I haven't fell off the face of the earth

Hey! (I know that a lot of you haven't heard from me for quite a long time, and that I missed the Federal Fridays post, but I've been out of town, and this was my first acces to a computer.

We had a death in the family, so Mom and Dad's trip to CO was leangthened and us kids were added to it so we wcould all go to the funeral.

but this means that we al get to go hunt houses!!! YEAH!!!!

See you all soon (on the net or in preferably in person)!

Federal Fridays - Baby-sitting the Baby-sitters

The government has taken on some sitter-like mentalities these days. From the Public Schools to the many departments of Social Services, all the way down to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the government seems to be doing nothing but baby-sitting anything that affects tax-payers. The government does not seem to be satisfied with what it already oversees and runs, though. It’s now trying to micro-manage the actual tax-payer. Their ways and methods are many, but that isn’t the point of this article.

Think of it this way. The government wants to stick its fingers into the private sector. Ever since the start of this government, the governed have fought against this very thing. So, what does the government do? You would think that they would be prudent with the money coming from those that they are trying to micro-manage, right? Of course you would, but our government evidently doesn’t think so just now. Instead of being economical with what they are entrusted, they spend exorbitant amounts of money on things that are not necessarily the most important, and never get to the things you as a tax-payer really care about.

Some recent occurrences at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provide us with a look at this. The CDC, while mostly interested in chronic and infectious diseases, is also involved in the arena of encouraging exercise and proper nutrition*.

It seemed that the morale (and physical fitness) of CDC employees was less than desirable. So, in September of 2006, the CDC opened a new and highly improved fitness center on their main campus in Atlanta. Long deferred for re-modeling, CDC employees were hardly content with the old, and looked wide-eyed at the new 16,000 sq. foot center*. The Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management’s Republican Office reported (on their website):

“It appears the $200,000+ state of the art “lifestyle” center featuring saunas, zero-gravity chairs, and mood enhancing light shows or its scenic Japanese Gardens have not been sufficient to improving morale at the CDC[.]”

Even this center, though, is less extensive than some that are provided to employees of business giants, or privately owned gyms.

The success of this project is not yet clear, but more people are exercising*. But what’s the point? So, they built a fitness center? I have absolutely nothing against fitness centers. But why is this money being spent in this fashion? It’s our money they’re spending. It’s not theirs. And, after all, what was accomplished?

Well, according to a CDC internal survey of employees, a drop of employee morale and feelings that the CDC was changing in a good way between 2003 and 2005 was evident**. Other indications of the same has moved the CDC brass to hire two ombudsmen for $250,000 a piece. Ombudsmen are often quite helpful to those inside of any organization. But, true to form, the ombudsmen the government hired are having trouble explaining just what they’ve been doing for the first three months of their year-long contract. Go here for more information.

Another example of tax-dollar waste is that the U.S. is involved in the United Nations. Besides the political hoops and loops, the UN is simply a wasteful entity. In 2004, the UNDP (United Nations Development Program) paid a historian $567,379 to write a book entitled, UNDP: A Better Way?. This book is all praise for the UNDP itself. Consider this budget for the book:

$252,000 for the historian's 21-month salary

$87,639 for the "project coordinator's" salary

$91,559 for "research and editing"

$37,299 for travel

$26,752 for office space

$55,452 for purchasing mass quantities of its own book

The Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management Republican Office noted on their website:

“Overlooking the fact that the U.N. must pay historians to praise itself, U.N. officials continue to criticize the U.S. for not giving more than the $108 million we give to the UNDP each year. This criticism towards the #1 U.N. donor seems odd at a time when U.N. management should be asking UNDP how many Guatemalan farmers could be trained to maximize crop yields, how many Burmese refugees could be taught to read and write, how many Sudanese survivors of genocide could be fed a meal, how many micro-loans could be administered in India for $567,379?”

Ah, but how does the U.S.’s involvement with the U.N. affect you, the tax-payer?

Consider this recent spending spree from the U.N. for a moment. The Secretary General (Kofi Annan) decided to spruce up his New York City apartment to the tune of $4.3 million. According to the Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management Republican Office:

“The U.S. taxpayer, who covers 22% of all U.N. operating expenses, will be expected to donate $1 million towards this lush project.” And, “Part of the plan is to spend $200,000 on a new kitchen alone. For $200,000, the U.N. could purchase 200,000 malaria pills to help save 200,000 kids suffering in Africa. Surely a normal, everyday kitchen is worth 200,000 lives?”

Please note that these few things I’ve mentioned hardly scratch the surface of both our Governments waste, or that of the United Nations.

The United States Government is trying very hard to baby-sit its tax-payers. With all the waste going on (measuring $29 billion in 2006 alone according to Citizens against Government Waste) don’t you think it’s time that the tax-payers started keeping an eye on the government? As crazy and unnecessary as you may think it, it’s time to start baby-sitting the self-imposed, over-paid baby-sitter that is trying so hard to use our money.

* CDC Opens Model Employee Fitness Center by Mike Stobbe The Washington Post

** Report on CDC's ills likely out Monday, Ombudsmen tackle morale problems by Alison Young, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Enjoying the Beautiful Weather

Boy, it's beautiful outside! The windows are open, our little pond outside just finished a two day cleaning by Buddy, what could be better? Staying awake for it would be nice.

I'm blue. Officially. And have been for a few days. I think I'm starting to feel better though. It's really to bad with the weather being so nice.

On to better news, I've been writing for a while this morning, and enjoying it. Mom is out shopping and visiting with a friend, Dad is using the other computer doing stuff, and I really need to start making lunch.

Oh! I watched the most fun movie recently. Zero Effect, ever heard of it? It was really enjoyable. It's a mystery, that's got just enough suspense to keep you interested, but just has you enjoying it the whole time. I saw it on broadcast and I think it was edited a little for content, so I can't vouch for it completely, but what I saw was REALLY enjoyable. Can you tell I liked it?

A Great Pie

Since it seems spring has arrived (or it has here anyhow), here's a great desert that deserves a try!

Tin Roof Fudge Pie
Originally from Taste of Home cook book.

Made 2/07 By me. I liked with peanuts, but Mom suggested leaving out peanuts and just having caramel in the second layer, or substituting pecans or softer nut.

2 squares (1 once each) semisweet baking chocolate
1 tablespoon butter (no substitutes)
1 pastry shell (9 inches), baked

PEANUT LAYER:
20 caramels
1/3 cup whipping cream
1-1/2 cups salted peanuts

CHOCOLATE LAYER:
8 squares (1 once each) semisweet baking chocolate
2 tablespoons butter (no substitutes)
1 cup whipping cream
2 teaspoons canilla extract
Whipped cream and salted peanuts, optional

TOPPING:
3 caramels
5 teaspoons whipping cream
1 tablespoon butter (no substitutes)

In a microwave or double boiler, melt chocolate and butter. Spread onto the bottom and up the sides of crust; refrigerate until the chocolate is set. In a saucepan over low heat, melt caramels and cream, stirring frequently until smooth. Remove from the heat; stir in peanuts. Spoon into pie shell; refrigerate. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate and butter. Remove from the hear; let stand 15 minutes meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, beat cream and vanilla until soft peaks form. Crefully fold a third of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture; fold in the remaining whipped cream. Spread over peanut layer; refrigerate until set. Garnish with whipped cream and peanuts if desired. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt caramels, cream and butter. Drizzle over pie, Refrigerate until serving.

Yield: 8-10 servings

Chocolate Cake and the FBI

The events of today have been quite a mix of things, as introduced by the title. We have the last half of an AMAZING chocolate cake that we have been carving on. It's a triple chocolate fudge cake mix with frosting made of powdered sugar, butter, milk, and Hershey's dark cocoa! Wow!

The other part was spent fraternizing with the FBI. Not for real, you understand. I've been writing and in the story the main character was. As in my mind I am the main characters in my stories, I was with the FBI, and enjoyed it all the way. The story is about a girl in her mid twenties that is accused of being involved in an assassination, and an agents attempt at proving and/or disproving it. I've got 27 pages right now, and more are coming as soon as I finish this post.

That's about it for now, except that we've got a showing tomorrow for that family from NJ (they never showed up on thursday), so pray that that goes well.

Don't forget to turn your clocks forward 1 hour!

The Man's Trailer - The Epic Story

Once upon a time, a man in his early twenties started working for a piano shop moving pianos. He drove the truck, went to New York, New York fairly often, and every now and then they would use this little trailer. This trailer was owned by the owner of the piano shop. The young man liked this trailer because of it's hard to find proportions. It was short enough to fit in a normal garage door, and long enough to put a grand piano in.

As time went by, the man got older and moved on to other jobs, but still retained his friendship with the owner of the piano shop. Every now and then he would stop by and visit, and again try to convince the owner to sell the trailer. The owner always refused. For twenty years this continued. The man also kept his eye out constantly for a trailer like it, but never found one for sale. Then, the man found it necessary to move himself and his family to another part of the country.

He still kept looking for a trailer that he would want to buy, but never found it. Then, he again found it necessary to move. This time, he felt that a trailer would be very helpful to him, as he was moving all the families possessions himself. He did a lot of research, and found another type of trailer that had the same dimensions as the one he had wanted for so long.

Finally, he found one of these, a Thule (pronounced to-lee), used just an hour and a half drive from his home.

He ended up buying it, and from then on life was bliss.....
OK, so it wasn't bliss, but he was very happy he got his trailer after twenty years of wanting one.


Disclaimer:
None of this info is correct. If you happen to think that the man represents my dad, YOU ARE WRONG. If you happen to think that any of this actually took place, YOU ARE WRONG. If you think that I am always and under all circumstances truthful, YOU ARE WRONG. (wait a minute, where did that last bit come from? Oh well.)

Federal Fridays - Changing DST (Is that LEGAL??)

You wouldn't believe it, but someone already did it, legal or not. Yes, DST has already been changed, even though your calender doesn't say so. Who is the culprit? According to the Chicago Tribune: "At 2 a.m. Sunday, daylight saving time starts three weeks earlier than usual in a federal effort to save energy." http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/la-fi-daylight6mar06,0,6382414.story?coll=chi-bizfront-hed Yes, the Federal government has changed it, and failed to give us a year so that our calenders could be changed! OK, so that would be a little overboard, but still, it's kind of weird. However, now that we know, we can deal with this, right? I mean, what could go wrong? A lot. "[M]illions of computers, servers and networks are programmed to move the hands forward on the first Sunday in April." "[H]eat and lights in some buildings could come on an hour later than they should. Meeting rooms may be double booked. Sprinklers might go haywire. Doors may lock and unlock when they aren't supposed to. People could be late to meetings with their bosses if their computerized calendars aren't tweaked in time." http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/la-fi-daylight6mar06,0,6382414.story?coll=chi-bizfront-hed Many things have been fixed, are fixable, or are tolerable: "[T]echnologists are racing against the computer clocks to make the software fixes." "TiVo and other digital video recorders have made fixes. Those with older computer systems may have to hunt online for software fixes called "patches," or just endure having a clock out of sync for three weeks. Still, Kevin Watne, president of Los Angeles technology consultant Generation IX, has a novel solution for Californians if all else fails: set their haywire technology on Mountain Standard Time for three weeks." http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/la-fi-daylight6mar06,0,6382414.story?coll=chi-bizfront-hed Now, that, was a good idea. Isn't it hilarious how much can be affected - how many people have to work, how many news stories are written, how much annoyance is caused - by the Federal Government?

Something Fun

I love politics. But, as this is not a political blog, I am wary of putting political opinions here, as that isn't the point of this blog. Yet, some things about politics and the government have a place here I think.

And so I am launching Federal Fridays. Post's that have the hilarious, strange and/or slightly insane things that the Federal Government is doing with your tax dollars!

So, don't go away, Federal Fridays begins tomorow!

Realtors, Realtors, Realtors.

Hey people! We are waiting for this lady from NJ to call and tell us that she would like to come see the house again (her second visit). Please pray that she comes, and that the family will awnt to buy it and make an offer NOW!

Besides that, I had a great flute lesson yesterday (always a bright spot in any week). I've also been cooking, reading, cutting out a pattern for a dress I'm making for myself and watching movies in the evenings with the fam.

Not much else to say for now, but as soon as I get a chance to do a bit of research on the Net, I'll have something interesting and newsworthy for you!

CO trip - soon

More Exciting News!!
Dad is probably going to have two interviews set up in CO withing the next couple weeks! He is trying to get them close together so that he can bring Mom and combine it into a house hunting trip as well. This is SO encouraging to us, especially to Mom and Dad.

Also, we have some people coming for a second look at our house this week. This is expecially exciting as we are on the top of thier list right now!

Please Pray:
-That Dad is able to schedual the interviews
-That the schedualling of the whole trip (when it happens) works out just right
-That the interviews go well, and that both want Dad to work for them
-That they are able to choose a house
-That the people that are coming want to buy our house, and...
-That we have one of these:

In front of our house really soon!
Thanks all for your continued prayers!

And On That Day - Phil Keaggy song

A few months ago, I decided it was time to try doing a special music piece in church. I wanted something that wasn't to long or strenuous, as my voice is really weak along with the rest of my muscles. Dad has a Phil Keaggy album - True Believer - that I enjoy. I wanted to do one of his pieces, but they are all in an awful key for me to sing.... except one. And On That Day, is written for Phil to sing with a substantial female backup - that by the end is more of a duet - and so it's in a key that's half way decent. It also has a flute part (actually it's for an ebo, but flute sufficed fine), so I played and sang in the same song.

Yesterday, we performed it! It was beautiful! I was so glad it came off well. It was our music pastor doing the male voice and guitar, a girl on the keyboard filling in with long chords, snare drum brushes, and bass (plus me singing and playing flute). It sounded GREAT. The sound guys took a recording of it and sent it to us, which is really nice.

I was so happy to be able to do some music performance again.

See and be Jealous!

I have loved the Rocky mountains of CO ever since my family vacationed there when I was 8 or 9 years old. Two years ago I was back there with my dad for a conference we attended. We did bring a camera, and got nice pictures. The first 5 we took, and the other 2 I pulled from the Internet. Aren't they amazing? It's one thing to see pictures or to visit, but I actually get thee chance to live there!! As hard as it is to leave people here, I am very excited!! (can you tell?)


The Summit


Garden of the god's (over-view of part of the valley)


Another Garden of the god's formation (my favorite)


Not sure where, but not in garden of the god's


A stream we hiked up in a deep gorge


Internet pic


Internet pic

Verses about Prayer

We have a software that has the Bible on it, and let's you search it in different ways. I decided to do a word search on the word prayer. For now I am sticking to the Psalms because so many came up. Here are some of my favorites:

Psalm 4:1 (ESV)
Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!

Psalm 66:19-20 (ESV)
But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!

Psalm 102:17 (ESV)
He regards the prayer of the destitute and does not despise their prayer.

Psalm 141:2 (ESV)
Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!

This one was my favorite:

Psalm 69:13 (ESV)
But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.

Buddy's Trumpet

Buddy got his trumpet today! I'm not sure I've ever seen him so excited in his life. Dad already taught him "Mary had a Little Lamb", and he is so proud of it! He almost gave up watching a Mission: Impossible episode to go in the basement to play around with it. It's fun to watch him have so much fun.
One thing that was really funny, was when Birdie asked to hold the trumpet. I had just given it back to him after getting a lesson on how to hold it, which Birdie hadn't seen. Buddy, being the giving brother that he is, let her hold it, but you should have seen the look of worry on his face! "What if she dropped it!!!!!!" I'm sure he was thinking.

Houses, Jobs, and Guests.

Well, here we are it's already Friday night. The week has left us!

SOMEWHAT DISAPPOINTING NEWS
Bad news first. Dad lost his job a week or so ago..... again. I'm not going to get into it except to say that it was Dad's boss' fault. So, we are back to unemployment. (Sorry, but I won't even give you a chance to get your hopes up... we still plan to move to CO)

EXCITING NEWS!!
The exciting news is that Daddy already has two people very interested in him for jobs in the area of CO that we have pinpointed!! Please pray that these come through! One is with Sprint (a NAM [National Accounts something] which would be a sales representative job selling to national companies) and one is with an indirect dealer that only sells Sprint. Both would be nice, but the NAM position (from what I have pieced together) would be preferable. Mom and Dad are encouraged that these positions are opening up for Dad so quickly.

The other exciting news is that we are on the top of at least two peoples list's of favorite homes!! We have a number of probable buyers coming through soon, one of which is tomorrow morning. Please keep praying that this place sells NOW.

For the past few days we've been preparing for and cleaning up from guests. The parents of some students came and stayed with us. It was a lot of fun (as they always are).

One thing that I am noticing more as I am around more people (thinking I'm feeling better) is that people wear me out. I think it's the stimulation, as well as having to be engaged in a conversation. It's almost depressing, as I really want to be around people. So, what to do? well, I decide to be around people anyhow! I'm so sick of being sick, it's nice to not act sick for a while.