Cramer and Stewart

Jim Cramer unedited video 1
Jim Cramer unedited video 2
A friend sent me these links and stated "I just watched Cramer go on the Daily Show and basically just grab his ankles. Check the link on my wall when you have some time - it's destined to be a classic."
I do not think that Cramer bent over and grabbed his ankle's. I think he stood up straight and put his b@lls on the table. He took heat that isn't his to take. It was a very gutsy performance. In the clips I have been hearing on the radio I thought that Stewart ambushed him. After watching it I feel it was well thought out and that Cramer knew what was coming. He has been talking about reform at the SEC for years, I have heard him. He is not a reporter, Cramer is a gambler, who wins. Why is he sitting there taking Jon Stewarts crap? He has millions and millions of dollars. He is there because he wants to help and I appreciate that. It is harder to say your sorry than to throw stones. Especially when you do not really have anything to be sorry about.

4 Million Jobs

I watched the President last night, he is a dynamic and informative person. I appreciate the way that he answers questions with solutions and explanations of his solutions. President Obama lets you know where he stands and why he has chosen to stand there.

President Obama wants the current economic stimulus package to generate 4 million jobs. He wants there to be sustainable growth in emerging industries and he is open to ideas that achieve these goals.

I do not trust Congress to spend 800 billion dollars prudently. Listening to the press conference last night I got the feeling that they lost the first half, 400 billion dollars of the bank bailout and are going to "try" not to lose the next 350 billion dollars. It does not seem possible that our Nation can continue to spend and remain solvent. Remain solvent? We are not and will not be for a very long time.

If our plan is to spend 800 billion dollars, why not give it back to the people and let us lose it. How many tax paying citizens of The United States are there? Google says 130,000,000. I do not have a calculator that can handle this many zero's but when I work it out the old algebra way I think it comes out to around 6 million 150 thousand dollars per tax payer. If we could cap inflation and pump this money into the productive sector of our society do you think that would help? Or open an entirely different can of worms? I am not sure.

800 billion dollars is an exorbitant sum to fund 4 million jobs. That 800 billion dollars could make a significant difference in 130 million lives tomorrow. I am afraid of Government and do not want it involved in the day to day business of its citizens. Our Government grants us privileges and its job is to protect those privileges. The Constitution refers to these privileges as "Rights". When it starts impeding these privileges and running the financial system the end is near.

Things are spinning out of control and I fear that there is not a politician who can stop it. Hang on life is going to get interesting.

Fun Among Us

Sat 12/29 morning before the Driscoll family Christmas. Santa will be attending and parents are responsible for filling his sack

Heidi walks into the store alone. Usually, Heidi has three in tow and today is extra nice.
After shopping stress free she approaches the cashier and is accosted.

An effeminate, middle age man holds the position, while he tally's up Heidi's gifts he informs her that when she enters the store, with her high energy kids, all of the store clerks Head For The Hills! Heidi is high maintenance, the staff does not appreciate it, or her business. He is just telling her because he likes to be truthful.

Monday, 12/31 New Years Eve, I get out of work early and head straight to Fun Among Us.
I ask the woman at the desk if the man who was on duty Saturday is present.
He is not, so I ask if she is his boss, she is, her name is Eileen. When I tell her the story she is floored and apologizes. She will call the owner, Elizabeth, and make her aware of Jared's behavior.

That evening Eileen calls the house, apologizes and relates other stories of Jared's poor behavior.

Heidi feels a lot better.

Wednesday 1/2/2008

I returned to Fun Among Us to ask Jared what his intentions were, when he offended my wife.
Jared was not there, turns out he called in sick.
Elizabeth the owner was there and she told me the "Story of Jared" and that he has been at the store, hanging on by a string, for awhile now.
She would fire him today but she does not know how to go about it. She needed the body for the holidays and now he is no longer needed. Elizabeth is afraid that he will sue her.
He has (asbirgers?) disease and has been offending people, not customers, since he started. He works there as a favor to a friend. He is scheduled to be leaving for Florida in a couple of weeks.

Until then Elizabeth plans on reducing the number of hours he works at the store naturally.
Elizabeth gave me a gift certificate, is going to document Jared poor behaviors and work towards his removal from the store.

The owner and her staff did a great job handling me and the situation initiated by her employee. Heidi will continue to shop at Fun Among Us, as long as Jared is not behind the counter. Hopefully she will never see him again. If I see him I hope I don't punch him in the nose.

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Expensive

Money, money, money! Money makes the world go around and the lack of it keeps me moving. Three kids and a house cost, there is no way to get around it. Something breaks it should be fixed, then there are lessons and pre-school, it adds up and it adds up quick.
Without the Tutu Boutique we would not be able to keep up. I want to thank my wife for her hard work making the online venture the success it is. The tutus keep us a float, who knew you could use a tutu as a life preserver? I didn't but now I do.

I miss blogging, but not enough to really start back up. I have stories, most of which seem to be relating to work, that I have been writing, but not as a blog. My writing has mostly focused on work. How to solve rodent problems, the reason there are bed bugs in the building, how to stop the termites from eating your house. These are the topics I have been writing about. My audience has not been the blogosphere it has been property managers and land lords. More profitable, less opinionated.

My sister in law has been in town with her two daughters for a couple weeks and my mother in law just left. MIL is planning an addition to our home that is proving to be a bit tricky to pull of. She has gone back to Florida and I have just been told I need to move my shed to conform with a decision made by the ZBA 6 years ago so that she can apply for the waivers to build her new place. I do not know how to move my shed. I have until Wednesday to figure it out.

My dog Maxwell got run over in my driveway. He was sleeping in the shade under Heidi's car when sister in law backed up on him. He spent almost a week in the hospital with bruised lungs, cracked ribs and a severely dislocated rear leg that needed surgery. He is healing slowly but surely.

Merry, David, Thomas, Aiden and Addison are having a terrific vacation and everybody but David is behaving. He is rude to his mother and I am not sure how I can solve this dilemma. I am not there, speaking to him after does not seem to help and I am at a loss. Super Nanny or Mary P please help.

Full Swing

Summer is rolling, life is hectic and parts of mine have been scaled way back. Blogging is the part that has taken the hardest hit. I have not read any or blogged about anything in what feels like a long time.

I am so far behind I do not even want to open Bloglines or Google reader for fear of the number of unread posts that will confront me.

look for a photo essay in the not so distant future

Magic?

Did you see that? I have magic in me. I talked trash about the Yankees and they won because of it. The Sox had 'em on the ropes last night and I fell asleep. I woke up this morning to the news that A-Rod belted a two run homer off of Papelbon. I bet if I had stayed awake The Sox would have won. I never realized I held such power.

The Yankees are still cooked no matter what I say they aren't going anywhere.

Question

This question is for the six of you who read this blog.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW?

Parenting

I do not have much going on considering blogging about parenting. It feels almost as if this parenting trick has become routine. Thomas has not reinvented what it means to be an almost two year old boy, David is a rather predictable three year old and Merry, in my eyes, is remarkable and good.

Most of the exciting, insightful stories have been told. The diapers, snots and stories of first steps have all been told. What I got next is a chronicle of family life, that at this point in time has slipped into a comfortable routine.

David believes every toy in the house, and there are a lot of toys, belongs to him. Thomas takes great pleasure in testing Davids theory. Merry does a wonderful job of sharing and at times distracting her brothers when they attempt to get under her skin.

The nice weather has taken some of the pressure off of Heidi, the feelings of claustrophobia are subsiding, which is good for everyone. The children are outside most of the day and we all know the old adage "A good child is a tired child" or is that "dog" whatever. They, the children and the dog are happy to go to bed at the end of a day outdoors.

This may be a bit of a turning point for the Tutu Boutique, I just don't know.

Spring has Sprung

Red Sox vs. Yankees was a smashing success. Friday night Mariano Rivera came in to close out the game in the eighth and gave up just enough runs for the Yankees to loose. Saturday afternoon the Sox beat them again and then on Sunday beat the Pin Stripes again. It could have snowed and it still would have been a good weekend.

The thermostat hit 70 degrees both days and I got back to painting the exterior of The Old Blue House. Last spring I started and then quit when summer hit. Week ends in the summer are for the Beach. One more nice weekend and all of the clap boards will be finished. Then it is on to the trim.

We fired up the grills for the first time, Friday I took the kids to Heidi's Dads house and we ate hot dogs. Saturday we brought Heidi with us for a sit down supper at her Dads house and then on Sunday to my parents house.

Overall a great first weekend of Spring, pretty soon the boat will be in the water and instead of yard work I will be doing brain work at the beach. Recharging the batteries for another New England winter.

Heidi's New Assistant

Last week I mentioned that we may be bringing on some help at the Tutu Boutique. We interviewed and offered the job to an outstanding candidate, she was to start on Monday.

We got cold feet, after careful consideration Heidi decided that it would be better if I took on more responsibility around the house, allowing her more time to work her business. As Heidi's right hand man I stepped up and have been performing my new duties.

Say hello to the new laundry folder at The Old Blue House. I do not have to do the laundry, I simply have to fold it. After I put the kids to bed, I pour myself a large glass of wine, turn on the T.V. and get to work. It takes almost an hour to get it done, a family of five produces a lot of laundry.

Taking that one task off of Heidi's list of things to do every day has helped. One less thing to worry about makes life a little bit more manageable. That is what I am here for, I am a helper.

Annoyed

I have been looking at this screen on and off for three days and the only stuff that I have come up with has been so negative that I refuse to publish it. I have been generally annoyed with everything that crosses my path and just want to Bitch, Bitch, Bitch.

There is no good reason for it, the children have been behaving relatively well when I am around. Heidi has not brought any serious transgressions of their behavior to my attention. As a family we are getting back into the groove, routines are being reestablished after the week of visitors. I can not account for my piss poor attitude.

Meredith attended kindergarten screening yesterday and thought that it was about the most fun ever. She was very excited about the hearing test and told me all about it. "They put head phones on me and I raised my hand when I heard the noise." Wow! Terrific! I am being sarcastic with my five year old. Bad Daddy.

I got to fill out all of the forms and sign offs for her admission into kindergarten and the Massachusetts public school system last night. Talk about repetitive, there where fifteen forms all asking the same questions. Name, address, date of birth, who to contact, phone numbers, signature. For all I know I may be the proud owner of a Bridge in Brooklyn at this point or Merry may be a Marine headed to Paris Island. I was dizzy by the end of it.

Maybe, just maybe, after today, we will be introducing a new member of the team at The Tutu Boutique. This is a big step and I am very proud of my wife for growing this business to the point where we need to expand the operation. My brain swirls with all of the implications of an employee. I am not sure why, I have a whole bunch of people working with me at Bug Central. I will tell you why: Sole Responsibility, that's why I feel a bit nervous.

The weather, oh the weather. It is time for Spring to spring, enough of the drizzle and 40 degree days already. I need sunshine and sandles. That will cheer me up.

I have the soul of a Warrior!

You Are a Warrior Soul

You're a strong person and sometimes seen as intimidating. You don't give up. You're committed and brave. Truly adventuresome, you are not afraid of going to battle. Extremely protective of loved ones, you root for the underdog. You are picky about details and rigorous in your methods. You also value honesty and fairness a great deal. You can be outspoken, intimidating, headstrong, and demanding. You're a hardliner who demands the best from themselves and others. Souls you are most compatible with: Old Soul and Peacemaker Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?
Thank you Mary P.

How Much?

Every six months or so I start to feel overwhelmed. The last time I was feeling like this was back in October. When I stand back and look at it from the outside I see that I need a vacation. A minute to recharge the batteries. This blog has made me aware of the frequency of these feelings. Before this journal there was no record and each time these feelings settled in, it always felt like the first time.

What I feel is a lack of control, the boat is getting away from me and all I can do is hold on and hope for the best. The course I am currently on was set by decisions that have already been made. All that I can do is ride it out and make adjustments for the future.

How many balls can you keep in the air? How much can you handle well? When is enough, enough? Do you know when it is time to get some help? Who do you turn to? My juggling act feels saturated, one more ball and there will be a disaster. Luckily I have a terrific and supportive family that probably does not even realize that I struggle with these questions but by being themselves, give me the foundation and the answers I need to persevere.

An example of my mental anguish just made itself evident. The phone rang, it was the accountant, his news was very good, I thought it was good. I called Heidi, gave her the figure, and her response was "That's it". Every six months or so it feels like I just can't win.

And then the sun comes out and I feel better.

Democracy

I attended my first town meeting last night and learned that Democracy is painfully SLOW.

I packed it up and left at 12:15 am, there were 7 more warrants to be discussed and voted on. I could not take anymore, they were arguing language on whether or not to extend the town sewer up the street 1500 feet and could not get it straight. I bailed.

The highlight of the evening came when a woman decided in honorarium of her predecessor at the historical commission she would read to the captive audience from Dr. Seusse. I am not even sure which it was, I do know it was long and the gist of it was "waste not want not." Fifteen minutes into her reading we booed her off the stage, it felt wrong, breaking in on her tribute, but my God, I will never get that fifteen minutes back. She held us hostage with nursery rhyme, it was painful.

I am glad that I went and I will attend again. Next time I will take a nap before I go.

Popcorn

Kids love popcorn and mine are no exception. One of the many benefits of Grampy's house is the never ending bags of microwave popcorn. A few months ago we actually had some in the pantry of the Old Blue house.

Merry, David and Thomas were in the other room chomping away, the children were very happy. We do not have microwave popcorn around all that often, not for any other reason than we forget to buy it. It was a treat and they were treating it as such.

I was in the kitchen, reading the paper, washing dishes, or drinking beer, I do not remember which when Merry and David marched in. I assumed they were there to get another bag of the good and buttery stuff. I was wrong.

Merry looked up at me and said "Daddy, I have a popcorn seed stuck up my nose."

I went and got my flashlight, lifted her up onto the kitchen counter and peaked in. She was right, she did have a popcorn seed up her nose. I asked her how it got there and she told me that she put it there. Go figure.

What is the solution when presented with a kernel of popcorn stuck in your little ones nose? I saw two options, the first was a trip to the hospital and a wait at the emergency room. This did not seem like the best answer. The second, was to get it out myself. This one I liked, but how?

As I considered ways to remove the foreign object from my princesses button nose, Thomas walked in sipping milk through the straw of his sippy cup. Ha Hah! Urecka! and all that. I went to the cabinet, got a straw from the straw box, laid a very calm, cool and collected four year old out on the kitchen counter, inserted the straw and applied suction.

Out of her nose came the kernel, into the microwave went the next bag of popcorn and life proceeded as usual at The Old Blue House.

A Gift

My mom gave me a laminated copy of the following, to place in my kitchen , in the window, behind the sink.

No one will ever get out of this world alive. Resolve therefore to maintain a reasonable sense of values. Take care of yourself.

Good health is everyone's major source of wealth. Without it, happiness is almost impossible. Resolve to be cheerful and helpful. People will repay you in kind.

Avoid angry, abrasive persons. They are generally humorless. Resolve to listen more and talk less. No one ever learned anything by talking.

Be wary of giving advice. Wise men don't need it and a fool won't heed it. Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, tolerant of the weak and the wrong. Sometime in your life, you will have been all of these.

Do not equate money with success. There are many successful money-makers who are miserable failures as human beings. What counts most about success is how a person achieves it.

I am not sure about the rules of putting this on my blog but just in case any of the readers here think that something this universal came from my brain it did not. Somebody else thought it up, I just don't know who.

Thanks mom.

Spring

As much as I want to avoid it, I think it may be time for some spring cleaning around The Old Blue House.

Now here is something completely different.

The weather was beautiful yesterday afternoon and I attempted to jog after work. Jogging after lunch did not work out. Maxwell and I got about two miles out and the onions on the chicken wrap I had consumed four hours prior made me so uncomfortable that we walked the rest of the way home.

Sad really, having to walk after only two miles, it was a gorgeous day and it was nice to be outside and I learned a lesson. Run in the morning on an empty stomach or eat a very light lunch. So I got that going for me.

I am a Lemming

Crouton Boy jumped! that is why I jumped too. Something about thirty thousand bloggers, I do not even know. I just followed his lead. You can't blame me.

Give Me a Break

I saw this one at Steve's blog and decided to give it a whirl. I think I have an inflated opinion of myself, because I know of a few people who would disagree with this assessment.

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman 80% The Flash 65% Iron Man 65% Robin 62% Spider-Man 60% Green Lantern 55% Supergirl 50% Wonder Woman 45% Catwoman 45% Hulk 40% Batman 20%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...