand what I'm talking about, drink sizes then:

small: 8oz
medium: 12oz
large: 16oz

As any red-blooded American knows, drink sizes now:

Small: 16oz
Medium: 32oz
Large: 46oz
super size: 54oz

So, one of the items I will put in my time machine is a Whataburger medium cup. Getting out, I will hold it up and proclaim "In the future, THIS is a medium drink!"

Another item that occurred to me last week while watching an old Humphry Bogart movie; 1 of 3 middle-class people is a millionaire!
In "The Big Sleep" Bogart was referring to his client, a rich guy as loaded; "a millionaire". As I recall, this was the standard for rich guys back 50 years ago. During the last presidential election campaign (2001-2008) candidate McCain was asked how much you would need to have to be considered rich. "5 Million?" he ventured.
Not to bum out the population of 50 years ago, I would leave out certain facts, like a new car can cost you $30 -$45,000, or a decent house will run you upwards of $250,000. Or their 19 cent gasoline (free steak knives with fillup!) just had a run at close to $5 a gallon.

What Makes an Expert?

New studies on success have drawn an important conclusion: Not talent, good looks, nor good genes, but the opportunity to practice your skill-set over 10,000 hours is the key to being an expert at most disciplines
If we were to think of a full-time 40 hour week over 50 weeks, then with 5 years working in a particular area (with expanding successes, etc.) you may consider yourself "Arrived".

Sounds fair to me...

So here's the question: What is your area of expertise? 'Love to hear some answers.

While I wait, I'll share mine:

Piano Tuning - about 60,000 hours
OK, this also includes teaching piano technology, moving, and other related skills.

Piano Playing - close to 10,000 hours of actual playing (performing). I don't do it as well now as when I was in my mid 20's.

Driving a motor vehicle - started at the age of 13, been putting about 30,000 miles in each year since (1,200,000 miles). 'Don't know what that comes to in hours, but I call myself an expert driver. Nothing else is coming to mind, though I hope there is something important I'm forgetting!

Fear Mongers Meeting 7pm Tonight

Had some thoughts simmering in the skull skillet lately, having to do with what I think of as the "Fear Industry". When there is a great deal of energy being spent on something, and certain people are profiting greatly. . . well, that is an industry.

2009 is the year I began ignoring all the divisive, fearful spokespersons. My motivation? I'm just tired of it. The problem has been that I spend a fair amount of time driving and (used to enjoy) talk radio. 3-5 minutes of it is all I can stand now.

I suppose we'll never be at a place when it isn't "Us" and "Them", and I'm OK with that. Just a little less demonizing would be nice. I've been vague, so here's an example:

"Marriage under attack by the goddless homosexuals!"

Someone once said that to me and in reply I asked "On the day men legally marry other men, what are you going to start doing differently?"

I wasn't being clever, I really wanted to know, because it didn't occur to me MY marriage was under attack.

My fear monger called me a name and retreated so I never found out.

I've read that younger adults are getting their news through "comedy" programs like The Daily Show. I do my catching up with "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" on Saturday mornings.

Just like in days of old, the king could rely on his jester to get the real truth (wrapped in something clever and amusing). Thinking people now do the same. Some things will never change.

The Family Sedan

My earliest memories of family life was traveling around town in the family sedan. This was a daily ritual, as it seemed we always had to drive somewhere across town. Father in the drivers seat, Mother beside him, us kids in the back. That is one of my clearest memories of childhood; all of us in the car, driving across town a for bite to eat, grocery shopping, meeting someone up somewhere... As we kids got older, we started to call "shotgun" whenever we could, no longer satisfied to sit in the back seat. As kids became licenced drivers, we looked for the opportunity to sharpen our skills every chance we got. Meaning a parent would scoot over and let us try taking the wheel. Eventually, we left home to start our lives, and on return, the kids began to do more of the driving whenever we were with our family of origin, parent in the side seat. Years pass, as parents became grandparents, it was not unusual for my wife and I to take the front, and for my parents to ride in the rear seat. Now, as my kids are adults, I'm finding myself more calling "shotgun", as THEY insist on taking the wheel for our short forays. Although I'm not in the back seat yet, I know one day it's coming. And so it goes, the wheels of life, and the wheels of the family sedan. Bil Cusack

How do you get 8 Yankees in a Volkswagen?

Tell them it's headed for Houston!

It's Spring 1971 and by golly, we weren't 8 Yankees, it was just me and my girlfriend, and all our earthly belongings, in a 1968 VW micro-bus. Leaving Chicago, heading for the promised land of Houston Texas. What could cause such a crazy turn of events? We were happy in Chicago!

In a nutshell it was this: We came to visit my family Christmas, 1970. We left Chi-Town in a blizzard, returned to a blizzard. In between we spent a week in Houston enjoying temps in the 80's (Christmas week!), an atmosphere of I don't know, Anticipation. Houston was ready to explode with possibilities. Cost of living: ridiculously low. Jobs: no problem.

On our way, April next.

Apartments were begging for people to move in; they did everything short of paying us to live there. We were the young swinging adults these places were built for! This was also the period George W Bush was in the 'hood. No, I did not know him then, but did know one or two fellas that fit the description. Girlfriend (Cookie) just graduated from Nursing School, so she had her pick of career options (as they're called these days). Me, not so much.

Waited tables at Steak and Ale. Worked in the Produce Department at Rice Food Mart (in The Village!), then took a job helping a man build his own house. Getting some networking going with Houston musicians was what I did in my spare time. Played in a jam band, and promoted something called Montrose Musicians Workshop. Impressive huh? I've always been good at naming things.

About 60 musicians of all stripes got together weekly and broke into small groups to get acquainted and jam, etc. This endeavor did what I had set out to do: Introduce me to a lot of local musicians. Oh, the same is true for plenty of other folks, a number of important connections were made.

By the following summer, I was 20 y.o. Uprooting for our shot at the big time, with Mr. Bass, Mr. Singer and new wife to Austin Texas...