You never know what kind of trip it’s going to be and when the day started off like this one did you wonder if you’d be better off staying home. 

I have a large coffee cup that I normally keep at home, but when I’m heading off on the raod I will often take it with me.  I had it full of coffee this morning and put it in the cup holder of my rental car.  It was a tight fit, but it seemed to be in pretty well, so I left it to get the rest of my stuff.  I put my bag in the back, and closed the hatch.  When I opened the drivers door to put my other bag up front with me I noticed my coffee cup sitting upside down in the console.  It was completely empty.  All of the coffee that had been in it, was now in a big puddle in the console.  My driveway is short, but on  a pretty steep incline, so I guess when I slammed the hatch it dislodged my cup and dumped my coffee.  What a start to the day.

I headed inside to get something to dry it with and as I headed. back out my wife informed me that  I had the last roll of paper towels in my hand.  I guess that was my cue to NOT use them, so I only took a few.  It was enough to soak up most of the coffee at least.  When I went back inside, my wife went out and (without being asked) finished cleaning up the mess with a damp cloth.  At least something went well.

All in all it turned out to be a pretty good day, though.  After I’m done here tomorrow, I’ll be heading down to Atlanta, Georgia for a couple of days.  At least one of my coworkers will be there too, so maybe we can get together while I’m there and keep each other from going insane.  Gotta love being on the road.

Conversing with customers is like talking to family that you don’t see that often.  You want to connect with them, but you don’t want to talk politics until you know where they stand.  I have very few customers who aren’t conservative, but I still try not to talk politics unless they bring it up.

I was in Paris, Texas a couple of weeks ago and they were disgusted with Obama-mania.  Today the customer and I talked about guns, taxes, and pirates. 

I’m in the unique position of being able to hear a lot of different opinions about these things and at the very least learn something about people as I go if not about politics.  It really does make the job and life more interesting when you get to meet lots of different people from lots of different backgrounds.  Of course, that doesn’t mean that I like being on the road…

Jesse has been out of the spotlight too long to suit… Jesse.  Go back into your little world and keep paying off your baby momma to keep her mouth shut.

Writers who are not pro-Barack Obama are suffering character assassination as well. George Will of the Washington Post, the nation’s senior conservative columnist, has been so assaulted by bloggers that his editor, Fred Hiatt, recently wrote, “I would think folks would be eager to engage in the debate, given how sure they are of their case, rather than trying to shut him down.”

Frightening trend, but it’s really not new.  Obama has seen to this since he’s hit the national spotlight.  He has someone really powerful keeping him above the fray, but very much in the limelight.

So, Senator Kerry.  You think that the government investing in newspapers much like they have in the auto industry is a good idea…  And, you say, they won’t interfere in operations much like in the auto and banking industry.  But haven’t you guys been essentially running the banks since investment in them even going so far as to refuse repayment in order to keep some level of control over them?

You won’t see that question from the MSM.  This is a DANGEROUS move especially considering the alleged interference from the Obamanation and alleged threats against lawyers and investment firms for not going along with Obama’s planned rescue.  Newspapers are already part of the Obamanation, so it’s not like this will make very much difference if they do have control, but from a fiscal standpoint where does it end?

You are getting this money from a shrinking group.  Taxpayers.  As unemployment goes up, revenue for the government goes down, yet they are spending at an unprecedented rate.  I don’t know about you, but I can’t afford to fund any more takeovers and bailouts and neither can my children.  I would like for my children to be able to keep more of what they earn than any generation since the spending spree by government began.  The Obamanation Socialist Movement is not only going to bankrupt this generation, but generations to come and taking away freedoms by the minute.  It’s up to us to stop it before it’s too late.  VOTE THEM OUT.  Email them.  Call them.   Make it known that if they want reelection, they must answer to you.  It’s our only hope.

The Republican Party keeps making such a mess trying to remake itself when all it has to do is get back to it’s core values minus the extreme social conservatism and we’re back in business.  People don’t like either extreme.  Fiscal conservatism is actually popular amongst working Americans, but the far right loudmouths are getting most of the press right now because of the OSM in the media.  That’s not what the Republican Party is about, but the OSM media always seeks out the nutjobs to put on CNN and the 3 major OSM outlets plus MSNBC.

VOTE.  THEM.  OUT.

This book is dedicated to the memory of Murph, Axe, and Danny Boy, Kristensen, Shane, James, Senior, Jeff, Jacques, Taylor, and Mac. These were the eleven men of Alfa and Echo Platoons who fought and died in the mountains of Afghanistan trying to save my life, and with whom I was honored to serve my country. There is no waking hour when I do not remember them all with the deepest affection and the most profound, heartbreaking sadness.

Now here’s another very interesting quote from the book on page 36:

Looking back, during our long journey in the C-130 to Afghanistan, I was more acutely aware of a growing problem which faces U.S. forces on active duty in theaters of war all over the world.  For me, it began in Iraq, the first murmurings from the liberal part of the U.S.A. that we were somehow in the wrong, brutal killers, bullying other countries; that we who put our lives on the line for our nation at the behest of our government should be somehow charged with murder for shooting our enemy.
It’s been an insiduous progression, the criticisms of the U.S. Armed Forces from politicians and from the liberal media, which knows nothing of combat, nothing of our training, and nothing of the mortal dangers we face out there on the front line.  Each of the six of us in that aircraft en route to Afghanistan had constantly in the back of our minds, the ever-intrusive rules of engagement….
…I can say from firsthand experience that those rules of engagement cost the lives of three of the finest U.S. Navy SEALs who have ever served.

These are our defenders.  These are our fathers, brothers, and sons.  Yet we stand by and let the liberal media and liberal politicians cost their lives needlessly in the name of political correctness.  I ask you this… Why?

Read the book.  It’s really awesome and inspiring.

If you look outside LA and San Fran, the state is really fairly conservative (when you’re only talking about those here legally that is).  I’ve been here for about 24 hours now and haven’t talked to a liberal yet.  On the plane ride into Sacramento, I talked with a retired woman who didn’t like living here because of the “liberals taking over the government here”.  In talking with people at the plant where I’m doing some work, same story about LA and San Fran giving the state a liberal slant because the population is so high there that they essentially over ride the rest of the state.

I also hadn’t considered how much of the state is rural and agricultural.  As I arrived in Sacramento, the nice lady sitting next to me pointed out the rice fields.  I didn’t know they grew so much rice here either.  You learn something new every day, if you listen more than you talk.

Amazing how much things change when you are the one making the decisions.  With his “changes” to the system, now it’s ok to have military tribunals for terrorists.  Heaven forbid a terrorist not get a fair trial before his slap on the wrist and ticket back to terrorist central.

If President Obama didn’t have enough on his plate already, he’s now thrust himself into the middle of a statewide race that has sparked growing resentment among some New York Democrats.

Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) asked Obama to implore Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) against challenging Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) in the Democratic primary next year, FOX News has learned.

And the OSM moves forward.  Here’s an interesting point for you:

It’s rare for a president to inject himself into statewide politics. And a host of New York political insiders with ties to several House Democrats say they’re angry that the president even got involved.

“What? You can’t have a primary? It’s decided in backroom deals?” asked a source who spoke to FOX News on the condition of anonymity. “What if someone told Obama he couldn’t have a primary and Hillary (Clinton) would just be the nominee? Where would he be? It’s an outrage.”

Obama’s power and influence continues to grow, but if you look hard enough, like in this story, you’ll see that Americans are starting to not be very happy with what’s going on within our government.  Another example is this poll which states that 54% of Americans think that Obama is proposing too much of an increase in government spending.  Also:

The Obama administration consistently uses the word “invest” or “investment” instead of government “spending.” Even so, most Americans don’t make the distinction as fully 78 percent say it means spending their tax dollars, not saving them.

Some days it looks like people are paying attention, yet on other days it just doesn’t.

Update: I wonder if Obama had anything to do with this.  I would be surprised if he didn’t since he was buddying up to him as the great convert even though he hasn’t changed his philosophy, just his party in order to keep his seat.  How sickening…