Eject , Eject, Eject!

Eject, eject, eject! That line come from the movie, Flight of the Intruder. The Navy pilot is giving a ride to a corpsman and goes over the procedure for an in-flight emergency. He tells the doc, the command for eject will be, eject, eject, eject! The doc asks, "Do I say Roger or something?" The pilot replies, if you even say "Huh" you're going to be talking to yourself.

Sometimes you have to know when to bail out before you crash and do permanent damage. At this season in my life, I have reached that point. Don't worry, I'm not going to run off to join the circus, or move to Scotland to distill my own brand of whiskey, I'm just readjusting my priorities.

As a younger man, my life was completely self-centered. To be totally honest, I still fight that trait to this day, and some days, it wins. However, when you're young, your life is all about what will make you happiest in the very near future. By near future, that could be weeks, days, or even hours. What other people are doing, feeling, or experiencing is of relatively little value, unless it's a means to getting that next dose of happiness. If you have kids at home, especially teenagers, you know this all too well. If this reflects your own life, and you are past your twenties, you are doing it wrong.

As you get older, you are supposed to grow up and be 'responsible'. Being responsible, as a wise friend once told me, is being able to choose your response. As life gets more complicated with relationships, work, family, and other things, they all start to bide for your time and attention. This is when 'responsible' feels more like being on the hook for everything and less about choosing a response.

As I approached my forties, I began to take inventory of my life. I hear this is normal, and even healthy. As long as don’t divorce your wife for someone half her age, and buy a convertible Corvette. Knowing that you may have just hit the apex of your lifespan, that you may have fewer sunrises ahead than are in the rear view mirror, can bring you life into focus. It did for me. I wanted to start making a difference in the world surrounding me. I began to say yes to things that I had resisted in the past. Community groups, church, politics, I began to serve on all types of committees, leadership teams, boards of directors and such.

I want to be as clear as I can here, these are all wonderful organizations, and worthy causes. My hat is off to those who serve in these roles. There is a lot of hard work, long days (and nights) no pay, and very little recognition. I hope in the future I can find a balance in my life that allows me once again to serve those around me. Right now, I am turning my focus elsewhere.

In an earlier piece, I wrote about my daughter and how I wanted to spend more time with her as she enters her pre-teen years. When I looked at my calendar before, it was filled with meetings, volunteer days, and other activities. I began to realize how much I rely on my wife when it comes to Abbie. They are two peas in a pod, and while this is great for their relationship, I can't just be a bystander in my daughter’s life. I want to be as involved in her life as I am in my son's life. This will be a challenge for me, as the thought of a car load or house full of giggling, screaming, eleven year old girls gives me the hives.

The other reason for my disengagement with my volunteer activities is a bit more personal. I need to do a little work on myself. Well, maybe a more than a little. That mid life, self assessment left me with a few areas where I need to improve. My health, my spiritual maturity, my family life; I need to invest my time and focus on these things right now. Not that you can ever master these areas, but you only have a limited amount of resources, and when I am spreading myself a mile wide, I find that I am only an inch deep.

To boil it down, I guess I am doing too many things, and I'm not doing any of them well. I hope this winter is a growing season for me; as a husband, a father, a man, and as follower of Christ.

I hope sometime in the future, I can re-engage in some of these areas. This time, I will give the opportunity a very close look, and talk it over with my family. They will have final veto power. For now, it’s out to the workshop; I have a lot of work to do.

A day of days

Sleep used to be one of my strong suits. Not to boast, but I could sleep with the best of them. To put it another way, if there were an NSL, the National Sleeping League, I would have been a first round draft pick. So it was that morning, my head, buried in my pillow, was dreaming pleasant thoughts, waiting for the rude blare of my alarm clock that I knew would be coming soon, when I dreamt the phone rang. Was I still dreaming?

One of the drawbacks to being raised on a cattle ranch are the calls you get at all times of the night informing you, "Your cows are out." Most of the time it was the CHP dispatch, how they came to have my phone number is still a mystery, but any cattle on Highway 16 between Esparto and the Lake County line somehow became 'my cows'. Having answered many of those calls over the years, I have a strange ability to go from dead asleep, to coherently awake it three rings of a telephone.

A little before 6:00AM, my mother in law Lois called to say that a plane had hit the World Trade Center in New York, and to turn on the television. I turned on the news and watched as the events of that horrific day unfolded. We all remember the shock, the confusion, the fear that gripped us as we watched what seemed to be an unending stream of terrible events. It was, as I think back on it, a day of days. A day I will never forget, ever.

With all the images of that day flashing across the television, I could not imagine the experience of being in lower Manhattan that morning to see, to hear, to feel and even to taste the gray ash of those demolished towers. The high definition images from the television or the pixels of a digital photo cannot reproduce the emotion, the terror, the anguish of that beautiful, clear, September morning that devolved into a hell on earth.

It is fitting the ten year anniversary of September 11, 2001 falls on a Sunday. It is the Sunday following 9/11 that I would like to take you back to if I may. Like many other semi-regular church attendees, I am pretty sure I had not been to church in a few weeks. At the time, our daughter was still a toddler, and church was a hit or miss proposition depending on how frazzled we felt come Sunday.

I did however, make it to church the Sunday after 9/11, and I wasn’t alone. I had to park quite a distance away that morning. The church was packed, and you could see the anxious looks on people’s faces. Gone was the friendly chitchat that usually precedes the start of services, in its place were quiet, concerned conversations about the previous Tuesday. Tears were met with reassuring hugs and a comforting word. It is in these times of crisis you find out just how hard you can lean on your church. There were a lot of folks leaning hard that day.

We were attending Bayside Church in Granite Bay at the time, and Pastor Ray Johnston delivered a powerful and very relevant message that Sunday. A message of sorrow yes, but also one of confidence, strength, and hope. A line that stuck with me that Sunday was God is still on his throne. He is still in charge, and we could draw close to his strength in the midst of this crisis.

In places of worship all over the nation that day, uncounted millions emerged from Sunday services with a renewed faith, and a sense of hope in the face a very uncertain world. On this tenth anniversary of September eleventh, I will remember the fallen, the heroes, and especially our soldiers, but I will also take heart that we are still one nation, under God.

God bless America.

DC EARTHQUAKE!

"And now Wolf Blitzer with breaking news"

"We have reports coming in of an earthquake in our nation's capital. We are trying to get live images to you as soon as possible, but from early reports, we have an artist's rendering of what the damage looks like. Let's show the graphic."

"How terrible! This earthquake happened on a previously undiscovered fault line, it is being called 'Bush's Fault' because of catastrophic damage it has caused."

"Ok, I am getting word that we do have a live shot of the devastation from the earthquake in Washington DC. Here is the live view of DC"

"Hmmm. Things look a bit better than we had feared, but I'm sure there is terrible damage down on street level., Wait, we do have a live shot from the Lincoln Memorial"






"Hmm"



"OK, well I guess we dodged a bullet there. While most of the government buildings are being evacuated and workers are heading home, this could have been much worse."




"Wait one minute, I am now getting word of a giant cat, that's right, a giant cat attacking the Washington Monument. Here is an artist's rendering of the attack."








"As always, stay tuned for more breaking news, as it happens."

Hitler/Stalin 2012!

I can already hear the keyboards out there clicking away, writing letters to the editor about how I have finally lost my mind. Hold that thought for a minute, you may be right, but hear me out.

No, I am not looking for the next murderous, genocidal, national-socialist leader to nominate for president. Nor am I looking for a mass murdering, genocidal, communist leader to run as vice president. No, what I am looking for is someone who is prepared for, and strong enough to take on, the worst kind of vilification yet to be seen in modern politics. Someone who is ready to be described as Hitler, Stalin, Satan, and even worse, the second coming of George W Bush.

To fix this nation, we need a president with the courage to endure relentless character attacks at the hands of the media, big labor, the beltway pundits and even those in their own party. Someone who will have the strength to tell Americans the unvarnished truth, and be able to take the heat for it. Let me unpack this for you.

Did you enjoy the three weeks of political theater that went on during the debt ceiling crisis? I didn't think so. Let me explain in very simple terms what just happened last week, why we were downgraded, and what it will take to fix this mess we are in.

The federal government is borrowing forty cents of every dollar it spends this year. Let that sink for a minute; forty percent. If the government were a family, they would have a household income of $55,000. However, they would be spending $96,000 a year. They would also be putting the difference, $41,000 (their deficit) on the family credit card. That family credit card (the federal debt) already has a $366,000 balance. Now let me ask you, do you think this family is a good credit risk?

But what about the debt ceiling deal? Didn't that fix everything? Nope.

What happened was the family said they would cut HBO from the cable TV package, but then went out and bought new iPads for everyone. In short, they are going to spend more next year than they did this year, just not as much as they wanted to. To put it another way, this was an ace bandage on a broken leg. No wonder our credit rating was downgraded for the first time in our history.

As disappointed as I am in the Republicans for agreeing to spend more every year than the one past, I am really disappointed in the current batch of Republican presidential candidates. In the weeks leading up to the debt ceiling debate, where were Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty or Michele Bachmann? Anyone who wants to lead this nation in the next four years better have a real plan, and be willing to share it, early and often.

I am sure their handlers, media advisers, and strategists were telling the GOP hopefuls to keep their heads down, let the congress and the president sling the mud and take the heat. That is a huge mistake. What Americans are craving right now is real leadership. What they want is someone to tell them the truth, and to be very specific. We are up to our eyeballs in talking points, generalities, platitudes, class warfare, and slick speeches.

What we need is a presidential candidate to explain how we get from taking in $55,000, spending $96,000, and bringing those numbers into balance. President Obama and the Democrats want to tax the American people up to the $96,000 level, and even higher. The current crop of Republicans seem resigned to keep the built-in levels of increased spending and occasionally trying to take bits and pieces off that growth.

We need a president who will lay out his or her plan to directly to the American people. That plan must be in two parts.

First, we are going to cut government spending back to its historical levels, about eighteen or nineteen percent of our Gross Domestic Product. Every department is going to get a haircut, and it's about time we eliminate some government programs all together. For those of us under 55, the retirement age for Social Security will have to be raised to keep the program solvent, and Medicare will have to be means-tested to continue into the future.

Secondly, we must do everything in our power to get government out of the way of America's small businesses. The private sector must get back to hiring new workers, building new factories, and expanding their markets. The only way we are getting out of this mess is to grow our economy through the private sector. Just think of what a five or six percent unemployment rate would do for our economy. We have done it before, and we can do it again. Like I've said before, you can't print jobs, the vast majority are created by small and medium sized businesses.

We must also simplify the tax code. We cannot have Exxon under Bush, and General Electric under Obama, pay no federal income tax because they can hire better lobbyists than the local pizza shop owner.

None of this is going to be popular with the media elites, newspaper editorial boards, public employee unions, democrats and even some leftover, big-government Republicans. The outcry that will come from these groups will be viscous, backed by hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign cash, and absolutely unrelenting. The Hitler and Stalin labels will only be the beginning of the character assassination heaped upon the person who makes this case to the people. Paul Krugman, Jon Stewart, Chris Matthews and the rest of the gang will be foaming with outrage. But then again, how long can you be wrong, and have people listen to you?

Happy Independence Day.

What do you remember about Fourth of July celebrations when you were a kid? I am old enough to remember when we celebrated the bicentennial of our founding in 1976. It was a big deal; lots of speeches, the parade of tall ships going through the harbor in New York, and the fireworks shows on TV. Living in a very rural area of Northern California, we had no fireworks displays in my hometown of Oak Run, but we did have a parade. If you wanted to see real fireworks, you had to drive up the road a few miles and watch the fireworks displays of Redding and Anderson from Bullskin Ridge.

July was always a busy month at home. Truckloads of hay from our ranch in Oregon would have to be unloaded in the barns, and there were always cattle to feed in the feedlot. I'm not sure if we did anything special for the 4th, we would have a BBQ and maybe go swimming. As a kid, the Fourth of July was a blur of red, white and blue, firecrackers (if we could get them) and maybe a drive down to Redding to watch a fireworks show from a distance closer than 40 miles away.

This was my understanding of July fourth for most of early life. I had a thumbnail sketch of Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and the Liberty Bell, but that was about it. I didn't know the story behind the events, I didn't know the why behind the what. In that, I don't think I was alone.

As with most things historical, we are doing a terrible job teaching our children about the American Revolution. I believe the root cause lies in the fact we were not taught ourselves. In a recent Marist poll, only 31percent of adults under the age of 30 knew the year in which we declared independence. Only 67 percent knew we declared independence from Great Brittan. Like so much in life, you cannot teach what you do not know. As Americans, we know very little about where we came from. Nevertheless, back to the Fourth of July.

We may look back with hindsight on the Continental Congress' Declaration of Independence and say, well of course they declared independence, America should be its own nation. Oh, if only it were so easy. The struggle for our independence, as well as the very survival of our fledgling government and revolutionary army, was hanging on by a thread as the delegates in Philadelphia met to address the question of independence.

Only by understanding the situation as is stood in early summer 1776 will we be able to appreciate the boldness and courage of what happened on July 4. Commander of the Continental Army, General George Washington was trying to hold off an invasion of New York, as every day more British ships arrived in the harbor. He was low on munitions, flints for rifles, while the British had full command of the sea. On July 2, British General Howe landed 10,000 men on Staten Island, and was expecting 15,000 more. With these long odds, those gathered at Philadelphia knew that the war, their independence, their fortunes, and even their very lives were on the line. It is not a small miracle the Declaration of Independence was signed at all. This was after all, high treason, punishable by death.

By winter’s onset, New York would be lost, Washington would be down to 5,000 soldiers, and the British would be within striking distance of the rebel capital in Philadelphia. One must wonder if the delegates would have signed such a declaration at that time. If you don’t know the story of Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River in the dead of winter with a half –starved, half-barefoot army to stave off certain defeat in the spring, you should learn what they did there. It truly is the stuff of legend.

This July Fourth is almost over and in a few days, the fireworks stands will be taken down, the spent tubes and sparkler sticks will have been cleaned up, and most Americans will start planning a Labor Day party. I wish more people knew what we celebrate on these holidays, but I’m not sure how to get people interested in their history. I’ll bet more people know the name Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, or Casey Anthony, the woman accused of killing her child in Florida than know who Nathanael Greene, or John Adams was.

We must do better at educating our children; we must do a better job of making our history come alive to them. I am open to suggestions, but if our schools fail in this, we must teach them at home. As I stated earlier, you cannot teach what you don’t know, so pick up a few books at the library and start learning about America.

In this, you may come across books written by people who don’t like America very much, Howard Zinn comes to mind, but then again, he was a member of the Communist Party USA , don’t take my word, his FBI file was just released. It’s your choice, you could read Zinn, but I would suggest David McCullough’s 1776 and John Adams for starters. If you want a more complete history, warts and all, read Bill Bennett’s’ wonderful books, America: The Last Best Hope Volumes I & II.

There are countless other great books on every part of our history, but to get a sense of how we became who we are is a life-long journey of discovery; one worth taking.


Happy Independence Day.

18 months; a political lifetime.

There is a great joke about a kid asking his dad what a light year is. His father, who was not too bright, answered that a light year has a third less calories than a regular year. While we know that a light year is a actually a measure of distance, there are many definition of a political year.

In politics, one year can seem like a lifetime, or it can seem like three months; depending on whether you are ahead or behind in the polls. In reality, a year is very, very long time. Eighteen months in politics is almost too long to measure.

A month ago, how many people thought Donald Trump would actually make a viable candidate for the Republicans? I ran into a lot of them. I would tell them to look past the terrible comb-over and look at what the man has done in the political world. He has given money to Chuck Schumer, Rahm Emanuel, Charles Rangel, Harry Reid and other liberal democrats. That is more than enough for me. Thankfully, his fifteen minutes of candidate driven fame is over. However, for a brief instance, Trump was front-page presidential news.

As the presidential election season kicks into high gear this fall, the race on the Republican side is slowly taking shape. Right now, the media is talking about a weak Republican field and how they are desperate for a fresh face to rally the troops. I must admit that no one stands out as head and shoulders above the rest right now, but the race is still in its 'look presidential and don't say anything stupid' phase. As soon as Labor Day rolls around, people will start demanding real answers, real policies, and digging deeper into the beliefs of the candidates.

So, here is my two sentence recap of the declared Republican candidates so far.

Former Massachusetts Governor, Mitt Romney; A very competent, successful businessman and Governor, but the healthcare plan he passed in Massachusetts will be millstone around his neck. Is the nation ready for a Mormon president, and does that even matter to voters right now?

Former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich; Bright, charismatic, idea man, with a very flawed personal life. I think he is in there to sell books and raise his future speaking fee.

Former governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty; Fairly solid conservative, with a good record as governor to fall back on. Not the most inspiring guy in the field, but a solid candidate; he needs money right now to make it in the top tier.

Former Pennsylvania Senator, Rick Santorum; The social conservative's choice in the race right now. Very outspoken, passionate, and not afraid to mix it up, but he would be trounced in the general election.

Congressman Dr. Ron Paul; Basically a Libertarian running as a Republican. His followers are extremely dedicated, very smart people, and once again, Ron Paul has zero chance of winning. (Sorry Pauliacs)

As for Herm Cain, Gary Johnson, Fred Karger, Tom Miller, Buddy Roemer, Vern Wuensche; good luck fellas, you are going need it.

Who is still on the sidelines? Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels is out, New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie is being recruited big time, and there are rumors of a draft Paul Ryan movement in certain GOP circles. There are also many folks who wish Governor Rick Perry was from any state other than Texas. Another Texas governor may be a little too soon for the country. If former Florida Governor, Jeb Bush's last name was Smith, he would be front runner right now. Again, the anti-Bush feeling would be too strong in a general election.

Everyone is waiting to see what former Alaskan governor, and Tea party star, Sarah Palin will do.

I think Christie would be great for the Republicans right now. The man tells it like it is, has no tolerance for BS, and would make whoever comes out of the primary race a stronger candidate for the general election. He may even take the nomination, if the stars align for him. Paul Ryan is great, but like Barack Obama, he has no executive experience. Palin is the wild card, in more ways than one.

If she declares, she sucks all the air out of the room for the other candidates. She goes straight to the top of the polls, and she will be the headline on the front page of every newspaper, magazine, news show, and blog for months. She will also split the GOP right down the middle. The Republican power structure, with the money and political power, will do everything it can to destroy Palin. She will also come under immediate, viscous and unrelenting attacks from the media. She will be a framed as an illiterate, backwoods, she-devil, and that is just from the people at CNN and MSNBC.

Will Sarah Palin run president? I don't think she will, but I could be wrong. Would I vote for her in the Primary? Depends on who is left in the field when California votes. I think Palin could be a great help in the election, raising money, whipping up people who are not politically active right now, but I don't think she has a chance of winning the presidency.

The Republicans are going to make this into a 'you tried the slick, polished novice, why not try someone who has actually created jobs and balanced a few budgets in hard times' contest. Governors Christie, Pawlenty, Perry and Romney can say I know how to get this done, I have the record to prove it. Palin's chances for president took a huge hit when she resigned from 0ffice as Governor of Alaska. We don't like quitters, and whether it's fair or not, she will has that image to overcome.

One thing is for sure, November 2012 is a long, long way away. Remember, in June of 2008, Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton were leading the polls. How did that race work out for them?

Funnel Cloud

Seasons.

We all have seasons in our life. Some pleasant and calm, some crazy and tragic, and some are somewhere in between. I have been experiencing one of the latter variety lately.

In many ways, this past year has been one of amazing change. Yet as summer approaches, I find myself right back where I started. It has been a wild, anxious, frustrating, scary time, but also a season of spiritual growth.

Last summer, our family was in negotiations with the County of Sacramento to continue our concession of the equestrian services at Gibson Ranch Park. My wife has been the general manager of the equestrian facilities for eighteen years, and we had been operating without a contract for the past two years. It seems the new parks administration did not know what to do with us.

As a private contractor inside a public park, we were always trying to find ways to bring in more revenue by offering more services, all the while it seems the county was trying to find ways of offering as few services as possible. We had always payed a percentage of our monthly income to the county, so if we were successful, the county made more money also. Seems simple enough, it's called a win-win situation. I guess they don't teach that in public administration or recreational management classes in college.

To the parks department's way of thinking, the only real way to find revenue is tapping the counties' general fund, or trying to pass a new parcel tax. The mindset of each side was foreign to the other. We were trying to offer services the public wanted, in exchange for a fee, and the parks people just wanted to get enough money from the budget to pay for its staff and administration. It's hard to find common ground with so little in common.

It's a shame, but in the end the County closed the park. We had to move eighteen years worth of ranch stuff back to our place in Esparto in one month. Tractors, trailers, hay wagons, horses, cattle, panels, feeders and saddles, they all had to come home in thirty days. It was quite a task. The whole time I was thinking, (while lifting the 200 lbs corral panels) if we have to move all this stuff back, I'm going to cry, or kill someone, whichever comes first.

At home, the fall rains came, followed by a very wet winter. Our fields turned to mud pits, and two barns worth of hay were fed down to the last bale, and then some. The hardest part was losing a few newborn calves and goats with the weeks of steady rain. It was a miserable winter on our place.

In the midst of all this, our son became ill. We had gone through something similar the previous year, but this was different, harder, for all of us. Trying to get a proper diagnosis was a trial of hope, and disappointment. He finished the second half of senior year on home study. In the end, we still do not have a final answer, although he has been doing well for the past month or so. Having a sick child is the hardest thing for a parent, even when that child is six foot three, and two hundred fifty pounds.

Through this past fall and winter, my lovely wife had no full time job for the first time in her adult life. If you have ever met Dawn, you know how much this is outside her comfort zone. She works hard, and she likes stability. This winter, she had little of either. As bad as it was for all of us, this past year was much rougher on her. Looking back, I wish I could have done more for her.

Through this season of our lives, we have some great friends step up to help and support us. We were kept in the prayers of many of our friends at church, and especially our small-group Bible study. Having been through a tough time or two, I am still learning to trust God. Not trusting that He would make things work the way I wanted, but that no matter the outcome, trusting in His love for me. Knowing that love, the love of Christ, gave me peace in the midst of this stormy season. That peace kept me going, as the months past and brought new challenges that seemed to come at us in rapid succession.

So, as the hills to the west turn from green to a dark blonde, we find ourselves particularly blessed once again.

Our family has formed a business arrangement with the new private operator of Gibson Ranch; Doug Ose and his family. My wife is back at work, knee deep in horses, cows, employees, soaring hay prices, voice-mails, emails and chaos. In short, she is back to normal, and loving it.

Our son is finished with high school. He is looking forward to working this summer to buy more guitar gear. In short, he is back to normal.

Me? I guess I am back to normal, whatever that is. For me, normal is just a setting on a washing machine, not a way of life. We even moved most everything back to Gibson, and I did not harm a single person. I am however, taking the month of June off my calendar. With the exception of our wedding anniversary, I am clearing my meeting schedules, and my weekends. I need to find a little quiet time, catch my breath, spend some time with my wife.

I may even find time for a little writing. I hear there is a presidential election coming next year....

The heart of the Republican party in California

When I covered the California Republican Convention two years ago, the crowd was in a foul mood. Republicans were just digesting the news of former state senator Abel Maldonado's vote to cross party lines and sign onto a tax raising budget deal. The governor had worked out the deal with Democrats and needed one more Republican vote. Both Schwarzenegger and Maldonado would have heard an earful that day if they had the courage to cross L Street and meet up with the convention goers. They did not.

This year, it is hard to get a sense of the crowd; they seem divided. Many in the GOP are uplifted by the national midterm elections, as well as being deeply disappointed with California’s results. While some are buoyed by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, and his victory with his state's long-term fiscal reforms, many feel another sellout coming in the golden state's GOP caucus. Time will tell.

As this year's convention rolls out of town, many feel two competing emotions, hope and fear. The hope comes in the form of redistricting, and the opportunity to make a deal with the governor for real, long-term budget reform. The fear is Brown will pick off two moderate Republicans in each house in an effort to put a five year extension of higher taxes on the June ballot.

The redistricting effort could make for many more competitive elections in 2012. Last year there were really only a handful of truly competitive seats up for grabs. Both sides poured huge amounts of money into these races. The hope is that many more districts will have new representatives in the next election cycle.

As for the budget deal, that could be a make or break deal for the GOP. Having a handful of Republicans sign on with Jerry Brown's one year of budget cuts, at the expense of extending higher taxes for five years, could make the Republicans a minority party for another decade. If Republicans stay united and force meaningful pension reform, and other long-term budget reforms, in return for putting Brown's tax measure on the ballot, the party could become relevant again.

Pinning your hopes on the backbone of California's Republicans is a three-to-one bet at best. Three being they cave in, one that they hold fast, but at least we are having this discussion. If the voters did not pass 2008's prop 11, just imagine the closed-door meetings Democrats would be having with vulnerable Republicans right now. "Here’s the new map of your district if you vote with us, it's still a Republican majority district, here’s the map of your district if you don't, it takes in this new area and turns your district to a Democrat majority."

Right now, the California Citizens Redistricting Commission is busy drawing those lines; the maps will come out in May. No matter how they draw the new district maps, they will be better than the legislature drawing them for their own political advantage.

As far as Governor Brown's plan to put the tax extension on the ballot, there is an all out effort to get his message out; let the people decide. Okay, I am all for letting the people decide, so let's make this a pro-choice election. Let's have one proposition for the tax extension, one for a spending limit based on the last three-year’s average of revenue, and one for pension reform for public employee unions. Let the people decide! Democrats are opposed to putting these on the ballot along with taxes; I guess they are only pro-choice if that choice is higher taxes.

As Republicans try to come together after a drubbing in the last election, they will have to do a better job at getting their message out. What should their message be? Here is what I think it should be;

Imagine California being one of the best places in the nation to start a new business? What would it look like if California welcomed new companies into the state with incentives, not driving them out with over-regulation and sky-high taxes? What would the unemployment rate be if we sent people to Sacramento who knew how to grow California's private sector economy? What would our housing market look like if the unemployment rate were cut in half? What would the dropout rate, and test scores look like if you gave parents a voucher to send their children to the school of their choice? Imagine a California where we actually tackled our long-term fiscal outlook and put the state on track where the budget is balanced on time and with little effort.

Image that.

Republicans need to start going on offense. If you only speak the local chamber of commerce, small business round tables, and Republican events, you are preaching to the choir. Getting your base out when only thirty one percent of Californians are registered as Republicans, means you lose, every time. Democrats have a thirteen percent advantage right now; you need to move those numbers closer together. You do that by showing up in places you have never been before.

You need to get out, to reach people who don't know you, and don't know your ideas. This may be uncomfortable. This may mean you are the only dissenting voice on a public panel in a liberal town hall. This may mean you are alone in a sea of students at a college campus. This may mean you have nasty editorials written about you in your local paper. This may mean dealing with angry, rude people. That is in the job description of growing into a majority. If you are not up to it, if you don't want get out there and fight this battle of ideas on their turf, then you should not run for re-election. I'll guarantee you will have primary opponent who will.

This could get interesting.

Governor Haley Barbour at the CRP

I was able to ask a question of Governor Barbour at today's convention.
This is what happens when you give a press credential and a camera to a cowboy.

California Republican Convention, Spring 2011

It was a cold and dreary day; well it was raining, but far from dreary. As California Republicans come together in Sacramento to meet, many things are stirring in the air besides the rainclouds.

The budget battle still looms as the Governor looks to find two Republican votes in each house to get an extension of the tax hikes from two years ago put on the June ballot. Interesting times indeed. Along with the fallout from the Wisconsin budget fight still making headlines, California's GOP delegates wonder what is next for the golden state.

Francis Chan - The new middle road

For my believing friends; so simple, yet so powerful. Francis Chan is my mew favorite author. I have read his two books, Crazy Love and Forgotten God. Great reads, but beware, he will challenge you.

Girls.

I guess I could start with my favorite "how women think" joke, but I will resist for the sake of brevity, and my own personal safety. Say what you will, but the reason these jokes are funny is they are based, in some part, on reality. Women think differently than men do. Go ahead and start writing your letters to me now, but deep down you know it's true. I'm not saying the way women think is better, or worse, it's just different. To pretend otherwise is to deny reality.

I am not saying there are no exceptions to the rule, there certainly are. They are some of the most interesting people I have ever met. However, in most cases, women are wired to "feel" more in their thinking than men. Most men are wired to stay on a linear thinking path, a little more detached from their emotions. Except House Speaker, John Boehner, that guy cries all the time.

If you are already on the second paragraph of your hate-mail to me, just listen for a minute. It's not about intelligence, it's not about ability, it's about how our brains are wired. I have met, worked with, and worked for, some brilliant, strong, successful women. I have also met, worked with, and for, some men who were dumber than a sack full of hammers.

My point is I understand how most men think; I'm one of them. Women on the other hand; I have no clue. Dawn, my wife of 22 years, God bless her, can attest to this fact. Now, add preadolescence to the mysteries of the female mind, and I am so out my league it's not funny. This is where my daughter comes in.

There is a pretty big gap between our children, Steven is 17 and Abbie is 10. Steven and I have a close relationship; we share similar interests in music, guitars, sports and most other things. Abbie is her mother's daughter; they are two peas in a pod. I call her my wife's mini-me. They even look alike, which is good news for my daughter, and they have many of the same personality traits.

They are the true animal lovers of our household. Abbie and Dawn can spend all day out in the barn with the horses. While I love all the critters on our place, being raised on a cattle ranch, their charms have worn off a bit for me. I have the scars to prove it. The closest Steven wants to get to our cows is sitting down at the dinner table with a bottle of A1 steak sauce.

Our family schedule has always been crazy. Being a co-owner of a small business, Dawn has worked on Sundays for many years. Abbie would usually go with her to our business at Gibson Ranch Park in Sacramento. They spent most Sundays together from the time Abbie was a baby. Steven and I would usually go to church, go shooting, watch football, or just hang out together on Sundays. This fall, all that changed. When the park closed this August, we moved all of our animals back home. For the first time in years, I have been able to spend the whole weekend with the entire family. It has been very cool, but we have had to adjust to the new routines.

One thing I am learning about parenting is its ever changing job description. I was getting pretty good at being the game-watching, question-answering, ball-throwing, chauffeur guy. Now I am the ATM/dispenser-of-wisdom-to-be-ignored guy. At least I am for my son. For my daughter, I am not sure what my direct role is, other than being someone to snuggle with on the couch, being the lifter of heavy things, and being the one going outside to find out what made that loud noise at three in the morning

Spending more time with Abbie has been very educational for me. Still, if the kids are doing separate activities, I usually take Steven and Dawn usually takes Abbie. I guess it is just a natural mother-daughter, father-son thing, but I am going to make an effort to change that.

As a father, spending time with you daughter is a big deal. I have spoken to many women whose fathers were not present in their lives growing up, even when they lived under the same roof. It can have a terrible effect on a young woman's self image, and the way she relates to men as she grows into adulthood.Boys and girls need both parents fully involved in their lives. I should be just as involved in Abbie's volleyball as I am in Steven's music.

I have my work cut out for me because Abbie is into everything; softball, volleyball, piano, 4-H, and about a dozen other activities. Steven is into music. Playing, recording, editing, the boy loves music and wants to make a career out of it. They are very different individuals. Both have different talents and distinct personalities. While I can relate to Steven easier, I once was a 17 year old male, I have no idea what it is like to be a pre-teen girl. I guess I'll just have to be the best dad I can be for her. The first step is just being there.

I don’t think I will ever understand Abbie the way I might understand Steven, but that's not what's really important. I’m supposed to love her for the person she is, the person she is growing into, and to be there for her no matter what.

I'm trying to do just that, but I need to try harder.

I can't hear you

I discuss and debate politics quite often, maybe too often. Over the years, my views have changed as I read, learned and participated in the world of politics. Growing more conservative in my views over the past twenty years or so, I have had plenty of practice debating, defending and rethinking what I believe. This is a good thing. Some of the greatest insights and discoveries I have made came by this process.

Socratic questioning is one of the best ways to uncover how you came to believe what you believe, and whether your beliefs are logical. After all, what good are beliefs you really don't understand, and cannot defend?

Having political discussions at work usually consists of me debating everyone else. That's fine. The truth is the truth, and facts are facts no matter how many people are saying you are wrong. That’s the issue I have the hardest time with. When you debate people who "feel" and "believe" something using their own set of assumptions, along with their own personal facts, the debate breaks down.

When you talk about federal spending and spending cuts with a person who thinks half the budget goes to the pentagon, you are in for a long, frustrating conversation. When you point out that Medicare will be broke in a few short years, the person you're debating says the solution is to put everyone on Medicare and eliminate private health insurance. Oy vey.

To quote the warden in Cool Hand Luke, "Some folks, you just can't reach."

Sometimes, the folks hardest to reach are those supposedly on your side. A great example of this was the first draft of budget cuts proposed by house Republican leaders last week. After winning in November on a platform of cutting 100 billion from President Obama's 2011 budget, the House leadership proposed 32 billion in cuts. Many conservatives hit the roof, myself included.

You don't understand they said, the budget year is almost half over, and the 32 billion was all we could cut right now, blah, blah, blah. Seriously? 32 billion is a rounding error when you are looking at a 1.5 Trillion dollar federal deficit out of a 3.8 Trillion dollar budget. When the stuff hit the fan in Speaker Boehner's office this week, the leadership magically found the 100 billion in cuts they promised.
Now, that is a really big number right? That is going to make a huge dent in the deficit right? No. Let me explain.

If, and that is a big if, the house gets their 100 billion in cuts, the deficit for this year will go down from 1.5 Trillion to 1.4 Trillion. It is like having congestive heart failure, being 150 pounds overweight, and your doctor telling you to lose that extra 150 pounds or you are going to die. Losing 10 pounds in a year is a start, but you should be losing much more, much faster. At this rate it will take another 14 years to reach a balanced budget, let alone reducing our overall debt.

I'm sure even the ten pounds is too much weight to lose for some groups. The SEIU and NEA and every other public employee union will be fighting these reductions tooth and nail. I’ll bet you will soon hear radio ads in scary voices telling you the Republicans are trying to balance the budget of the backs of "X". You name it; teachers, the elderly, children, police and firemen, polar bears, we just can't afford these draconian cuts, call you representative now!

At least that is what they'll say. Just remember, in 2006 the entire federal budget was 2.6 Trillion dollars, with a deficit (the difference between what the government takes in taxes and what they spent) of 249 billion dollars. Ah, the good old days. President Obama's 2011 budget is 3.8 Trillion with a budget deficit of 1.5 Trillion dollars. What the Republicans in the house are asking for is to cut the budget from 3.8 Trillion to 3.7, and the deficit from 1.5 to 1.4, isn't that horrible?

How will the federal government manage?

"Paul's Letter to American Christians" - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

I have always found the speeches of Dr. King to be inspirational and thought provoking, even if I didn't always agree with everything word he wrote. His thoughts on socialism etc; but his sermons are where I have always found his true fire, and brilliance. Again, even if there are a few thoughts I would love to have discussed with him. Here are few excerpts from one of my favorite sermons, a fictional letter from the Apostle Paul to American Christians.

"But America, as I look at you from afar, I wonder whether your moral and spiritual progress has been commensurate with your scientific progress. It seems to me that your moral progress lags behind your scientific progress. Your poet Thoreau used to talk about "improved means to an unimproved end." How often this is true. You have allowed the material means by which you live to outdistance the spiritual ends for which you live. You have allowed your mentality to outrun your morality. You have allowed your civilization to outdistance your culture. Through your scientific genius you have made of the world a neighborhood, but through your moral and spiritual genius you have failed to make of it a brotherhood. So America, I would urge you to keep your moral advances abreast with your scientific advances."

"I understand that you have an economic system in America known as Capitalism. Through this economic system you have been able to do wonders. You have become the richest nation in the world, and you have built up the greatest system of production that history has ever known. All of this is marvelous. But Americans, there is the danger that you will misuse your Capitalism. I still contend that money can be the root of all evil. It can cause one to live a life of gross materialism. I am afraid that many among you are more concerned about making a living than making a life. You are prone to judge the success of your profession by the index of your salary and the size of the wheel base on your automobile, rather than the quality of your service to humanity."

..."Always be sure that you struggle with Christian methods and Christian weapons. Never succumb to the temptation of becoming bitter. As you press on for justice, be sure to move with dignity and discipline, using only the weapon of love. Let no man pull you so low as to hate him. Always avoid violence."

You can read the whole sermon here, it would be a few minutes well spent.

The price of advice

We all receive advice. Sometimes we solicit this advice, sometimes we do not. Usually, it is given free of charge and in most cases; it is worth the price paid. There are the times when you think back on a bit of wisdom you were given and say, that was truly good advice; I wish I had followed it.

The degree to which you follow advice usually depends on who is giving it, and the state of the relationship between you and the giver. Let me explain.

I remember some rather sage words of wisdom passed down to me from my father. Some of which I followed, some of which I did not. Here are a few.

"There are plenty of broke horses in this world, why don't you go find one." This was told to me while I was wadded up in a heap, stuck halfway under my father's truck, after being bucked off a green two year old horse.

"Well, you better learn fast, I want this hillside cleared of brush by noon." After I said I don't how to drive a D-8 bulldozer. I think I was still in grade school.

"What the hell are you thinking; you don't use a gas engine inside a barn full of hay." It didn't seem that stupid at the time, but I was fourteen.

"Don't drink on an empty stomach; you won't worth a damn in the morning." He was right.

His advice was meant to be informational, or inspirational, or something. I took most of it, mainly out of sheer terror. Being a father, he was trying to keep me alive, when he wasn't putting my life in peril. I did learn a great many things from my father, but when I was a teenager, I started to think I knew it all. Fast forward thirty years, and now I am the one dispensing advice to my kids.

I remember a few years ago I was talking to my friend Butch; he asked how old my son was. When I told him he was fifteen, he said, “Walt, you are about to become the dumbest person on earth." Well, at least I was warned.

I believe this metamorphosis happens innocently enough. It all starts one day when your kids find out something you told them is not true, or they know something you don't. The gears of rebellion begin turning.

They think if mom and dad are wrong about this, I bet everything they tell me is a load of beans. When this new paradigm sets in, as a parent you just turned the corner from smart person to dumb person. Enter the know-it-all friend or worse, the know-it-all teacher who finds glee in bursting their young intellectual bubble. In many cases, these new influences are the ones full of beans, but they have convincing arguments, and point to "facts" or other sources to back up the point of view. It can be a confusing time for young people.

This is when their cool, slacker buddy tells them to forget their engineering degree to wander across Europe for a year. Forget about college and go to work for a non-profit so they can help save the world. Conversely, this might be the time when you as a parent tell them they have give up on their dreams of becoming an artist, musician, professional athlete, mime, kangaroo trainer, etc, and get a "real job."

Somewhere in the middle of all this, they ask for advice from people they know and trust. Here is where it gets tricky; sometimes they go looking for the advice they want to hear. Honestly, there are no right answers, but there are some that are far worse than others.

College can be a great decision. However, working as an assistant manager at Taco Bell to pay off your sixty thousand dollar college loan for a degree in art history may not be the smartest move. Earning a degree with "engineering' at the end of it, probably will. Passing on college for a career in a field that you are passionate about is a tossup. If you can pay the rent, and keep the bills paid doing something you love, that is a wonderful thing. When you are sixty five and have no retirement savings, or a house that is paid for, this might be the price you have to pay for all those years of enjoyment.

When you finally hit twenty five or thirty, you start to rethink the advice you followed, and the advice you passed up. I have found the best advice comes from people who have been down the road you are traveling. Or from folks who chose short term expediency over their long term goals, and regret it to this day. Sometimes there isn’t any substitute for years of experience from a wise person.

Here are two things I do know; don’t take diet advice from a fat guy, and don’t take financial advice from a guy living in his car.

The new True Grit

First off, no it's not as good as the original. In some ways it's better. I love John Wayne, and the role of Rooster Cogburn seemed made for him. While I like his lighter, more smart-ass portrayal of Rooster Cogburn, Jeff Bridges is wonderful as the grizzled, worn down, and very flawed US Marshal. As much as I think Matt Damon is a pompous ass hat, comparing his acting ability to that of Glen Campbell's is like comparing LeBron James to me on the basketball court. The role of Mattie Ross is a toss up, I like Kim Darby's spunk in the original, but Hailee Steinfeld's intensity and drive brings new depth to the role.

The new True Grit is darker, dirtier, rougher, more authentic and grittier; definitely a Coen brothers film. There are no back-lot production scenes, everything looks worn out, used up, rode hard and put away wet. You can easily imagine how bad Rooster Cogburn's room in the back of a Chinese market smells. Everyone in the movie, except Hailee Steinfeld, looks like they were dragged face down through a sage brush patch; very real and in desperate need of professional dentistry.

The new film leaves out some familiar scenes, including the final cemetery scene, but replaces them with something even better. It's not as neatly wrapped up as the original, but this is the Coen brothers, and the ending does come full circle.

I really can't say that I like one over the other, although I am so much more familiar with the 1969 version. The new one is, well, it's new. It's kind of like getting a new dog that replaced and old favorite. All you remember are the great times you had with the old dog, never the time he chewed up you new boots. It's easy to find some things in the new film you don't like about , but then again, I have fast-forwarded through the Glen Campbell scenes in the old one too.

Go see it, and keep in mind, the Duke will never be replaced, but I think he would like it.

Cows don't care about Christmas

Once, I applied for a position at UC Davis as a farm maintenance worker/reserve milker. I am fortunate I did not get that job; I think the cows are fortunate too. That position went to a full time UCD milker who wanted to do something different, and he was definitely qualified for the milking part of the job. In time, I did get a job in the Animal Science department, and talking to my co workers did nothing but reinforce my belief that the job of a milker is no fun.

When I tell people I live in the country, people mistake me for a farmer. I always correct them saying I have a cattle ranch, therefore, I am a rancher. Then they ask if my cows are milk cows. My answer is always this; do I look crazy to you?

Growing up, we had a milk cow. Bessie was her name, and as cows go, she was a very nice cow. This did not save her from my constant derision and hostile feelings. I hated milking Bessie. Getting swatted in the eye with her swishing tail, having the stainless steel bucket almost full, just to have her step in it or knock it over were some of my least favorite parts of the job. Milking cows by hand should be banned by some sort international criminal court on the basis of its cruelty; to the milker.

Thankfully, I was spared this job by my constant sniveling and complaining, and when the new Albertsons super market was built in Redding, Bessie was retired.

Cows need to be milked twice a day. Rain or shine, flood, famine, pestilence, or alien attack from outer space, the cows must be milked. The job at Davis is a ten hour, four days a week, split shift position. Three to eight, and three to eight. Yes, that means getting to work at 3:00AM, herding the enormous bovines into the milking parlor, prepping their bags, and working them through in groups until all eighty or so have been milked. This should take you to 8:00AM, and then you head home. After a nap, you come back at 3:00PM and start the process all over again until eight that evening. Sounds like fun, right?

This should give you an insight into my choice in cattle operations. My cows are for eating. I raise them, sell them, and eventually they end up in cellophane packages at your local supermarket. All I have to do is feed them. While feeding them is much quicker than milking them, they do need to be fed twice a day in the winter. Winter, as you may know, is very wet. Feeding cows (or horses) in the rain, for lack of a better word, sucks.

We feed with an old ATV that pulls a small trailer. After we load up the hay bales, we head out to the pasture to feed. This should be easy, but it's not.

We are hampered right now with having horses, cattle and a small gang of goats in our pasture. And a llama. I take no responsibility for the goats or the llama; any questions should be forwarded to my wife.

All animals have a pecking order, both inside and between species. On our ranch, the horses, especially Polly the Percheron mare, are on top. The cattle follow behind them in the pecking order and the llama just waits until everyone is finished to sneak a bite. The goats are like an inner-city gang. They all stick together and muscle their way into the middle of the feeding area. When the horses try to run them off, they scatter, only to reform their gang. Eventually the horses just give up and let them eat next to them.

When you drive into the field, the horse come running up and start trying to pull the hay bales off the trailer. Horses have a full time job being nuisances, and they seem to thrive at their occupation. Once you are half finished with feeding, the cows arrive and start scratching their heads and necks on the hay bales, the ATV, and you if you're not careful. Cows are always itchy, I'm not sure why, but it's a fact. The worst part is when the goats decide they want to ride on the trailer and help you feed.

On a regular day, this can be amusing. On a day when it's raining sideways, there's no humor involved. Trying to find the least muddy place to feed, running the gauntlet of kicking horses, scratching cows and hitch-hiking goats, all while be pelted with rain makes for a miserable day. These are the times when you question the wisdom of living in the country. You imagine living a small condo in town. Then you remember having neighbors, separated by a few sheets of drywall, and you come to your senses.

This Christmas, I will be out feeding the cows, although I should admit that my wife feeds the critters more that I do these days. In the winter it's dark when I leave for work and dark when I get home. On my days off my wife makes sure I get back into the rotation. Nevertheless, this Christmas we will open presents, make breakfast, and then head out to feed. Anyone who owns livestock will be doing the same. I hope it isn't raining cats and dogs, but we will go out either way. I am just glad I will not be getting up at 3AM to milk cows. All across the world, and right here in Yolo County, there will be people who will be doing just that, making sure Santa gets has a glass of cold milk for his cookies. Merry Christmas milkers.

How to lose an election you just won.

As I sit down this evening to write, the lame duck session of the 110th Congress is considering two big bills. They are trying to pass a 1.2 Trillion dollar Omnibus spending bill, basically a budget for 2011, and then they take up the tax-rate deal the President worked out with congressional Republicans.

The Omnibus spending bill is a 1,924-pages filled with over 6,000 earmarks, totaling in excess of 8 Billion dollars. For the next few weeks, Democrats are still in charge of both the Senate and the House. They are trying their best to get the remainder of their budget-busting wish list passed before the GOP takes control of the House of Representatives in January. This is no surprise to me, the rout Democrats took in November has not made a dent in their philosophy; spend all you can, as fast as you can, and worry about paying for it later. In this case, the Democrats don't even have to worry about being held accountable for this round of reckless spending, they won't be in charge when the bill comes due.

My worry is the Republicans. When President Obama met in secret with the current GOP leadership last week, the President came home with a nice new cow, while Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Boehner came home with a pocket full of magic beans. I understand the President can be persuasive, but did he use Jedi mind-tricks on McConnell and Boehner? Why would they agree to another round of non-stimulating stimulus just to postpone Obama's plan to raise tax rates for only two years? Oh sure, they did get a few concessions in the deal, but as soon as word hit the street, Democrats were already piling on Corn Ethanol subsidies, windmill subsidies, rum subsidies, and other pork to gain enough votes to try to get this deal through the Senate.

Do Republicans remember the Pledge to America they took when they were running to unseat Nancy Pelosi and her gang? I certainly do.

Page 21 of the pledge says the Republicans will "Act Immediately to Reduce Spending" and to "Cut Government Spending to Pre-Stimulus, Pre-Bailout Levels." How about "Reading the bill," remember that? You can find that one on page 33 of the pledge. Does any of this ring a bell?

Look, I don't expect much from the Democrats, but if the first votes by Republicans, after the American people put a shot across the bow of the big-spending government, is to increase the deficit, I have absolutely zero confidence in the leadership of the GOP. I have been listening to pundits and talking heads explain why this is a good deal; they fear a government shutdown and negative fallout from an early standoff with the President. Talk about tone deaf; cutting spending is exactly what the country just told you to do.

I don't fear "the political fallout" from a government shutdown or a fight with the President. Just wait until Americans open their paychecks on January 15 and see the Obama tax increases; the Democrats will fold up like a beach chair. Republicans can extend the current tax rates in January when they take control of the House; if you don’t believe me, ask Bill Clinton. When President Clinton says he thinks the Republicans will be in a stronger position to bargain come January, I rest my case.

I know, I know, I don't understand the finer points of legislation, and the inner working of Washington DC. You're right, I do not understand this at all.

No more wild spending sprees, no more non-stimulating stimulus, no more 2,000 page bills passed in the middle of the night. No more.

Get it?

How we learn

If you go to an office supply store today, you will more than likely see a huge display of new office furniture. They look great, all set up with the fake plants and books on the shelves, like a model home in a new development. You think to yourself, this would look nice in my home office. So you take the tag up to the register and purchase your new modular desk set, with matching file cabinets. To your amazement, the clerk brings out two boxes, the size of a coffee table that weigh eighty pounds apiece, and crams them in into your trunk.

When you open the boxes at home, you find twenty sheets of particle board with a vinyl, wood-grain sticker on one side, and an assortment of pieces and parts. You also receive a set of instructions, written by someone for whom English is a second language.

"Part A going into the Part B screwing tight by application of three of Part C screws," etc. Look,if they are going through all the trouble to ship this stuff half way around the world, is it too much to ask that the instructions make sense? I have assembled a few of these in my day, and I can honestly say the instructions are much better than they used to be. At least today they use pictures.

Computer hardware and software is another story all together. The instructions are in English, or high-tech English to be exact, detailed in every way, and almost completely useless. The instructions are so complex, unless you have a degree in computer engineering given out in the last two years; you are going to have to call tech support to get it working.

Not everyone is challenged when it comes to instructions and instruction manuals. I know people who will open a package, actually read through the entire manual, and referring back to it a few times during the process, will build or install anything the correct way, the first time. I hate these people. I really do.

I learn by doing, or to be more precise, I learn by screwing things up. I have a history of building things only to have to tear them apart, twice, and then rebuild them the right way. It is a bit frustrating, but I have resigned myself to this particular way of learning. As you may imagine, I would not make a good bomb technician, parachute packer, or high-rise building engineer. I am pretty good at thinking outside the box and coming up with new ways to get things done, but the tiny details sometimes elude me. Most of the time it’s messy, but it usually works.

There is another way to learn; by watching other people screw up. Like I said, I am great at screwing things up. You could say I have a black belt making mistakes. However, screwing up office furniture, and Jeep engines are minor inconveniences. I am talking about watching people wreck their lives.

Having seen people make bad decisions that affect not only their lives, but also the lives of their family and friends, has made me very aware of the real life consequences of my own actions. Believe me; I made my share of really bad decisions over the years, and I probably have a few more in my system that will come out somewhere down the line. The point I am trying to make is if there are lessons to learn from someone else’s mistake, learn them well. It is much less painless.

It is easy to armchair quarterback someone's life from afar. There is an endless supply of celebrities who seem to make a career of making destructive choices. It is harder when the people screwing up their lives are close to us. No matter how hard we try, no matter how much we care for a person, we are usually unable to stop them from making a wreck of their lives. It can be devastating. Sometimes, the only possible good that comes out a terrible situation is being able to learn from their mistakes.

From completely irresponsible financial decisions, terrible relationship decisions, or falling into destructive addictions, these are real life situations that are happening all around us. If you spend a few decades on this planet, you will see most everything. I have seen firsthand how to screw up your life with any number of poor decisions, and I have tried to learn from them, and not to repeat them.

There are a few things I don’t want to learn by doing.