A HUMBLE MAN LEARNS A TOUGH LESSON

It was that way in Vietnam, Korea, World War II as well as World War I.

The people who get all the protection want to spit on the ones doing the protecting.

God bless the men and women that serve this country. If you don’t like how they are doing it. Call them home and go yourself. Other wise set in your recliner with your big fat mouth shut.

Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), a former Army lieutenant colonel, sends THE WEEKLY STANDARD an email commenting on the Marines’ video, and has given us permission to publish it.

“I have sat back and assessed the incident with the video of our Marines urinating on Taliban corpses. I do not recall any self-righteous indignation when our Delta snipers Shugart and Gordon had their bodies dragged through Mogadishu. Neither do I recall media outrage and condemnation of our Blackwater security contractors being killed, their bodies burned, and hung from a bridge in Fallujah.

“All these over-emotional pundits and armchair quarterbacks need to chill. Does anyone remember the two Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division who were beheaded and gutted in Iraq?

“The Marines were wrong. Give them a maximum punishment under field grade level Article 15 (non-judicial punishment), place a General Officer level letter of reprimand in their personnel file, and have them in full dress uniform stand before their Battalion, each personally apologize to God, Country, and Corps videotaped and conclude by singing the full US Marine Corps Hymn without a teleprompter.

“As for everyone else, unless you have been shot at by the Taliban, shut your mouth, war is hell.”

Now with that said, I do believe there is a quarter back that he thinks a whole lot of. Go Tebow!!!!

My only prayer concerning any of this is that the Broncos and the Saints don’t land in the Super Bowl. That will surely cause a divorce at my house, perhaps even a murder. I assure you if it looks like both teams are heading toward the Super Bowl, I will hide all guns and sharp instruments around my house before hand.

After all we know down deep that God gotta love Drew the most. If he didn’t I wouldn’t love him so much.

Please don’t read too much into this blog. It just happens I am a victim of a dysfunctional foot ball home.

My wife hates the Saints, and I have loved them for the last 45 years.

Move. Belief it or not, things don’t change much in the rut.

How many people do you know that have spent a life time in a dead-end job wondering why they can’t advance. The answer is simple. You are working a dead-end job. Go find another one.

I am saying this with a life of experience behind me. There have been several times in my life that I have been stuck in a rut. It was normally my wife who said, “Get your ass up and move. It isn’t anything but mud down there.

Yes, I was in a rut but for the most part. Still, it was a comfortable rut. I knew everyone in it and we all shared the same dislikes of the rut. We would sit around for hours complaining about our situation.

I just read a book about a black girl back in the 60s. She was born with a great musical mind. However, the people in colored town, could not care less. They saw it of nothing special. Before she could accomplish her goals she had to move. She kissed butt and worked two jobs. She was willing to do whatever it took to get across the tracks.

People have starved to death for years in West Virginia coal mining country. Guess what they aren’t making any more coal. Either they must move and go to work for McDonald’s in Virginia or keep on asking charities to feed their kids.

Something else about being stuck in a rut. Your friends like you there. This means you must go and find some new ones. Find people who are already doing what you want to do.

Don’t ask your financially distressed friends for money advice. They no less about the subject than you do.

Interested in becoming a cop? Hang around some do-nut shops. You might meet someone willing to give you a hand up.

If you want to be a deep-sea diver Pack up and go to the coast, there is no demand for deep-sea divers in Missouri.

If you say you can’t afford to move you are really saying you like the rut.

Show me a man who is thirsty, and I will show you a man who is soon going to find a way to get water.

It is a new year. Make up your mind. Either lay down in the rut and say I love it here or take my wife’s advice and get off your lazy ass and move over a foot. I promise the ground will be totally different there.

The book I just finished, “KING OF COLOR TOWN” was a very raw story about a girl who refused to look back. I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone. Some people view raw as gross or vulgar. I am that way on most things. Still, I chose to call this book raw.

This morning I awoke to find her standing nude, looking in the bedroom mirror.

She was not happy with what she saw and said to me,

“I feel horrible; I look old, fat and ugly. I really need you
to pay me a compliment.’

I replied, “Your eyesight’s damn near perfect.”

And then the fight started……..

My resolution is to bridle my tongue. Sounds simple. The psalms say you can bridle a wild stallion easier and I totally agree.

I have tried before and always fail. Out of nowhere for no reason I find myself saying something that is completely unnecessary. Often it is something hurtful to someone else.

The crazy thing about this is that it always comes back to haunt me. Such a simple thing yet so difficult.

Any of you that pray. Please feel free to mention me and my struggle. If you don’t  a positive thought in my direction would be appreciated.

Jesus said he wanted it all. Well, this is one part I have never been able to give all.

I will stop here and maybe I will go attach a clothes pen to my tongue. It is very strong little muscle though. It most likely want do any good.

PS. Sorry I know a lot of you was hoping I would take spelling lessons.

That in itself has never seemed very important to me. It has taken on a whole new meaning in the last couple of years though. My dad has Alzheimer and his past is slowly closing into a dark hole. Each day the hole seems to grow smaller. I am afraid soon he will no longer remember me.

If you don’t remember yesterday how in the world can you look forward to tomorrow. Perhaps that is one way we are different from the animals.

Any way I have tried my best to get in the Christmas spirit this year. Since Thanksgiving I have done everything I could think of. Then this morning on the way to work I felt it. I smiled and thought only one day late. Maybe that is how my dad feels. He just can’t quiet pull up enough of the past to look forward to the future.

This leaves him stuck in the moment. He neither knows for sure where he has been nor where he is going. My anchor, my rock is dissolving before my eyes.

That’s right the best of holidays not Merry Christmas. You see my dear readers I am a hypocrite. Many of you may have already figured this out by other posting I have made.

I am a hypocrite because I say things I don’t believe in and practice things that I think are stupid.

1. I don’t believe in Santa. I believe Coca Cola invited him to sell pop. Then the department stores adopted him to sale toys.
2. I don’t believe in flying reindeer nor do I believe in Rudolph. I believe a writer working for Montgomery Wards made up a story and a front cover for their Christmas catalog one year. I believe Gene Audrey made a small fortune singing about this catalog cover.
3. I don’t believe in Christmas trees. I think they came from the pagans. I also don’t believe in Christmas decorations. They came from the same pagans the trees came from.
4. I don’t even believe in Christmas itself. I think the Catholic church invented it to draw some of the traffic away from the pagans that were celebrating the first day of winter.
5. Worst of all I don’t believe Christ was born In December. I think most likely it was late March middle April. Maybe even April Fools Day. Wouldn’t that be a devil of a something. Underline devil. If he couldn’t stop it. Maybe he thought he could change the date and commercialize it.

I also believe this. If Christmas makes you happy as it does me. Go for it. If people can take one day a year and not be such a—hole, great. If the malls can make a buck off the deal that is great. You see I don’t see profit as a dirty word. I am in business and haven’t figured out how to stay in it without a profit.

Now what makes me a hypocrite.

1. I give out presents every year.
2. I have a big old fake tree with lights and greenery every where.
3. In fact my wife has a model sleigh filled with presents setting in the floor.

Still I am not as bad if that is possible as my neighbor that has a manger scene in her front yard. There Santa is peering over into the feed box at the baby Jesus. Near there is the wise men placing their gifts under a Christmas tree.

I suppose she speaks for us all. For some strange reason we prefer a lie blended into our Christmas cheer.

Alright forget how I started this off.

Merry Christmas to each and all,

gary