-Escargot and elk, when cooked properly, are fabulous. I had both last night at a restaurant. The escargot was the best I've ever had and the elk was nice and lean. Apologies to the snails and elk that died because of my actions.
-After a few glasses of wine, there are few events more exciting than watching a Little Mermaid movie in the back seat of a SUV with your toddler. Kali 1.10 and I make quite the singing duo.
-27 pound St. Bernard puppies have accidents on occasion. As tough as it is, buck up and clean it up. You might as well use it as a training experience to improve your cleaning times. Also, selling the dog on the cheap to a local Chinese restaurant is not an option.
-Friendship bread is quite tasty, even after finding out that the dough sits around for 10 days before it's actually cooked. I'd still eat it again.
-When a 22 month old kid wants a sip of your drink, you can let them have that sip and everyone's happy. When your 22 month old kid wants a sip of your wine, you can let them have that sip and get thrown in jail or the child will throw a never-ending fit. We enjoyed the latter last night. It took a change in venue to resolve the situation.
-There's nothing worse than having a co-worker go through a divorce. Not only are they distracted at work, but they spend most of the time at lunch telling the lunch group about every situation that comes up and how much they hate their spouse for putting them through it all.
-When you go up to your bedroom to hang out with your wife and wake up at 12:30 AM to find you and your wife were both asleep and the TV is still on, that's usually a pretty good sign that neither of you saw much more than the inside of your eyelids from the moment you laid down.
-'Falling Down' is a great movie and one of my personal favorites. It has Michael Douglas and Robert Duvall as the lead actors and was filmed in the mid-1990s. If you haven't see it, you should.
-Mrs. Lime gets nightmares when we watch horror movies. If I'm watching a horror movie, there's an excellent chance that I'm watching it alone.
-If a exec in a work meeting bad-mouths another executive who's retiring in a week, do they trust everyone in the meeting to avoid repeating those comments? I certainly would not trust everyone, but evidently my exec does.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
One thing you can always count on........
Christmas went well for the family. Everything was pretty low-key, which was nice. We grazed on food throughout the day. Kali 1.10 eventually melted down, so I took her upstairs to take a nap. She slept for a couple of hours while I did a few things. When Kali and I came back downstairs, we found almost everyone asleep. Evidently, the rest of the family decided to copy Kali's move and take a nap too.
We had a great dinner, though Kali didn't eat a whole lot. When we started opening presents, Kali looked like a zombie. Long story short, we spent the next day or so dealing with 102-103 degree fever and eventually got a double ear infection diagnosis. Ugh.
Kali's been on antibiotics for a couple of days, so she's starting to come around. Hopefully we can get this knocked out and be good to go in a week or so.
We had a great dinner, though Kali didn't eat a whole lot. When we started opening presents, Kali looked like a zombie. Long story short, we spent the next day or so dealing with 102-103 degree fever and eventually got a double ear infection diagnosis. Ugh.
Kali's been on antibiotics for a couple of days, so she's starting to come around. Hopefully we can get this knocked out and be good to go in a week or so.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Just finished helping Santa out.........
Santa brought Kali a fabulous Tinkerbell-themed tea party setup along with a kitchen complete with dishwasher, stove, oven, and refrigerator. He gave her glowing marks and showed me that she was in fact on the "Nice" list. Hopefully she can stay on that list for the foreseeable future.
Time to bring out the tools..........
I rolled into the office this morning on snow-packed roads. It would appear that Santa will have plenty of snow to land on since we picked up a couple of inches of snow overnight. I'd be shocked if 25% of the staff at work shows up today. Probably the few people that do arrive will take a long lunch and leave early. That's usually the case on a day like today as there's honestly not much to do when everyone's gone.
I've received a text message this morning from Santa informing me that I'll be required to stay up late after Kali 1.10 goes to sleep and help him assemble the presents for Kali. Evidently, she was SUCH a good girl that Santa won't be able to handle the whole job on his own given his tight schedule this evening. So I will be staying up late along with Uncle Tom and Santa to put together all of Kali's presents. Given the task before me, it may be a 3 or 4 Advil night. But it'll be worth it in the morning when Kali gets to open her presents.
I've received a text message this morning from Santa informing me that I'll be required to stay up late after Kali 1.10 goes to sleep and help him assemble the presents for Kali. Evidently, she was SUCH a good girl that Santa won't be able to handle the whole job on his own given his tight schedule this evening. So I will be staying up late along with Uncle Tom and Santa to put together all of Kali's presents. Given the task before me, it may be a 3 or 4 Advil night. But it'll be worth it in the morning when Kali gets to open her presents.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Who's house is that?
We went out and ate last night with Mrs. Lime's dad, sister and her fiance. We went to a local Mexican restaurant. They have bowls set out that you can pour your own salsa into the bowl. Kali 1.10 immediately started saying, "Plate! Plate!". Little Miss Independent wanted her own 'plate'. She took the bowl and started piling chips into her bowl, eventually filling it to the point of overflow. The sauce was a bit spicy, so we got Kali a bowl of diced tomatoes. She was loving it and ended up eating all of her 'dip' (that's what she calls anything that she can dunk food in).
After dinner, we followed Mrs. Lime's family over to her dad's house to drop off a few things. As we drove down the driveway to her dad's house, Kali looked over at the house and said, "Grandma!"
I said, "That's right! Grandma's house!"
Mrs. Lime said, "You're right, sweetie. That's Grandma's house."
I have no clue whether Kali remembered that it was Grandma's house or whether Grandma peeked out of a window to wave at Kali, but I'm sure that Kali will never know how happy she made Mrs. Lime in that moment.
After dinner, we followed Mrs. Lime's family over to her dad's house to drop off a few things. As we drove down the driveway to her dad's house, Kali looked over at the house and said, "Grandma!"
I said, "That's right! Grandma's house!"
Mrs. Lime said, "You're right, sweetie. That's Grandma's house."
I have no clue whether Kali remembered that it was Grandma's house or whether Grandma peeked out of a window to wave at Kali, but I'm sure that Kali will never know how happy she made Mrs. Lime in that moment.
I'm not the only one awake.......
I woke up a few minutes before my alarm was to go off this morning. Mrs. Lime was asleep. The clock read 4:55 AM. All too familiar was the voice I heard over the monitor speaker. It was Kali 1.10 talking to herself in her bed. What did I hear her saying?
"Santa! Santa! Christmas! Christmas!"
Yeah, I think Kali's ready for Christmas to arrive.
"Santa! Santa! Christmas! Christmas!"
Yeah, I think Kali's ready for Christmas to arrive.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Parenting Kali 1.10..........
Life with Kali 1.10 is always interesting......
-Kali likes to do puzzles and color a lot. More importantly, she's always asking me for help. Occasionally, I'll be working on something and not respond immediately to her request for help. She's very persistent and always asks multiple times. While it can cause a delay in completing what I'm working on, the smile that she gets every time I agree to help says it all. She's excited when I interact with her, and that's reason enough to do it.
-Kali's latest game is playing 'nigh-nigh'. She loves to have all her stuffed animals dumped into her crib and then she climbs in and lays down on top of them. I'm not sure what the reward is, but she loves it. She's even more excited when Mrs. Lime or I is around to do it with her. If we leave the room, she immediately begins saying 'Mommy!' or 'Daddy!' to get us to come back. Once again, it's not as much fun if Mommy or Daddy isn't playing with her.
-She's learned quickly just how important it is that the Oreo Cookie needs to be separated before eating it. She also always eats the side that has the cream filling still stuck to it. Not only that, but if you put two or more Oreo Cookies in front of her, she has a method to her madness. She'll always separate all of the cookies in front of her before she eats any of them. She'll also always eat all of the sides with cream on them before the non-cream sides.
-She's taking in everything right now. Today, while we were watching a movie, there was a point where there was applause. She started clapping and smiling and then looked over at me and noticed I wasn't clapping. She immediately stopped, thinking it wasn't the right time to clap. I started clapping and she joined in. When I stopped clapping, she did as well. Even more interesting, I saw her looking at my hands and then folding her hands. She even adjusted the way she folded her hands a couple of times. I looked down and noticed that I had folded my hands once I stopped clapping. Not only was she mimicking me, she was trying to make sure that her hands were folded the exact same way my hands were folded.
-When you're a parent and you ask your child for a hug or kiss, it's great to get that hug or kiss with a smile. When you're a parent and get a hug or a kiss out of the blue without any particular reason, it's priceless. I got a priceless hug tonight. It's a good day.
-Kali likes to do puzzles and color a lot. More importantly, she's always asking me for help. Occasionally, I'll be working on something and not respond immediately to her request for help. She's very persistent and always asks multiple times. While it can cause a delay in completing what I'm working on, the smile that she gets every time I agree to help says it all. She's excited when I interact with her, and that's reason enough to do it.
-Kali's latest game is playing 'nigh-nigh'. She loves to have all her stuffed animals dumped into her crib and then she climbs in and lays down on top of them. I'm not sure what the reward is, but she loves it. She's even more excited when Mrs. Lime or I is around to do it with her. If we leave the room, she immediately begins saying 'Mommy!' or 'Daddy!' to get us to come back. Once again, it's not as much fun if Mommy or Daddy isn't playing with her.
-She's learned quickly just how important it is that the Oreo Cookie needs to be separated before eating it. She also always eats the side that has the cream filling still stuck to it. Not only that, but if you put two or more Oreo Cookies in front of her, she has a method to her madness. She'll always separate all of the cookies in front of her before she eats any of them. She'll also always eat all of the sides with cream on them before the non-cream sides.
-She's taking in everything right now. Today, while we were watching a movie, there was a point where there was applause. She started clapping and smiling and then looked over at me and noticed I wasn't clapping. She immediately stopped, thinking it wasn't the right time to clap. I started clapping and she joined in. When I stopped clapping, she did as well. Even more interesting, I saw her looking at my hands and then folding her hands. She even adjusted the way she folded her hands a couple of times. I looked down and noticed that I had folded my hands once I stopped clapping. Not only was she mimicking me, she was trying to make sure that her hands were folded the exact same way my hands were folded.
-When you're a parent and you ask your child for a hug or kiss, it's great to get that hug or kiss with a smile. When you're a parent and get a hug or a kiss out of the blue without any particular reason, it's priceless. I got a priceless hug tonight. It's a good day.
Friday, December 19, 2008
It all began 3 years ago today.......
Yes, shocking as it may seem, it all began with this innocent post 3 years ago......
Trip to Chiefs/Giants Game 2005
I've now been blogging for 3 years. In that time, I've averaged around 230 posts a year. I usually get 20 website hits a day on average. The blog was initially started to document the pregnancy/life of our first child. Unfortunately, that baby died before it was ever born.
Thankfully, we now have Kali 1.10 and Tinkerbell 0.2 along with the associated supporting cast to keep this blog full of pictures and information that we can hopefully use to embarrass Kali when she starts to bring boyfriends to the house. It's my job as a dad.
Thanks to everyone who reads the blog.
Trip to Chiefs/Giants Game 2005
I've now been blogging for 3 years. In that time, I've averaged around 230 posts a year. I usually get 20 website hits a day on average. The blog was initially started to document the pregnancy/life of our first child. Unfortunately, that baby died before it was ever born.
Thankfully, we now have Kali 1.10 and Tinkerbell 0.2 along with the associated supporting cast to keep this blog full of pictures and information that we can hopefully use to embarrass Kali when she starts to bring boyfriends to the house. It's my job as a dad.
Thanks to everyone who reads the blog.
Where has my week gone?
Didn't get much blogging in this week. I feel like I've been busy all week, but I can't remember what I did. If nothing else, I have a 22 month old child and a 11 week old puppy to keep me scrambling.
Mrs. Lime and I went to a performance by the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra last night. Really good performance. Mrs. Lime said that performance along with the Yo-Yo Ma performance were the two best performances she had seen at the fine arts series over the past few years. It was a fun group who obviously enjoyed playing music together and wasn't shy about goofing around on stage while doing it. I told Mrs. Lime I'd go to New Orleans to see them perform again. We've got a couple free airline tickets, so maybe we'll do that.
We managed to dodge a bullet in regards to bad weather last night. There was a chance of some ice, but we ended up on the good side of the freezing line and it stayed warm enough to keep it from being too icy. However, that didn't help my back patio much. It was a sheet of ice when I took the dog out to do her business. Tinkerbell 0.2 looked like someone who was ice skating for the first time. Legs flying in all directions without much meaningful movement in any direction. I just kind of slid her off the patio and into the grass so she could have better traction.
Got home at 10:00 PM and Mrs. Lime noticed that the light in Kali 1.10's room was on. Sure enough, we got inside and the princess of the house was still up 2 hours past her bedtime. She had fussed a bit when she went to bed, so the babysitter kept her up. Mrs. Lime took care of the situation and put her to bed. Crisis averted.
Mrs. Lime and I went to a performance by the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra last night. Really good performance. Mrs. Lime said that performance along with the Yo-Yo Ma performance were the two best performances she had seen at the fine arts series over the past few years. It was a fun group who obviously enjoyed playing music together and wasn't shy about goofing around on stage while doing it. I told Mrs. Lime I'd go to New Orleans to see them perform again. We've got a couple free airline tickets, so maybe we'll do that.
We managed to dodge a bullet in regards to bad weather last night. There was a chance of some ice, but we ended up on the good side of the freezing line and it stayed warm enough to keep it from being too icy. However, that didn't help my back patio much. It was a sheet of ice when I took the dog out to do her business. Tinkerbell 0.2 looked like someone who was ice skating for the first time. Legs flying in all directions without much meaningful movement in any direction. I just kind of slid her off the patio and into the grass so she could have better traction.
Got home at 10:00 PM and Mrs. Lime noticed that the light in Kali 1.10's room was on. Sure enough, we got inside and the princess of the house was still up 2 hours past her bedtime. She had fussed a bit when she went to bed, so the babysitter kept her up. Mrs. Lime took care of the situation and put her to bed. Crisis averted.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
The Grilled Cheese Incident............
It all began so innocently. I headed down to the cafeteria at work to get my usual fare: a turkey sub on wheat bread. Unfortunately, the sub guy didn't make it to work yesterday due to the 4 inches of snow that fell. As a result, I headed over to the fried foods to take my high caloric medicine.
There were two ladies there at the counter. Both had ordered a grilled cheese sandwich. The sandwiches were being grilled as I arrived. It began right away.....
Lady 1: Now, I want my bread to be grilled on butter so it toasts the correct way.
Cook: Yes, ma'am. I'm doing that.
Lady 1: Well, I wanted to make sure it was buttered because I didn't see you butter it.
Cook: Ma'am, I buttered the bread just like you asked.
Lady 1: Well, I just didn't see you do it.
Cook: Ma'am, you want me to butter the bread again?
Lady 1: I wanted you to butter it the first time.
Cook: (buttering the bread again) See, it's buttered. Alright?
Lady 1: Whatever.
Lady 2: (acting like she's talking under her breath but making sure everyone hears it) Geez, someone's acting awful immature.
Cook: (shoots dagger eyes at Lady 2)
A 30 second silence filled with tension ensues, until they get it on again.......
Lady 1: I want my cheese melted. You know how to do that, right?
Cook: (dagger eyes) Yes, ma'am. I know how to make a grilled cheese sandwich.
Lady 1: OK
Lady 2: This girl is off her rocker.
Another 30 seconds of silence, then the cook takes the toasted side of one piece of bread and turns it down rather than facing up, resulting in the sandwich having one toasted side out and a white side out on the other side. Hilarity ensues...........
Lady 1: You just messed up my sandwich! I thought you knew how to make a grilled cheese sandwich.
Cook: Look, I'm making your sandwich! I am not going to........that's it.......
Cook walks out of the cafeteria, yelling for her manager. Manager comes out and starts cooking the sandwiches. He turns the white side down to toast it.
Lady 1: Your cook screwed up my sandwich. She didn't put the toasted side out.
Manager: It's cooking correctly now, right?
Lady 1: Yes.
Manager: Everybody has a bad day, ladies.
Lady 1: Oh, I'll agree with that.
Lady 2: Unfortunately, this cook has a bad day every day!
Manager: (blowing off the last comment) Here's your sandwiches. Thank you.
I suppose that the cook technically did screw up the sandwich, though I think her mistakes were mostly due to the fact that the ladies were so distracting and insulting that there was no way she could concentrate. And the whole thing was over a sandwich! I know there are a lot of good people in this world, but I was stunned at how disrespectful these ladies were acting in a public place........over a grilled cheese sandwich.
There were two ladies there at the counter. Both had ordered a grilled cheese sandwich. The sandwiches were being grilled as I arrived. It began right away.....
Lady 1: Now, I want my bread to be grilled on butter so it toasts the correct way.
Cook: Yes, ma'am. I'm doing that.
Lady 1: Well, I wanted to make sure it was buttered because I didn't see you butter it.
Cook: Ma'am, I buttered the bread just like you asked.
Lady 1: Well, I just didn't see you do it.
Cook: Ma'am, you want me to butter the bread again?
Lady 1: I wanted you to butter it the first time.
Cook: (buttering the bread again) See, it's buttered. Alright?
Lady 1: Whatever.
Lady 2: (acting like she's talking under her breath but making sure everyone hears it) Geez, someone's acting awful immature.
Cook: (shoots dagger eyes at Lady 2)
A 30 second silence filled with tension ensues, until they get it on again.......
Lady 1: I want my cheese melted. You know how to do that, right?
Cook: (dagger eyes) Yes, ma'am. I know how to make a grilled cheese sandwich.
Lady 1: OK
Lady 2: This girl is off her rocker.
Another 30 seconds of silence, then the cook takes the toasted side of one piece of bread and turns it down rather than facing up, resulting in the sandwich having one toasted side out and a white side out on the other side. Hilarity ensues...........
Lady 1: You just messed up my sandwich! I thought you knew how to make a grilled cheese sandwich.
Cook: Look, I'm making your sandwich! I am not going to........that's it.......
Cook walks out of the cafeteria, yelling for her manager. Manager comes out and starts cooking the sandwiches. He turns the white side down to toast it.
Lady 1: Your cook screwed up my sandwich. She didn't put the toasted side out.
Manager: It's cooking correctly now, right?
Lady 1: Yes.
Manager: Everybody has a bad day, ladies.
Lady 1: Oh, I'll agree with that.
Lady 2: Unfortunately, this cook has a bad day every day!
Manager: (blowing off the last comment) Here's your sandwiches. Thank you.
I suppose that the cook technically did screw up the sandwich, though I think her mistakes were mostly due to the fact that the ladies were so distracting and insulting that there was no way she could concentrate. And the whole thing was over a sandwich! I know there are a lot of good people in this world, but I was stunned at how disrespectful these ladies were acting in a public place........over a grilled cheese sandwich.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Poker and counting........
We held our monthly poker game over the weekend. I managed to play much better this time, going out in a respectable 9th place out of 21 players. I got unlucky in a crucial moment or I would have done even better, but that's the way the cookie crumbles.
Kali 1.10 is increasingly interested in the poker chips and playing with them. When I brought out the chips to get ready for the poker game, Kali jumped right up and came over to the table. She wanted to play with the chips I was stacking, so I gave her 15-20 poker chips. She started laying out the chips in a very orderly fashion (she gets that from me) and began to count the chips. She's so into learning right now.
In the car last night as Kali and I were going home, she wanted to do the alphabet. So I'd say the first letter and she'd repeat it. This continued until 'D' at which point she skipped to 'F'. She knows some of the upcoming letters, but her timing is a bit off. Similarly, she wanted to count with me. We made it to '4' and then she suddenly skipped to '6'. I know that my mind tends to race ahead at times, which can lead to me thinking faster than I can actually voice something. I wouldn't be shocked at all if Kali has the same thing going on in her head.
Kali has also become a 'dirty' person of late. Everything is 'dirty'.
Binky falls on the floor? Dirty!
Dog chew marks on one of her toys? Dirty!
Food falls off her plate? Dirty!
It goes on and on. I'm not sure there's much left in the house that isn't dirty. It's replaced 'messy' as her favorite descriptive word.
On the favorite movie front, it appears that Kali has suddenly abandoned 'The Little Mermaid'. She now screams for "I Beas!". Kali-talk translated, that is 'Beauty and the Beast'. I'm personally glad she likes it, because I think it's easily one of Disney's best movies. The animation is great and the character development is believable (outside of the fact that most of the characters are household items rather than people). Great songs too. Hopefully she'll keep this one as her favorite for awhile because I enjoy watching it.
Kali 1.10 is increasingly interested in the poker chips and playing with them. When I brought out the chips to get ready for the poker game, Kali jumped right up and came over to the table. She wanted to play with the chips I was stacking, so I gave her 15-20 poker chips. She started laying out the chips in a very orderly fashion (she gets that from me) and began to count the chips. She's so into learning right now.
In the car last night as Kali and I were going home, she wanted to do the alphabet. So I'd say the first letter and she'd repeat it. This continued until 'D' at which point she skipped to 'F'. She knows some of the upcoming letters, but her timing is a bit off. Similarly, she wanted to count with me. We made it to '4' and then she suddenly skipped to '6'. I know that my mind tends to race ahead at times, which can lead to me thinking faster than I can actually voice something. I wouldn't be shocked at all if Kali has the same thing going on in her head.
Kali has also become a 'dirty' person of late. Everything is 'dirty'.
Binky falls on the floor? Dirty!
Dog chew marks on one of her toys? Dirty!
Food falls off her plate? Dirty!
It goes on and on. I'm not sure there's much left in the house that isn't dirty. It's replaced 'messy' as her favorite descriptive word.
On the favorite movie front, it appears that Kali has suddenly abandoned 'The Little Mermaid'. She now screams for "I Beas!". Kali-talk translated, that is 'Beauty and the Beast'. I'm personally glad she likes it, because I think it's easily one of Disney's best movies. The animation is great and the character development is believable (outside of the fact that most of the characters are household items rather than people). Great songs too. Hopefully she'll keep this one as her favorite for awhile because I enjoy watching it.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Halloween portfolio.........
Better late than never. Mrs. Lime went with the 'Alice in Wonderland' theme this year for the family. Mrs. Lime was Alice, I was the Mad Hatter, and Kali 1.10 was the bunny.
Kali 1.10 and I........
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| From Month 20 |
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| From Month 20 |
Kali 1.10 and I........
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| From Month 20 |
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Who's more flexible?
I think Kali 1.9 wins in a landslide over Mrs. Lime.............
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| From Month 20 |
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| From Month 20 |
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| From Month 20 |
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Bailout rantings.........
Time for a political/economic post. Those of you who don't enjoy the truth, Limelicker-style, need not apply.
I'm honestly had just about enough of all the loan/bailout talk coming out of our government. A business, simply put, is run with the intent to make a profit. The more profit that is made, the more the company expands. Workers and executives are rewarded accordingly. If the business doesn't do well, the company borrows money. Alternative sources of supplies may be sought to cut costs. If it gets really bad, they have to reduce their workforce or close up the business.
Similarly, if a void is left in that industry, a new competitor sees the available demand left by the closed company and finds ways to run their business, using the previously failed business as a mode of how not to do things. It should be noted that my parents paid thousands of dollars for me to learn these kinds of things in my business administration and accounting majors in college. Thankfully, they now have this post to show to anyone who asks what all that money bought.
Then, we have the fabulous business model perfected by the auto industry. Instead of maximizing profit, they have a wonderful model where their executives scrape large sums of money off the top both directly and indirectly. They pay out large salaries and bonuses to keep that money from being reported as profit. In addition, they indirectly pay themselves through the business expenses of private jets and business trips.
The executives also allow the union workers to reap further benefits. Auto workers and their management get paid ridiculous salaries and benefits that factory workers in similar jobs could only hope to achieve. It's reached the point now where an American automaker now pays $2,000 more than a foreign automaker to make basically the same car. The only difference is the ridiculous labor contracts that have been signed over the past few decades where the unions have continued to get better contracts deals each time.
There was a recent interview on ABC News where they were discussing the call by Obama and others for the General Motors CEO to resign. The ABC reporter asked a female union auto worker what she thought about that. Her response:
"Well, I think he should take a pay cut..........maybe not take a bonus. I don't think he should be fired. I think that everybody should be able to keep their job."
Of course you think everyone should keep their job. It's the auto industry way! Everyone gets to keep their job and see increased take-home pay while the bills continue to pile up due to horrible mismanagement by both the union and the company executives. And when the company reaches the point where bankruptcy is a real possibility, you cut your expenses by restructuring your labor contracts and reducing unneeded expences, right? Hell no, you don't. You offer a small reduction in the contract as an olive branch which doesn't help the situation at all. The executives continue their wasteful spending until the public outcry reaches extreme levels, then they drive a hybrid to the meeting in Washington D.C. as a way to show they've "changed".
To the executives, your chance to change came long ago. Don't use my tax dollars to bail you out of the self-created mess you're in. To the auto workers union, you had a great ride while it lasted. Welcome to the real world, where sacrifices have to be made and not everyone has a guaranteed job and pension until they retire. Consider yourselves lucky that you had the good setup for this long. Many of you will lose your job initially, but there will be plenty of jobs when new or existing competitors suck up the void left by a failed automaker. You'll still have a job. It just won't be guaranteed for life. You'll actually have to earn your keep and make a market-driven salary rather than a union-inflated salary. But if you work hard, you're pay will increase and you'll be just fine.
And to the Democrat-led Congress who pretends that the failure of an automaker will somehow cripple the economy, feel free to continue to hand out the money. I noticed that some of the provisions of the loans to the automakers would be to stop big bonuses and stop using private aircraft. Have we reached the point where that has to be mandated to management of a failing company? I really don't think we need government to tell a CEO how to make sound economic decisions in a failing company. If the executives can't do that for themselves, they should be fired. Their leadership is obviously sorely lacking. Congress should realized that people will remember your incorrect decisions and have the opportunity to vote again in 2 years for or against you. You can throw bad money after bad decisions, but you'll eventually have to justify that decision when the automakers are asking for more money down the road.
I'm off my soapbox.
I'm honestly had just about enough of all the loan/bailout talk coming out of our government. A business, simply put, is run with the intent to make a profit. The more profit that is made, the more the company expands. Workers and executives are rewarded accordingly. If the business doesn't do well, the company borrows money. Alternative sources of supplies may be sought to cut costs. If it gets really bad, they have to reduce their workforce or close up the business.
Similarly, if a void is left in that industry, a new competitor sees the available demand left by the closed company and finds ways to run their business, using the previously failed business as a mode of how not to do things. It should be noted that my parents paid thousands of dollars for me to learn these kinds of things in my business administration and accounting majors in college. Thankfully, they now have this post to show to anyone who asks what all that money bought.
Then, we have the fabulous business model perfected by the auto industry. Instead of maximizing profit, they have a wonderful model where their executives scrape large sums of money off the top both directly and indirectly. They pay out large salaries and bonuses to keep that money from being reported as profit. In addition, they indirectly pay themselves through the business expenses of private jets and business trips.
The executives also allow the union workers to reap further benefits. Auto workers and their management get paid ridiculous salaries and benefits that factory workers in similar jobs could only hope to achieve. It's reached the point now where an American automaker now pays $2,000 more than a foreign automaker to make basically the same car. The only difference is the ridiculous labor contracts that have been signed over the past few decades where the unions have continued to get better contracts deals each time.
There was a recent interview on ABC News where they were discussing the call by Obama and others for the General Motors CEO to resign. The ABC reporter asked a female union auto worker what she thought about that. Her response:
"Well, I think he should take a pay cut..........maybe not take a bonus. I don't think he should be fired. I think that everybody should be able to keep their job."
Of course you think everyone should keep their job. It's the auto industry way! Everyone gets to keep their job and see increased take-home pay while the bills continue to pile up due to horrible mismanagement by both the union and the company executives. And when the company reaches the point where bankruptcy is a real possibility, you cut your expenses by restructuring your labor contracts and reducing unneeded expences, right? Hell no, you don't. You offer a small reduction in the contract as an olive branch which doesn't help the situation at all. The executives continue their wasteful spending until the public outcry reaches extreme levels, then they drive a hybrid to the meeting in Washington D.C. as a way to show they've "changed".
To the executives, your chance to change came long ago. Don't use my tax dollars to bail you out of the self-created mess you're in. To the auto workers union, you had a great ride while it lasted. Welcome to the real world, where sacrifices have to be made and not everyone has a guaranteed job and pension until they retire. Consider yourselves lucky that you had the good setup for this long. Many of you will lose your job initially, but there will be plenty of jobs when new or existing competitors suck up the void left by a failed automaker. You'll still have a job. It just won't be guaranteed for life. You'll actually have to earn your keep and make a market-driven salary rather than a union-inflated salary. But if you work hard, you're pay will increase and you'll be just fine.
And to the Democrat-led Congress who pretends that the failure of an automaker will somehow cripple the economy, feel free to continue to hand out the money. I noticed that some of the provisions of the loans to the automakers would be to stop big bonuses and stop using private aircraft. Have we reached the point where that has to be mandated to management of a failing company? I really don't think we need government to tell a CEO how to make sound economic decisions in a failing company. If the executives can't do that for themselves, they should be fired. Their leadership is obviously sorely lacking. Congress should realized that people will remember your incorrect decisions and have the opportunity to vote again in 2 years for or against you. You can throw bad money after bad decisions, but you'll eventually have to justify that decision when the automakers are asking for more money down the road.
I'm off my soapbox.
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Love at first sight...........
Mom, who is this guy?
Look at this wonderful toy he gave me!
Come over here! Kali's going to give you some sugar!
The rest speaks for itself. True love has blossomed........
Somebody's going to get kissed!
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| From Month 20 |
Look at this wonderful toy he gave me!
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| From Month 20 |
Come over here! Kali's going to give you some sugar!
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| From Month 20 |
The rest speaks for itself. True love has blossomed........
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| From Month 20 |
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| From Month 20 |
Somebody's going to get kissed!
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| From Month 20 |
Friday, December 05, 2008
Daddy's little Christmas helper..........
Kali 1.9 helped me out decorating our Christmas tree a couple of weeks ago.
What do the paperclips have to do with a Christmas tree?
Let's put the next one right there!
Let's put this one back.......
Mickey goes onto the tree.......
I'll put this one on........
What do the paperclips have to do with a Christmas tree?
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| From Month 21 |
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| From Month 21 |
Let's put the next one right there!
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| From Month 21 |
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| From Month 21 |
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| From Month 21 |
Let's put this one back.......
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| From Month 21 |
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| From Month 21 |
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| From Month 21 |
Mickey goes onto the tree.......
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| From Month 21 |
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| From Month 21 |
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| From Month 21 |
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| From Month 21 |
I'll put this one on........
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| From Month 21 |
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| From Month 21 |
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| From Month 21 |
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| From Month 21 |
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| From Month 21 |
Thursday, December 04, 2008
A potty update..........
Mrs. Lime just called me on my cell phone. She let me know that Kali 1.9 did potty while on the potty chair a few minutes ago. The only problem is that she was so proud of her potty, that she stood up to acknowledge her potty feat while still actually going potty. So a bit of a mess, but she's getting the hand of it. Practice makes perfect.
Reading books on the potty.........
Last night, I took Kali 1.9 up to her room to change her diaper. Kali said she wanted to sit on the potty chair, so I took off her diaper and she headed over there. Her potty chair is right next to the toilet and she patted on the toilet and told me to 'sit'. I obliged.
Kali sat there for a couple of minutes and then grabbed a square of toilet paper and tossed it in her potty chair. No potty in there. She reached for some more toilet paper and I told her that she couldn't have any more until she pottied. She sat back down and we read a book while she was on the potty chair.
After a few minutes, she stood up and reached for the toilet paper. I looked down and noticed she had pottied in the chair! Who knows what the correlation was, but it appeared that the motivation of getting more toilet paper did the job. Of course, praise was handed out. Kali was hugging and kissing me. She was pretty proud of herself.
After we put on her clothes, we went into the guest bedroom to play. Kali has a lot of toys back there and likes to sit on my lap and 'play' video games with Daddy. She likes to play around with the game controllers and loves to play the Rock Band drum set. Evidently, she couldn't get enough of the hugs and kisses from Daddy. She spent the next 40-45 minutes giving hugs and kisses to me. It was a love fest of epic proportions. It eventually became a game of seeing who could kiss the other person more. I think Kali won, but I gave it my best effort. I didn't let her win without a fight.
Kali sat there for a couple of minutes and then grabbed a square of toilet paper and tossed it in her potty chair. No potty in there. She reached for some more toilet paper and I told her that she couldn't have any more until she pottied. She sat back down and we read a book while she was on the potty chair.
After a few minutes, she stood up and reached for the toilet paper. I looked down and noticed she had pottied in the chair! Who knows what the correlation was, but it appeared that the motivation of getting more toilet paper did the job. Of course, praise was handed out. Kali was hugging and kissing me. She was pretty proud of herself.
After we put on her clothes, we went into the guest bedroom to play. Kali has a lot of toys back there and likes to sit on my lap and 'play' video games with Daddy. She likes to play around with the game controllers and loves to play the Rock Band drum set. Evidently, she couldn't get enough of the hugs and kisses from Daddy. She spent the next 40-45 minutes giving hugs and kisses to me. It was a love fest of epic proportions. It eventually became a game of seeing who could kiss the other person more. I think Kali won, but I gave it my best effort. I didn't let her win without a fight.
Sydney and Kali have a tea party...........
Kali 1.9's friend Sydney came over to spend the day with her. Mrs. Lime and the girls decided to have Kali's first tea party.
They got all dressed up as princesses....
All the stuffed animals joined in.........
Afterwords, they decided to eat some cereal together............
They got all dressed up as princesses....
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| From Month 21 |
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| From Month 21 |
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| From Month 21 |
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| From Month 21 |
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| From Month 21 |
All the stuffed animals joined in.........
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| From Month 21 |
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| From Month 21 |
Afterwords, they decided to eat some cereal together............
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| From Month 21 |
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| From Month 21 |
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Playtime with Kali and Gwen.........
Kali 1.9 and Gwen 1.6 got to hang out with each other a couple of weeks ago. Here they are checking out the new snowman decoration......
Gwen checks out the snowman on her own.......
Gwen does some book reading......
Time for some milk..........
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| From Month 21 |
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| From Month 21 |
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| From Month 21 |
Gwen checks out the snowman on her own.......
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| From Month 21 |
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| From Month 21 |
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| From Month 21 |
Gwen does some book reading......
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| From Month 21 |
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| From Month 21 |
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| From Month 21 |
Time for some milk..........
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| From Month 21 |
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| From Month 21 |
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