Trip to South America and Christmas

I am planning to count off a couple of the 100 things to do before I die list in December. I'm going to South America and cruising throug the straight of Magellan and around the southern most tip of South America (Cape Horn), thats a picture of the cape above. From what I've read I also should be able to see the Southern Cross along the way. This photo reminds me of our relative insignificance in the universe.


We fly to Valparaiso, Chile from Orlando. The stops are Punta Arenas, Chile; Tierra Del Fuego Argentina; Cape Horn; Pt. Stanley Falkland Islands; Montevideo, Uruguay;Buenos Aires, Argentina and Rio De Janeiro Brazil.

I'm so looking forward to the trip! I leave on the 7th of December and don't return until the 23rd. I will miss most of the Christmas preparations (the part of Christmas I enjoy the most) but I think this trip is worth it.

Today I was driving down the road and saw a sad, sad thing. Someone was displaying the American flag at half mast. The flag was faded and ripped and I could hardly tell what the colors were. Not a block down the road a bright, colorful flag flew at the top of the flag pole and the sun was shining on it. It was waving in the wind and it seemed to glow. There's no life lesson here, just observation. I get a thrill every time I see a flag displayed although I don't display one. Maybe there is a story behind the dull, ragged flag I saw; or maybe it was just carelessness. Whatever happened it reminded me that I love America.

In another awareness experience I discovered that Brownie (Kelly's miniature Daschund - is that how you spell that?) has been pooping in the cat litter. There has been a sort of passive/aggressive battle since Brownie got here. Brownie has gotten to sleep in Holly's bed where the cat usually sleeps and now Brownie has messed up her bathroom. To add insult to injury, somehow the cat was left outside for 3 or 4 hours while Brownie got to be in the house. Now the cat is not speaking to anybody in the family. I would think that a dog as smart as the one in the picture (that's Brownie) couldn't plan passive aggressive behavior.

Politics

I continue to be frustrated with this whole campaign. Both sides have said things that were false, partially false/true, and true. They've given words taken out of context, stretched the truth, and twisted the truth. Here are two sites that report the real situation one of the politicians has referred to. Who the heck knows how many times McCain or Obama voted on something or whether they have "flipped" in their stance on an issue. Interesting sites.

http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/ and http://factcheck.org/

And here is the Saturday Nigt Live parody of the vice presidential debate.

SOMEONE CAN'T DIVIDE! IS IT ME????

The numbers sent by the guy who wanted to share the wealth instead of having a bailout were wrong. Here are the corrected numbers using the proposed $700 million. It took me a while to find how many zeros are in a billion but the division was easy. I'm still angry about considering a bailout but I definitely dont need screwed up statistics fueling my anger. Here are the numbers based on the proposed $700 million.

The $700,000,000,000 bailout (yes there are nine zeros in 1 billion, I looked it up)
If that $700,000,000,000 was given to every U. S. Citizen over 18 years old (divided equally among us) what would we have?

Assume there are 200,000,000 U.S. Citizens over 18 yoa. (our population is around 301,000,000 if you count every man, woman and child.)

So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $700 billon that equals $3500 - a huge difference from what that guy was talking about.

Give $3500 to every person 18+
it would NOT be tax free of course.
So let's assume a tax rate of 30%.

Every individual 18+ has to pay $1050 in taxes.

That sends $210,000,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.

Every adult 18+ has $2000 in their pocket.

A husband and wife team would have $4000

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRADY

Happy birthday to my wonderful son. I'm so very proud of him. By the way I couldn't find many pictures without his finger in his nose. It was years before we ever got a good shot. As soon as he thought he was in the view of the camera he'd stick his finger in his nose. He is a great father and a great son.

OK So I'm angry about politics too

Since I'm ranting I might as well continue. I absolutely loathe liars. Loathe them! And McCain just can't seem to tell the truth about much of anything. Now I know Obama has had his share of lies but at least his are subtle, McCain doesn't seem to care as long as it promotes his agenda. I am posting this at 3 PM on Friday September 26, 2008 and the debate - which McCain said he wouldn't attend - isn't even scheduled to take place for about 5 hours. This add appeared this morning. Does this tell you anything about the McCain campaign? A mistake? Well yeah. How many will we tolerate and still consider him a viable, honorable candidate?

And what about McCain's lie about his reason for canceling his appearance on the David Letterman Show? The man can't seem to tell the truth. And then there's the "economy is strong" statement. Did anyone happen to try to buy silver or gold today? Guess what - the dealers had no silver or gold to sell except in the form of minted coins.

Maybe I'm done with this. I have got to quit watching the news.

I DON'T LIKE LAS VEGAS

I just returned from Vegas. I went there for a forensic counselor's conference. Not only was the Conference disorganized but just as soon as I entered the smoke soaked hotel (The Golden Nugget)I started coughing and I didn't quit until I got to the smoke free environment of the air port. Amazingly the cough stopped immediately; no coughing at all in the air port, on the plane and at home.




Seeing my son and his family was wonderful but from now on I will try to see them in Utah or elsewhere - definitely not Vegas. Eating lunch at the In and Out Burger has become sort of a tradition but Megan told me they now have one in Hurricane.


The kids got to swim and see the sharks in the shark tank but that's about it for their entertainment.

The atmosphere is absolutely not family friendly. Billboards are at the least very suggestive and some are out right sexual. When we walked through the Excalibur and another hotel/casino I sat on a bench across from a Coyote Ugly shop. The TV was playing loud, LOUD music which I ignored at first. After resting a few minutes the words to the music permeated my awareness and I was shocked at the graffic wording. Is that popular music or is it just what Coyote Ugly plays? I admit I'm out of the loop where popular music is concerned but that was downright pornographic. I hated hearing it and I hated reacting to it. Fortunately my daughter-in-law got the kids out of there before they caught sight, or in this case sound, of the music.

Even the Donnie and Marie show had a somewhat suggestive spot in their performance and I must say I was disappointed in that. The show was energetic and the banter between Donnie and Marie funny. They really are good entertainers. The show didn't compare to Celine's but it was fun. I think Celine spoiled me.

I'm about done with my ranting but the bottom line is I won't go to Vegas again unless I have to. If you don't put money in slots or enjoy seeing half dressed women and drunk people or disgusting billboards there is not a lot else there. I felt like I needed a bath the whole time I was there. Definitely not peaceful and uplifting.