Fresh Thoughts and Prognostication

Hey everyone!


2008 is underway and not a minute too soon. So much to do and look forward to this year. Bush will finally finish his term although concerns are abound with the "crop" of Prezzie wannabees we have right now. There is still time to get your "End of an Error" merchandise.


First things first....starting with tomorrow....Ashlie turns 14. What a great kid (except for that cell phone bill). I cannot believe she is 14.


Then continuing into the spring - yes, even though it is only January, winter is on a downward spiral from here on out. Sure, it will still be cold. Yeah, we'll still get snow. But the days are getting longer (or is the Earth spinning slower?? Thanks, Jake). We are in the middle of the beloved January thaw which is great except for the countless mounds of dog crap that have been exposed (more proof of 'global warming'...always cracks me up). 14 years ago, we took Ashlie home from the hosptial in -25 temps! Yes, nothing to look forward to except the end of winter.


Vacation planning. The urge has kicked in. Traveling alone to Texas did not cure me of the urge to travel. I know what the other one will say, "We have to pay for a band trip!" I know, but if you consider tax time, potential bonuses and a general lack of desire to save money, we could take a trip! NWA sent some great deals for Mexico and Jamaica. Hmmmm. Better lose some weight.

That brings me to the next topic for 2008. Weight loss. My success in 2005 doing Body for Life was good. The problem was the intensity and knowing it was done in 12 weeks. Once I hit 12 weeks, I wanted to take a break.....that is going on 3 years. Bad plan. I have a new plan now. No end date. Wish me luck.

SPORTS
What does 2008 hold for sports. Well, for starters, I'll say that the Vikings ended well. I still don't think Brad Childress is "The One" but they did finsh pretty good. The Timberwolves. Ouch. Can we fire McHale yet? Let's see....do we need Garnett? Season to date: The T-Wolves are 4-29 and The Celtics are 29-3. Naw....we don't need him. If I did not know any better, I'd think someone fired McHale and hired Jeff Diamond (architect of the infamous Herschel Walker trade for all of you except The Rube). The Twins are probably washed up too although they find a way to play and win under Gardenhire. I think their luck of playing a bunch of AAA players and getting into the playoffs (or even close) is about over.

On the bright side, our New Richmond Tiger Boys Basketball Team is ranked #5 in the state. Who needs the rotten t-wolves?

I leave you with the wishes for a great 2008. Don't take life to seriously. Have some fun. Spend some money. Take a trip. Be spontaneous. Bluff more than normal (for you Al).

To quote Billy Joel, "Don't take any shit from anyone!"

--The Orracle

Know The Enemy

On a day where I sat yet again waiting so patiently for the opportunity to create that anticipated steaming gutpile, my Vikings went to Green Bay.

Shall I say that despite only seeing one deer small enough to do a fireman's carry on that I was thankful for the hunting outlet so I was not forced to watch the whole game?

But, Ye Shall Know Thy Enemy!

The enemy takes several shapes:

1. Brother in Law (his career trains him to look convincing)
2. Nephew (don't let his smile fool you!)
3. Top Dog of Systems at Metlife (she'll woo you by referring to you as 'BigSexy')

While this is not a comprehensive list, these three are evil. They really are not one of them. They do not go to Green Bay proudly wearing blaze orange. They are not from the woods. They come wearing their Nike and Starter wear. Jerzees bought in a mall. City Folk. But I digress....

As I sit, patiently awaiting the snort of a 12 point buck or the bellar of a hot-in-heat doe, my cell phone buzzes.

Hmmm, what could it be? A text message?

Yes, they catch you no matter where you are, no matter the activity you are doing.

Oh yes, to people resistant to the technology world we live in I have said,

"Kicking and screaming is no way to enter the 21st century!".

Now I am the one kicking and screaming. Wishing I did not have such technology available to me while hunting. While in the woods. Way up north. While climbed half way up a damn tree. Freezing my butt off.

To my enemy, I hereby declare this:

I shall not waiver. I will always be true. True to my Purple. You can take your swampwater-wrinkled, mosquito larve eatin', grit guzzlin', AARP qualified quartback. Go cry with him. Go practice faking injury to get a roughing call. Take him back to the swamps of home and leave him there where he first superglued his upper lip to his teeth (watch the boy try to talk once).

A new day is coming. Once again, Green Bay will suck. Order shall be restored in what was once the NFC Norris/Black and Blue Division of the NFL.

Purple Pride

Oh, yeah....fire Childress now please.

Failure Can Be Fun....

Boy is that a loaded title. Who in their right mind would want to fail? What is so fun about that? OK, think about it....going to the bar, trying to pick up someone of the opposite sex (or the same....not that there is anything wrong with that) and you fail. Maybe that is fun in the process of trying and we all can laugh about it later.

No, you are right. I did not come here to advise on the ways of getting shot down and laughing about it later although it brings to mind some good stories to blog about later.

I did not get to watch the game, but I saw the score. Guess I can delete the game from my DVR now. Vikings lose again....not that I am surprised.

OK Senior Orracle....get to the point of the blog!

In life, at work, in sports or in big companies you see in the news, changes are made all the time. The new guy comes in and has all the answers. The owners get all rocked in their socks about how THIS IS THE GUY!

There is a grace period. Nobody can change things overnight.

Then the grace period starts to age like a dead deer on the side of the road. Nothing has changed and things are starting to stink.

Secretly, when you saw the new guy come in, you knew that the leaders were either fooled or just pretending like this was the perfect solution even when they knew it was not.

Let's take our Vikings. New owner. New coach. New ways. New results.

People secretly knew that nothing would change. In a way, seeing the failure is kind of fun. "Ha ha! I called it!" Now, I do believe Brad Childress is better than Mike Tice. Mike was pretty much a dumas on the sideline. But Brad is the chosen one now! Brad makes more money in a game than Mike made all season. The results are the same.

I think it is like the movie One Crazy Summer. Nobody likes the cute and fuzzy bunnies and one day, when THEY finally get it, you are so pleased! If you don't get the movie reference, I suggest you go rent it. High quality flick with John Cusack, Demi Moore and Bobcat Goldthwait.

It happens at work too. EMPLOYMENT DISCLAIMER: I do not feel this about our current leaders at my job....but think more about the past.

Everone has witnessed it at work. THIS guy....he is the one. He is as much the one as Neo was to the Matrix. Well, Neo was the one. This guy was not. When this happens to us at work, we see it coming. Sometimes, when they come in and take the bull by the horn, make everyone's lives miserable with their bosses completely hoodwinked and you have to just silently shake your head to prevent getting fired, you secretly await the day of failure. Then once again, you can say that you knew and you were right.

This my friends is how failure can be fun.

The Weekend

I must say, although many expected guests did not come to our party, we had a great time with those that came. Certainly, those that did not, missed out. The problem with the lack of guests is an overage of beer, booze and 2 kinds of chili for me to deal with. The upside to the party was the inspiration to finish the curtains and final decor to the home theater. Wow, it looks nice. Jess does some amazing things with sewing and her own creativity.

Now to discuss some of the personal things learned.....
Seriously - did you think I'd actually share? You know who you are. For those of you that don't know, it is because you did not come and therefore cannot know.

To those that came, thank you for making the trek to the sticks.

VIKINGS
They suck. Defense was relatively OK but the offense is non existent! You'd think we were the Bears.

Something to think about....

I was reading in the Las Vegas Advisor http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com and in the member's section, there is a stat about pan handling.

"According to an interesting survey of 107 Las Vegas homeless panhandlers conducted by Applied Survey Research, a California-based social-research company, the average monthly income from panhandling is $192. Also, 42% of the 1,000 residents surveyed by telephone gave an average of $14 per year to panhandlers, adding up to an estimated $8.4 million in 2006. Nearly 12,000 Clark County residents are homeless and 20% of them panhandle."