Let There Be Peace On Earth

I think it was seeing the movie, "One Flew Over The Cukoo's Nest" starring Jack Nicholson some years ago that first interested me in the unusual sounds that can come from playing a carpenters saw. I got myself a new saw a couple weeks ago and have been toying with it. It has provided hours of entertainment for me trying to make some music with it. So far, my wife is calling it a "screeching saw", but I'm determined to get it to play music some day.
Anyway, here you will experience my first attempt and hopefully I'll be able to show improvement in a few weeks.
I'm pretty sure it will make you wince a few times in listening to this so please be prepared for it.
Happy New Year everyone.

Excessive Celebration

The "excessive celebration" rule for college football games is the best thing they ever came up with. Watching football players saluting, dancing, doing cartwheels and the like after making a touch down, catching a pass, executing a good block or tackle etc. is disgusting and takes away from the game.
Hopefully, the same rule can come out for pro football as well.

Five year blog

I just realized that I've been posting on this blog for five years now. Sure doesn't seem that long and it sure has been enjoyable.
Thanks to all of you for keeping it going.

Too Early for Basketball

This evening, Elaine is switching the television between football and basketball. Woe is me.

Please Pray for Peace

Peace on earth.
Merry Christmas everyone

Singing Saw

Austin Blackburn

Some 2011 Changes in Medicare

Here are some major changes to medicare for 2011.

1. In the past, Medicare allowed for a one-time free check up when
seniors joined the Medicare program. Beginning in 2011, seniors will
be able to get a free check up every year.

2. Beneficiaries will no longer have to pay any cost sharing for
Medicare covered preventive services that are recommended by the U.S.
Preventive Services Task Force and rated A or B. The law also waives
the medicare deductible for colorectal cancer screening tests.

3. In 2011, the Medicare part D drug benefit doughnut hole is from
$2840 to $6447.50. When beneficiaries fall into the doughnut hole,
they must pay the entire cost of their prescription medications.
Beneficiaries would not exit the doughnut hole until they have paid a
total of $4550 in out-of-pocket costs. Beginning in 2011, Medicare
beneficiaries who fall in the Part D drug benefit doughnut hole will
receive a 50% discount on the price of their brand name drugs.
Beneficiaries who fall in the doughnut hole will also receive a 7%
government subsidy toward the cost of generic drugs.

Source: Alliance for Retired Americans

Oh no, Republicans might have to work holidays

Yesterday, when Republicans learned that they might have to work until Christmas, Arizona senator, Jon Kyle, blubbered to the media that it was simply sacrilegious to expect congress to work up until one of the two most sacred holidays of Christianity.

Now, I used to work in a power plant and we had to work whenever we were needed. The soldiers fighting and dieing in Afghanistan are working through the holidays and working people all over America work during "holy week". Kyle also suggested that Senator Harry Reid was disrespecting Christmas to require that congress continue doing the country's business instead of being allowed to go home with their families and wrap presents, etc. I wonder what the homeless and those who are without jobs think of Senator Kyl's remarks.

Such hog wash, and truly disgusting. We need adults in congress. Or, maybe congress should declare that the week before and after Christmas should be national holidays for all to quit working.

Unfortunately, Jon Kyle thinks like most right wingers and we aint seen nothin yet.

NIPSCO - Listen up

OK, NIPSCO. If you think I enjoy having to write about you, you're nuts. I don't. But I don't like hearing about your disciplining your workers when they have an accident either.

Now the union has worked with you to improve your appalling safety program and you've been doing great things in reducing accidents and preventing more deaths of your workers, but for some reason, you're beginning to slide back into your old ways.

When someone is hurt on the job, all other workers need to be educated as to what happened and how they can prevent future accidents of the same type. Forget the discipline. If you must discipline someone, discipline the employees boss. That's the one allowing safety rules to be broken.

Now that's all I want to say about this, so just stop the craziness.

Happy Anniversary, Elaine. I love you.

Keep Your Stinking Hands off of Social Security

“We put those pay roll contributions there so as to give the contributors a legal, moral, and political right to collect their pensions and their unemployment benefits. With those taxes in there, no damn politician can ever scrap my social security program. Those taxes aren’t a matter of economics, they’re straight politics,”

FDR told... a Treasury official in 1941.

Life Line

Find them Cookies

No matter what Elaine does to keep me from eating her Christmas cookies, I am able to find them. I really do believe that this exceptional ability to sniff out cookies is a gift from the Almighty.

I want to share what I've learned over the years so as to make it possible for my friends to also locate these wonderful treats without getting into trouble.

One way is to wait until she leaves the house. After making sure that she has driven off down the road, search high and low in every possible nook and cranny. It's important to lock the door first.
When you do locate a batch, take no more than two cookies. That way it's less likely that you will be caught.

It's important to keep looking because there are bound to be more hidden away. Some possible hiding places would be under the bed, in her dresser, in her craft room, under the kitchen sink, between the pizza pans, on the top shelf behind the Crisco can, or the ever popular empty bag of sugar in the pantry, or lastly, if all else fails, check the trunk of her car.

When you think you've spent enough time in this excercise, put the cookies in a plastic baggy and wrap in newspaper so they can be placed next to your favorite chair to be eaten later in the evening.

I enjoy nibbling on them when her attention is on something else like a football game, etc.
Good hunting to you my friends.

A Must Listen to Speech

Snooki, Hefner, Chimp and Bush Tax Cuts