"Over with already?!"

Don't you just hate that feeling when your vacation is coming to an end and you realize it, and think about it off and on for most of the day?

You know, that feeling like: 'I have to get up early tomorrow', or 'I didn't get everything done like I wanted to', or 'Man, that flew by fast'.

Yesterday those thoughts were on my mind.

Yes, my vacation is over with too quickly; yes, I dreaded getting up for work this morning; yes, I didn't sleep very good last night knowing that I have to go to work every morning from now until May; yet I still feel very relaxed and calm, I feel rejuvenated and OK, my vacation was a very good one and I enjoyed it immensely.

I seldom travel now so when I do have vacation time off, I tend to make a list of things to get done that need to be done, and make it a point to finish my list. I have the time to get those things done and in a funny sort of way it relaxes me and makes me feel better when I accomplish that which I set out to do.

This vacation I had NO such list. I had NO plans at all but to relax and have fun, and I did.

I got some things done around the house but nothing 'major', I never went to the bar or went out, just didn't want to, I watched a lot of football, played on the computer, and read a lot from my new books.

For the first time in a very long time, I actually started sleeping in. In fact, one day I actually slept in until almost 10 AM which is unheard of for me.

This vacation was the most enjoyable, relaxing, stress-free vacation that I have had in a very long time.

It was much needed and will help me get through our upcoming Michigan Winter.

Even though I'm tired this morning and don't really want to go out into the cold, or deal with work, I feel fine and refreshed.

I wouldn't say that I'm 'raring' to go, but all things considered, I'm 'ready' to go.

A good vacation can make all the difference, and mine sure did.

All I can say is,

"C'mon May!"

                                                        A good weekend

This holiday weekend was a good weekend for football, it's just too bad that the Big Ten was nowhere to be found.

This weekend had some great rivalry games like Alabama-Auburn, Florida-Florida State, Clemson-South Carolina, and next weekend will be even better with the conference championships taking place specifically the SEC match up of Florida-Alabama.

If you wanted to see some great football this weekend you needed to watch the Michigan High School State Championship games that were played Friday and Saturday at Ford Field and televised on Fox Sports Detroit.

These are the best teams in their respective divisions, playing at their best. These kids play the game the right way for the love of the game and it's a joy to watch all the teams giving their all.

The best part was that MY Alma Mater WON on Saturday in a hard fought game that we pretty much dominated.

I'm anxious to see where USA Today ranks us nationally, we're that good.

The football season is coming to a close but this next weekend and the bowl games are definite "must-see" TV time.

I can't wait.

                                 "He who shuns his ear to the cry of the poor, will himself also call and not be heard"

                                                -Prv21:13 NAB

Wow, when I read this Proverb it just 'jumped' off the page at me.

If you never thought before what is really important in life, well, now you know.

God makes it very clear.

We are here to help our fellow person, especially to help those in need, to help those who can't help themselves.

What this Proverb makes very clear is that sooner or later WE will be one of those 'poor', the less fortunate, and if we will want and need help then, then we had better help those that need help now.

Otherwise, don't cry because nobody will care.

Like you didn't care.

When you had the chance.

Don't be one of those that didn't care, care when you can, right here, right now.

Make a difference in someone's life.

God will reward you for it and you'll feel good about it, all at the same time.

Make a difference.

                                                     Did I miss anything?

I feel as if I missed something. I feel as if I should have been there. I feel a little guilty for not having been a part of it.

Yesterday, I never went to the mall, never even drove by a store, barely even went outside.

I think I missed the greatest shopping day of the year.

Than again I'm not a sheep, and most people are sheep.

I'm watching the news yesterday and I see TENTS outside stores the night before with people camped out just to be the first ones inside when the store opens, I see a church group rent a BUS to take them at midnight to an outlet mall to shop all night than to bring them back early so that they can shop some more locally, I see over 800 people WAITING in line to get inside a Best Buy store in New Jersey just to be able to get the incredible bargains being offered, I even see a local couple get MARRIED outside a Best Buy store while waiting in line.

Boy that's something to tell your kids huh?

And through it all, I missed it by staying home and watching football, finishing my Christmas decorations, and pretty much doing nothing.

Were there bargains to be had? Some I think, but not what most people thought.

I checked out the ads and yes there were sales but nothing to CAMP out all night for. Most of the bargains were for small ticket items like DVD's, and music CD's. Yes they had computers for 'cheap' but if you read the fine print they might have had 5 per store.

"Let's see....5 per store, 800 people in line.....mmmm...."

Even the retail web sites had 'lame' sales.

Amazon had some 'blockbuster' sale prices of save 2%, or save 11 cents!

I know because I seen them.

Black Friday is overrated. Yes there are savings to be had but not the incredible, one of a kind, never to be seen again kind that people have been conditioned to believe.

In fact, if you reread the Black Friday ads you'll see that most of the sales are STILL going on through the weekend!

People are sheep, they just follow the crowd.

Baa Baa Black Friday,

I'll just wait for Cyber Monday.

                                      Red to black

Today is really the official start to the holiday shopping season. Shopper's 'camp' out for 'one of a kind' bargains, retailers rid themselves of overstocked merchandise, and more money changes hands today, than any other day of the year.

Black Friday is here.

I got up early one year and went to Best Buy to get a great deal on some computer software. It was a great deal and worth it, but I will never go shopping on this day again. The crowds were horrendous and I think I waited in line to checkout at least 3 hours.

Just not worth MY time.

There are bargains to be made, and money to be saved, just not by me.

I do admit though, I check out a few web sites for 'deals' and if it's something that I want I'll buy.

Sitting in my recliner, watching TV, the computer on my lap, is MY idea of shopping.

Two quick bits of trivia:

Black Friday supposedly started on the East Coast about 1966, but went National on a serious basis in 2000.

Black Friday is called that because this is the day when the retailer's fiscal year goes from a loss (red) to starting to make a profit (black).

Thus the 'Black' of

Black Friday.

Happy shopping.

   The "official" start of the Christmas season

Today is a great day filled with food, family, friends, and even fun.

Today is the one day on the calendar that it's OK to overeat, to watch too much football, to lie around and do nothing, to take a 'nap' while visiting.

Thanksgiving Day is a day set aside in the USA to commemorate the Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock. The Pilgrims wanted to thank God for allowing them to survive the brutal Winter and so they had a 'thanksgiving' feast that lasted 3 days.

That first Thanksgiving Day was celebrated in 1621 and was 'celebrated' by 53 Pilgrims and 90 Indians.

It was originally a religious holiday thanking God for the harvest but quickly turned into a secular holiday of thanksgiving in modern times.

The first 'modern' Thanksgiving Day was celebrated in 1863 and became a National Holiday is 1941.

The Detroit Lions played in their first Thanksgiving Day football game in 1934 and as usual, promptly lost to the Chicago Bears  19-16. It was however, the first national radio broadcast of a football game in history.

Thanksgiving Day is at its core a time to be thankful for what one has, a time to appreciate, a time to love.

Make sure to take some time today to do just that.

Give thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving Day everyone.

                                                       Midweek

Well, this is the middle of my vacation week off and I'm enjoying every minute of it. So far, I've gotten much done that I've needed done for a while now, and I've gone out and had some fun too.

I've been staying up late at night and have even started to sleep in, in the morning, which is usually the hardest thing to do for me.

Just this morning for example, I didn't wake up until 9:40, which is unheard of for me, but it felt so good and my body feels so relaxed now, that I just feel great.

Later today and tomorrow morning I think that I'll put up some Christmas decorations. I don't put much up anymore because I finally realized as I got older that "what goes up must come down", but I still want to get into the Christmas spirit and decorate a little.

Tomorrow being the holiday, the next couple of days usually belong to family, so the 'relaxing' part of my vacation is probably over with, at least for a couple of days, and the weekend will be 'life' back to normal.

I'm having a really nice, very relaxing vacation, enjoying my time off of work, and just feeling great.

I guess that's what vacations are for.

And this one is 'working' out just fine.

                                              8 minutes 3 seconds

Arguably the greatest rock and roll song of all time, a classic among classics, the epitome of music at its finest, surprisingly was never a hit.

In fact it was such a 'non-hit' that the greatest song ever written was never even released as a single.

Led Zeppelin's  'Stairway to Heaven'  when released, was actually a 'dud', not popular, bashed by critics, just another song on a pretty unpopular album.

Released in November of 1971 on 'Led Zeppelin IV', the song wasn't "heavy" enough for the fans and at 8 minutes and 3 seconds, way too long for radio stations.

Or was it?

The song was too long for radio, and yet radio is what made the song.

Remember, back in 1971 radio stations actually had DJ's 'spinning' vinyl, DJ's were actually in the booth playing the music, DJ's were real and necessary.

Today everything is computerized; most stations that you hear have no DJ's, their voices are 'dubbed' in and the music that you hear is computer generated.

DJ's are not necessary anymore.

But not so in 1971.

Stairway to Heaven was too long for radio but it wasn't too long for something else DJ related.

Something very important.

Smoking.

At 8 min 3 sec the song was the perfect length for a smoking break.

The DJ puts Stairway to Heaven on the turntable and then knows that he has time to go outside and 'grab' a smoke.

If you think I'm kidding, I'm not. It was for this reason that radio stations around the world started to play a song that was 'way' too long for radio, and helped to make it the greatest rock and roll song ever.

Three facts about the song that you might not know:

There is no bass on the song, but there are flutes, strings, and keyboards.

Drums are not played on the song until 4:18.

Professional media publications have said that Stairway to Heaven has been played on the radio in the USA alone the equivalent of 23 Million minutes.

That means that this song which was unpopular when released, bashed by critics, and was way too long to be played on the radio has actually been played on the radio the equivalent of

44 years!

And counting.....

                                                           5-7  1-7 in the Big Ten

One win in a pretty weak conference; tied for last with mighty Indiana; three games behind eighth place finisher Purdue; they finished their season with their sixth straight defeat to Ohio State making OSU coach Jim Tressel  8-1 since his taking over the football team in Columbus nine years ago.

Can it get any worse for Michigan?

The Rich Rodriguez era at Michigan so far, has destroyed a once proud tradition. A football 'powerhouse' playing at the sold out 'Big House' was a consensus top ten program year after year.

Rodriguez was supposed to enhance that reputation, to lead UM to the next step and to carry on the tradition but so far anyway, he's just 'crashed and burned' and instead of leading them to the 'penthouse', he's run them into the 'doghouse'.

Many people that I know want a coaching change right now but there are two reasons why that won't happen.

First, you just don't fire a coach after only two seasons. If you made a commitment to him when he was hired I think that you have to give him at least 3 years but probably 5 years to see what he can do.

Don't forget we're talking student-athletes here and every time a coach is fired, innocent young lives are affected.

Plus, the bad press from firing a coach after only two years might just be worse than having another bad season.

In addition, even if you bring in a new 'hot' coach, what exactly will his record be the first year? The second?

Giving Coach Rod a chance and another at least couple of years is the only "politically correct", smart, safe, and right thing to do.

The second reason why he won't be fired after just two years is that Michigan doesn't have an Athletic Director in place yet.

The old AD and the guy that hired Coach Rod is retiring in September and a search is on for a new AD.

Until that happens, nothing this major will be decided. When the new person is hired than it will be his decision to make.

After next season, UM will have had three years of Coach Rod and his football acumen, and a better and more informed decision will be able to be made regarding what type of future is in store for all involved.

I'm really not sure that Rich Rodriguez is the right 'fit' for UM at this time. I still believe that none of this would have occurred if UM hadn't panicked in choosing their next coach and hired who they wanted, instead of settling.

But it's done, and we all have to live with it.

Giving Coach Rod another year at least and probably another two is the only sensible thing to do.

It's the only classy thing to do, and Michigan always prided itself on having class.

Now we'll see.

                                  "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you"

                                               -Jn 14:27a

PEACE; a very strong word. A word that connotes many things to many people. A word filled with passion,

intensity, feeling, emotion.

A word 'overflowing' with HOPE.

Our world has always longed for peace especially today, yet as a world, we have seldom experienced true peace.

Yet we must continue to strive for that, for true peace, for THAT is where our future lies.

IF we are to have one.

It's also important to remember one thing. True peace is not just the absence of war,  it's so much more than that.

True peace is also about justice and freedom and the rights for all.

Those that are poor and indigent, those that are lame and handicapped, those that are young and old, those that can't fight for themselves,  we as a people, as a world, we must fight for them.

WE must help those that can't help themselves, for THAT is the real definition of true peace.

Until we the strong, help those the weak, we as a world will never be at true peace.

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you."

Until we can all say that in our homes, our communities, our nation, our world, we will never have true lasting peace.

Let us all strive to leave this world with our peace.

One person at a time.

                                                         Changed my mind again

I know what I said not even a month ago I think, but after some time of using it as my homepage, I decided to get rid of IGoogle.

I just wasn't happy with it. It was slow, many of the items on my homepage I never used, and it wanted to share too much information for my taste.

Now I switched to MyYahoo as my homepage and I am very pleasantly surprised. It has far more options than IGoogle and I'm finding out that I use every inch of my screen having more information at my fingertips than ever before.

It is an outstanding homepage and as of now anyway, I highly recommend it.

Check it out.

MyYahoo

It has much to offer.

                                                    Love these weeks

Aahhh....this is the start of a great week. These weeks only come around a few times during the year so when they do, one needs to take advantage of them and enjoy them.

And I'm definitely going to.

This is the start of my vacation, and I have 11 days off!

Eleven days to unwind, to 'chill', just to relax.

And I need all 11 days!

So for those of you that have to work and especially for those of you that have to get up early in the morning for work, have fun and make sure to 'hold down the fort' for me. My vacation will be over soon enough, but in the meantime.....

I think I'm going to take a nap.

G'nite.

                                                                          Take some time

Since I had some "issues" with Livejournal yesterday, not being able to 'post', I had some extra time on my hands and inadvertently started to upgrade some of my software on my computer.

What I never realized was just how much of my software needed upgrading.

I manually checked and upgraded just about every program on my computer, including checking my computer manufacturer's website, my wireless router's website, my printer's website, and even my ISP's website.

I always thought that programs that had automatic updating were always up-to-date, but that's not necessarily the case.

I was really surprised to see just how many updates that I needed, from software to firmware.

If you haven't taken the time recently to check for updates, take some time now.

Update everything even if it's supposed to be updated automatically, than Restart your computer, than run CCleaner, than Defrag.

When you're all done, than run a Virus Scan.

This takes some time but I think that it is essential 'maintenance' for something so important.

Enjoy.

                                                               Two 'cool' sites

I found two pretty 'cool' sites that you might want to check out and 'bookmark' if you feel the same.

The first is a free music site that plays just about anything that you request:

                      Grooveshark.com

Suffice it to say that it has a lot to offer anyone that loves music. Check it out and get your 'groove' on.

The second is a dictionary, yet much more than that:

                      Wordnik.com

Just type in a word and it not only gives you the definition, but it also gives you antonyms and synonyms of that word, the word origin, it uses the word in a sentence, and it gives you a pronunciation key.

It's the best dictionary on the internet that I'm aware of.

I highly recommend this site, even just to 'bookmark' and to save for another time.

Just make sure to use it, it's that good.

These are two very good sites that are both 'user-friendly' and very useful too.

I think that you'll like both.

Check them out.

                                                                       Just a little irritating

I ordered new shoes for work a few weeks ago and received them a couple of days ago. Everything is fine; I like them, they're just what I wanted and needed, and I'm pretty happy.

One question however.

Why is it that when you buy new shoes, one shoe fits absolutely perfect with no problems at all, but the other shoe fits good, no real problems, but not quite perfect?

Know what I mean?

No real issue, nothing to really complain about, yet it's just not that perfect fit, like the other shoe.

I love my new shoes, no complaints at all, yet...."this one side.....not like the other.....can't exactly explain...just a little play...."

Oh well, such is life.

MY life anyway.

Always something.

                                                                                 99-19

Another 'wonderful' weekend for my two favorite football teams, with the Lion's getting 'spanked' by the Viking's, and the 'mighty' Wolverine's losing another 'close' one to Wisconsin.

The Lion's I totally expected. Facing a very good Viking's team with a superb Brett Favre playing IN Minnesota, I was only surprised that it wasn't a 'blowout' much earlier in the game.

I just can't wait for next week and the 'highly anticipated' game of the week, with the 'lousy' Lion's facing the possibly even 'worse' Cleveland Brown's.

This will be a true battle of 'decrepit' teams; two once storied franchises who are now nothing more than the butt of jokes, and the laughing stock of the league.

Can't hardly wait.

There's not much more to say about Michigan. A once glorious tradition is now easily forgotten by the last two years of abysmal football.

Yesterday's game was just more of the same.

NO defense.

In the last 4 games, UM has been outscored in the second half,  99 to 19.

99-19!

That means that in the second half alone, in the last 4 games, the opposing teams have outscored the Wolverine's by  80 points!

80 points!

Nothing else needs to be said.

Next week will be another embarrassment, probably getting 'schooled' by an explosive Ohio State team just itching to hit us when we're down.

That will make this season 5-7 with only 1 win in conference play, maybe the only time that has ever happened in their history.

How's that for glorious tradition?

                                                                  "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate."

                                          -Rom 7:15

Many times in my life I have gone back to this passage for it gives me hope and solace and strength.

If even St. Paul 'fought' his inner demons; his conscious, his ego, his will; after everything that he saw and experienced, than I know that there's still hope for me.

I know the right things to do in life, those actions or thoughts that keep me on the 'straight and narrow', that help me on my life journey. I know the way to live and act and breathe, and conversely, I definitely know the things to stay away from, those actions or thoughts that tend to lead me astray, that tend to hurt me.

Yet, just like St. Paul even though I know better, I sometimes "do not do what I want, but I do the very thing that I hate".

Even though I know otherwise, I sometimes am self-destructive, and I don't know why.

That's why this passage from Scripture gives me solace. If even St. Paul the greatest evangelist ever, had to fight his 'inner-self' at times, than I know that I'm no different than anyone else.

We're all the same.

St. Paul,  me,  you.

We're all in this journey of life together and by reading Scripture, a little bit everyday, it tends to make this journey just a little bit easier for me, and it helps to answer some of my "woe-is-me" moments.

We're not alone on this journey called life.

Open the 'good-book' and find out for yourself.

It'll help you to 'enjoy the ride'.

                                                         Five Days.

Aahhh......A nice relaxing Saturday morning, sitting with my coffee, looking out the window, whilst I open up and start to read my new Stephen King book.

My $35 book that I got brand new for just $9.

I ordered my new books on Monday evening, and received them Friday morning, just five days later; and the shipping was free!

I love Amazon.

I love the internet.

The internet makes shopping so damn easy and convenient, it's almost scary how simple it can be.

I ordered these books with 'one-click' shopping, all I had to do was press one button to order. Yes, I had to wait a few days for my order, but before I knew it my order was at my door, waiting to be read.

For the huge savings involved, it's much easier than going to a store and buying them there, and the convenience of never having to leave your house, coupled with the incredible sales price never to be seen at a retail store, makes this whole process a "no-brainer" as far as I'm concerned.

If you love to read, this is the only way to go.

Check it out.

Or should I say "Click" it out!

                                                           Because it's the HUMAN thing to do.

A few people responded to Wednesday's blog on healthcare asking the same question.

The 'gist' of most of the opinions was essentially, 'why should they have to pay for others healthcare'?

To me it's a pretty simple answer; when one lives in a democratic country, a very successful democratic country, with that success comes responsibility, the kind of responsibility that has to do the right thing for society, for no other reason, than it is just the right thing to do.

Even with all of our recent problems, we are still the wealthiest country on earth. For that reason alone, there is NO reason why our children should not be immunized when young for example, just because of the lack of money, or because their parents are from the wrong side of the tracks.

To not do something so simple and yet so vital would be ludicrous, and would be the sure sign of an uncivilized society, instead of one in the forefront of human ethics.

It is true especially today, that there are many people without any type of healthcare insurance because they lost their coverage when they lost their jobs. These same people are not lazy, or 'freeloaders', or looking for a handout; they are fellow citizens, trying to 'pull their weight' but going through a rough time at the moment.

Should we just abandon them and hope that they don't get sick, hope that they don't need an expensive prescription, hope that their problems just go away?

Not everybody without healthcare coverage is a "scammer".

Take for example the guy who lost his job because of the economy and can't seem to find one right now. He lost his insurance when he lost his job and can't afford to pay the exorbitant premiums because he needs to live and eat, and right now he's living off his savings.

Being diligent and hardworking he keeps putting in resumes and going to job interviews.

One day on the way to a job interview, through NO fault of his own, he is rear ended and ends up in the hospital for a week.

If he has no health coverage at all, this hospital stay will bankrupt him and destroy what little self-respect he has left.

With a national healthcare plan, at least this stay will be covered and when he gets better he can continue his search for a new job, and to once again be a contributing member of society.

Being a part of a civilized society means helping the 'least' of that society, when they need it the most.

That's what makes us human,

and that is the human thing to do.

                               "Phew....Thank God that's done!"

After more than a week of serious study, I finally decided on my healthcare choices for next year at work.

Don't get me wrong, I feel very fortunate to actually have choices to make, but I have to admit that trying to choose the right plan is tough. The insurance company's make it very confusing, very daunting, and downright exhausting.

Why do they have to make healthcare so 'intense'?

Just take a look at what President Obama has sent to the House for consideration on a National Healthcare Plan:

                                   2200 pages!

Twenty two hundred pages of insurance 'gobbledygook'!

What else can be in there but insurance company crap?

If the President wants National healthcare why not just pass a law that every citizen of the U.S.A. has basic coverage in case of a traumatic experience and if they need it.

There, done.

Why does it have to be so confusing? As a nation, we are either covered or we're not.

Since every citizen is covered by basic coverage, than we can have negotiated and supplemental insurance for those workers that can get 'perks' from their employers, unions, trade associations, etc.

This way the insurance company's still can make money with additional policy's, people that can afford them can get better coverage, while every citizen is still covered for basic necessities.

Win     Win      Win

Simple, straightforward, and effective.

The best kind of insurance.