Growing up

In the past couple of days, I've had quite a few of those moments where you think, "Man, where has the time gone?" If you know my family, you'll agree that two years can make a world of difference. Here is one of my favorite quotes:

"Remember, you can earn more money, but when time is spent it is gone forever."

Another Night of Fishing

Last night was my weekly fishing night with my friend Chris, AKA Mr. Grumpypants. He's grumpy because this is the second week in a row where I have staged a come-from-behind victory in the final minutes of our weekly fishing competition. We have a scoring system that awards 1 point for every pound of fish that you catch. A fish has to weigh over 1lb. to qualify though. The winner gets to take a lure out of the loser's tackle-box. Anyway, last week I stole the victory by one point after trailing by 3. Last night, however, was akin to a Michael Jordan buzzer-beater, a John Elway hail-mary, or Tiger Woods sinking a 50 footer to win a major. Yes; it was that good. It was nearly dark, I was down by one, I could see Mr. Grumpypants licking his lips fantasizing about my lucky crankbait lure that he was going to take, when I landed this 4 pounder to crush Grumpy's dreams once again. Ahh, victory is sweet.

I have a tummy ache...it's Global Warming

I've just found an amazing site. The complete list of things caused by global warming.

Get the Garden Started.

This will be my 5th year of doing a garden. Each year I have learned more and more. What works, what doesn't. New for this year, I've installed a new sprinkler system for the garden and added a couple of new plants to the wish list. We like to make our own salsa from the garden so this year's crop focuses on those ingredients. I've already planted the garlic, onions and cilantro and will probably have to do another crop of them in the fall. There are also about 20 Tabasco and pepper plants growing in my basement that I started from seeds a few weeks ago. In a couple of weeks after the threat of frost has passed I'll move all the peppers and get the tomatoes started. Also on the menu this year are a ton strawberries, blueberries and cherries. I may not get any blueberries or cherries this year as those plants are still very young. I'm always gung-ho on the garden in the spring, but my enthusiasm usually wanes mid-summer when the weeds get out of control.

Promises. Promises.

Filling up the gas tank is getting more excruciating day by day. The $3.50 we are paying right now is actually based on the $100 barrel of oil we saw a few months ago. We won't see the prices of $120 oil at the gas tank until June or July. In light of all this, let's take a look at what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi thought should be done about gas prices. On April 18th, 2006 she released this statement.

“As Americans pay almost 90 percent more to fill their gas tanks since President Bush took office, oil companies continue to reap gigantic profits and oil executives receive astronomical compensation. Record prices, record retirement packages, and record profits are just the latest example of the wealthy few benefiting at the expense of hard-working Americans under the Bush Administration.

“The Republican Rubber Stamp Congress has passed two energy bills, costing taxpayers $12 billion for giveaways to big oil companies. But the Republican bills clearly have done nothing to lower gas prices, as the price of a barrel of oil has settled above $70 a barrel – the highest price in our history. Even the Chairman of the Federal Reserve agrees that gas prices are decreasing the purchasing power of American families and depressing the U.S. economy.

“Democrats have a plan to lower gas prices, taking America in a new direction that works for everyone, not just the few. Our plan would empower the Federal Trade Commission to crack down on price gouging to help bring down skyrocketing gas prices, increase production of alternative fuels, and rescind the billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies, tax breaks, and royalty relief given to big oil and gas companies."


It's hard to believe that we were only at $70 two years ago. Some economists believe it is possible to see $200 in relatively near future. Now I'm not going to point the finger at the Democrats as the reason for the oil prices, but what is laughable is the bundle of promises that are made and never followed up on. In 2006, the Democrats got into office by promising the end the war, immigration reform, stop the outsourcing of jobs, and by lowering gas prices. All we had to do was elect them to find out how they were going to accomplish these feats. What they've done, instead, is:

-accomplished nothing on the war, except insult our soldiers and commanders.

-do nothing about the corporate tax rates they've talked about for so long, and instead put it as part of their platform for the 2008 election.

-increased the taxes on big oil which, in turn, logically placed that burden on the consumer's backs.

-done nothing about illegal immigration and have only encouraged it by offering more handouts.

-pushed for the increased production of alternative fuels which have increased food prices around the world, increased the price of oil, and actually contribute more CO2 than traditional fuels. Here is just one example of the increasing number of articles written that call the Congressional food-fuel mandates into question.

Do you recall all of the media attention that was given to the "new congress" and their dedication to work a staggering 5 days a week? Oh, the humanity! The only thing that this congress can claim to have accomplished is increase the minimum wage. An unintended consequesce of the increase is the downward pressure on restaurants. The combination of increased food prices, increased minimum wage, and people's shrinking wallets have left restaurateurs in a very precarious position. Just this morning there was an article in the the Denver Post about Village Inn filing for bankruptcy.

I am not the only one who has noticed how un-accomplished this congress has been. Republican leaders recently sent a letter to the ambitious failure, Nancy Pelosi. Here is an excerpt from the letter.

“Two years ago this week, you stated that House Democrats had a ‘commonsense plan’ to ‘lower gas prices,’ ” the letter said. “In light of the skyrocketing gasoline prices affecting working families and every sector of our struggling economy, we are writing today to respectfully request that you reveal this ‘commonsense plan’ so we can begin work on responsible solutions to help ease this strain.”

“Once a nightmare scenario, $4 gasoline is now a very real possibility of becoming a summer staple,” the letter stated. “In some cities, including San Francisco and Chicago, it is already a startling reality.”

While I'm waiting to hear their plan I'll be busy hunkering down for the storm we can all see coming on the horizon.



Thanks to roadsidepictures (gas pump) and hrtmnstrfr (thirsty for oil) for the photos on flickr.

Brotherly Love

We went to the park today and I caught a couple of good shots of true brotherly love. Notice the grimace on his face as he prepares to push and afterwards, the complete satisfaction of gently pushing his sister on a beautiful day. I especially love the expression of pure terror, I mean pure delight on little sister's face.

1 Punch Knock Out Hockey Fight Filipic vs Dearle CHL

Colorado Eagles Game 7 Tonight

In honor of the Colorado Eagles playing in game 7 of the CHL Northern Conference finals tonight I thought I'd post some videos which display the power of the Eagle. You may not want to watch these videos around the little ones. All of them are impressive.

After a post-game bench clearing brawl on Monday night against the Texas Brahmas, tonight's game should have plenty of action and excitement.

Eagle vs. Deer

eagle vs deer

Curious George

I think just about every one of us, young and old, has had a fantasy about flying into the sky via helium balloons. Well, a Roman Catholic Priest took his fantasy a little too far...I guess he wouldn't be the first, though. OK, that was a little low, but check this out. This guys sets up a nice little padded lawnchair (with a koozie to hold his in-flight refreshment) and hundreds of those big balloons you see flying over car dealerships and off he goes. One problem though; it's called "wind". Apparently he didn't think this out very well. I mean, didn't he ever read Curious George?

Priest Goes Missing During Balloon Flight

Happy Earth Day Everybody!!!

In honor of Earth Day I thought I'd post the first 10 minutes of The Great Global Warming Swindle. It's worth watching; take a look.

Time to Save

The funny thing about savings is that we are always so excited when we save a lot of money on clothes, electronics, shoes, and cars and we'll go tell all of our friends about how much we saved. Ironically, though, many of us think it's too much trouble to cut coupons for groceries. For some reason, clipping coupons got the stigma of not being very cool. I'm here to tell you that coupons are the BOMB! If you saw a dollar in the middle of your newspaper would you take it out? Um, yeah, it'd be pretty stupid not to right? Heck, some of us will even drive out of our way to save a nickel on a gallon of gas. On a full fill-up you've probably only saved about 75 cents. I look in the paper and see money. Yes, I'm a weirdo. But once you start seeing how much money you can save you'll be amazed that you didn't do it sooner.

Today was a shopping day, so I'm going to tell you about some savings. I use "The Grocery Game" (TGG) (link on the right) and save a ton doing it. The premise behind TGG is changing how you shop. You start shopping for what is on sale instead of what you need. Over time, you build up a large enough storage that you always have what you need and only "need" to buy perishables like fruits and vegetables, milk, eggs, some breads, etc. You get the best deals when there is a sale plus a coupon. I go to the grocery store once a week and to Sam's club about once a month.

I've saved the receipts from the last 3 trips to show you what our savings are like. As you can see from the receipts, some weeks are better than others. I saved 41% up to 74% off of normal retail prices. Usually I'll spend anywhere from $30 to $70 a week at the local supermarket depending on how good the list is that week. We will also spend about $100 a month at Sam's where we get laundry detergent, paper towels, dog food, and some bulk frozen items. So in total, our monthly grocery bill is about $225-$300. Keep in mind that this is for a family of 5. Yeah, the kids are small and don't eat a lot, but they do, however, manage to waste a fair amount. A nice thing about this type of shopping is how much food we have to spare. Our freezer in the garage is packed to the gills and the food storage closet in the basement is practically full. We get all of our toothpaste and deodorant for free. We're going to donate about half of the supply this month in a local food drive. In order to do this, it does take a bit of work. Depending on the size of the list, it'll take anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes to get all of the coupons organized and ready to go so I don't spend more than an hour at the store. There is a $10 a month membership fee for the site but it pays for itself very easily. If you're interested in trying it, you get your first month free. I have a pretty good system down on how to do it so if you have any questions I'd be happy to tell you. And use me as a referral if you don't mind... aschmidt89@hotmail.com. If you'd rather not pay the membership fee there is another website that offers the same kind of program for free. It's called http://www.couponmom.com/. I don't use that one simply because I'm used to TGG's format...I've been doing it for over two years now.

Another savings spot that I was just recently turned on to is the Orowheat Bread Outlet. We went there today and bought a ridiculous amount of bread. I thought I'd get the bread shopping out of the way for the next two months. We just freeze it and pull out the next loaf when one is gone. I bought this entire mountain of bread for $12.74, which includes tax.

Food prices are only going to get worse as the price of gas and oil go higher. And don't get me started on the ethanol issue. Do you know how scientists can take tissue samples from cavemen and tell us what the staples in their diets were? I don't either, but they can. Anyway, if scientists took tissue samples of the average American, they'd show that corn is the main staple of our diet. I don't know about you but I rarely eat corn by itself. It's in nearly everything we eat though. Ok, I'm getting off track. I'll save my corn rambling for another day. We're getting squeezed pretty good right now. So, take advantage of the free money the manufacturers are giving you and give your wallet a break. Happy shopping!

Test Your Awareness: Do The Test

Stay sharp people.

Mentally Stable. No Really, I Am.

Looking through this morning's paper I found an interesting article by the AP titled "Nearly 1 in 5 troops has mental problems after service in war." I have the utmost respect for our military and those fighting for our freedoms. The sacrifice that these people make simply amazing.


Now, what I find interesting about articles like these, though, is how they always report these statistics without reporting the statistics for the general population for a baseline comparison. So you'll read it and think, "wow, that seems pretty high" when it really isn't that far out of the norm and is, in fact, lower than the general population. According to the artice the most recent Pentagon study, conducted in 2007, found that 18.2% of Army soldiers sufferred from depression, anxiety or acute stress in 2007 compared with 20.5 % in 2006. And other studies have the number of people suffering from mental health issues ranging from 10% to 20%. That first number of 18.2 % is depression, anxiety, and acute stress combined. Guess what the combined number for the general population for depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress was in 2002...19.9%. These numbers are based on a study that also listed the percentages for those on welfare at 25-33%.

The article also mentioned how the rates were highest among women and reservists. Reservists? Why would the number be higher for those on reserve, not actively serving? I'm not sure, but it says something, doesn't it? That our active member in the service statistically have better mental health than those on reserve. Also, why are the rates higher among women? According to the FDA women, in general, are twice as likely as men to be affected by depression anyway, that's why.

According to Terri Tanielian, a researcher at Rand and the co-leader who conducted the study featured in the article, "There is a major health crisis facing those men and women who have served our nation in Iraq and Afghanistan. Unless they receive appropriate and effective care for these mental health conditions, there will be long-term consequences for them and for the nation."

Where is the major health crisis? This isn't news. This is another political agenda. People who have mental health issues do need appropriate and effective care but don't make it seem as though our service men and women are in any different condition than the rest of us.

CBS has tried to do this same thing recently with a report on suicides in the military. An excellent article on this story was done by Michael Fumento of the New York Post. The meat of his article is this simple statement, "Among civilians who match the overall age, gender and race profile of the U.S. Army, the suicide rate was 19 per 100,000 — higher than for the troops." CBS, however tried to paint an entirely different story. Instead of regurgitate all of Mr. Fumento's work, take a look at his piece here.


There is always a new study showing this or that. Often times, these researcher seem to have their conclusion in their head before they even conduct their research. They seemed to missed that day in school when we were taught the Scientific Method. Take what you read with a grain of salt. Yes, even what I've written here.

Countdown to Cannibalism

Blogging? Really?

When I first heard of a 'blog' a couple of years back, I had thought to myself, "who would want to waste their time writing on the internet for the whole world to see?" Cut scene to me here and now typing away thinking of all of the things I'll be able to get off of my conscious. Trying to talk to my 2, 4, and 6 year olds about politics, conspiracy theories, social issues and the falling dollar has only ended with tears. Usually mine. So, I will consider this another experiment in the life of a stay-at-home-dad; trying not to go crazy and keeping myself busy with ever-changing and ever-evolving hobbies and activities.
Lets get this started with my first gripe. What the frak (that's for all you Battlestar Galactica geeks out there) is going on with the weather. I'd like to have a snowball fight with Al Gore. Only I get to use a trick my older brother and his buddy Chris (you'll hear more about him later) used to use when throwing snowballs at me as a kid. My snowballs will have a rock inside and have been sitting in the freezer for a week. We may have a good opportunity to have this snowball fight...for a very long time. We're due for an Ice-Age. I'm telling you, Pixar and Disney were on to something...
If you have the time, here and here are a few of the many papers that have been written which allude to what Pixar was getting at.
This whole global warming thing has really gotten out of control. We will soon be eating one another. Just ask the Eco-people's Daddy Warbucks Ted Turner.