Sweet Sarah and Maple Picture

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Jasper Jeep is no longer King or Queen

I was driving by Jasper Jeep today and noticed something which stood out to me, the amount of Jeeps in their inventory. The inventory was at about 19 or so. This is a large reduction from what the lot could hold. The special thing about Jasper Jeep is, it used to be the number one Jeep dealer in all of the world, they would sell more Jeeps than anyone... anyone in the world of Jeep selling. What a huge turn of events, such a different world for them now, from the biggest and best to just trying to survive amongst the dying world of SUV sales.

I know this might sound gross

So, I just got home from work. Before I left as I was getting into my car and heard something in the woods right in front of me, it was a deer. I found this out when I turned on my lights. I was sitting there talking to a friend who was leaving at the same time, while we watched the deer. Then I saw something I have never seen before, the deer pooped. A deer poops like a girl dog pees. This deer sat there for about five minutes while were talking and pooped. It was very funny to witness. And now I sleep.

Growing Older, but not Old yet.

I have been thinking today about getting older. Now with that said, I know I am only approaching 27 and to many this is a budding young age which knows very little of aging. But as I have gained some age year by year it continues to increase in sweet moments I might have missed previously. Simple moments, calm moments, genuine moments that scream with authentic flavor. I was home in Cary, NC for a brief stay on Thursday afternoon through Friday around noon to drop off some of our stuff in preparation for our move to North Carolina. (Yes, Orlando we are moving and yes we should talk) As I was standing the driveway I grew up playing in with my Dog, Maple, I took a moment to look around and enjoy my surroundings and all the stories that came flooding back to my mind... playing army dodge ball, the little hole in the driveway that I thought looked like the united states, playing army, jumping in leave piles, riding my bike around the house over and over, my brother carrying me into the house with a skint up knee, wrestling with my brother all over the place, falling out of my tree-house. (how I survived, not sure). These are just a few to name, they are memories that will never leave but are easy to breeze by. This time, I stood on the driveway and slowly enjoyed the moment of peace that being "home" provided, the safety and love that is the sanctuary of family. I later went to eat with my parents to eat some wings, and onion rings, fries, beer. (perfect meal) As I sat in the booth with Sarah, Mom and Dad, I had another moment. I was sitting here, sharing meal with my folks, drinking a beer with my Dad and could not imagine anything better. I talked with my Dad about politics, and such, updated my Mom on life and just enjoyed the sweet time. These are the moments I am striving to hold onto these days, simple interactions that carry more weight than anything I could think of. So I guess the moral of my ah ha moment is to take it in and enjoy authentic love, past and present.

Dinner/sleeping setup

This is our living setup for the next few days. We moved our stuff to cary yesterday, so we are now living on floor matteeses and a cardboard dinner table with van seats for chairs. A little pizza and some arrested development and we are good to go.

Dinner/sleeping setup

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Republicans Unite!

Today, I watched/read as Governor Sanford admitted to having an affair with some woman in Argentina, from a dear friend, to a consistent email, to...affair. At this point in the political scene, this is not what the GOP needs right now. Furthermore, how stupid can Mr.Sanford be, which is just as dumb as the rest of the politicians who have had affairs recently. But I think Gov. Sanford's case is a little more special than most. In a time where the GOP needs to be united and stronger than ever to put themselves back on the map, this kind of crap does nothing but slow them down. For someone to get elected to Governor, they must have something knocking upstairs, I am just sad that he could not control his loins. This kind of thing is becoming a weekly occurrence, I wonder who the next winner of the "uncontrollable loins" award will be?

The Target One Spot

Sarah and I were in Target the other day getting some Starbucks and reading. On the way out of the coffee shop, Sarah said she wanted to go look at the "one spot" for a second just to see if there were any good deals. I responded with come on, seriously, it's all crap and a waste of money. So, I lost the battle and so we went over to look at the cheap stuff. As we walked through the four small isles of one dollar items, I turned a corner and something caught my eye. I crouched down to get a closer look and YESSS it was as I had hoped.... Presidential flashcards. One flashcard for each president and some history and talking points for each one. I got pretty excited and immediately grabbed one up and decided to add the United States flashcards as well. (exposed dork, I know) As we walked out of the "one spot" with my flashcards and Sarah empty handed, she laughed at me. She did not even need to say anything, just a satisfied smile of victory as we walked away.

My interactions with the bugs

Today I had two different interactions with two different bugs. One was a little flying/crawling bug, very tiny little guy and the other was a worm. The crawly guy I met while I was in a meeting this morning. I was sitting at a very large table with twenty other people and I looked down and there he was, just crawling along. As I watched him walk around putting his feelers on the table and working his way along, I thought, "buddy you picked the wrong place to be, you are most likely not going to make it much longer." He was just walking around doing his own thing walking around within what he knew to be his surroundings... all was normal to him. I guess it was just a interesting perspective to take for a moment. Especially when he would get close to my hand and I would blow him away, hurricane. The other bug was a worm I walked up on in the field beside our dining hall. It had not rained, so it was odd to see him out crawling on top of the grass. I also thought about his perspective. He was on his way somewhere, and most likely had a long way to go. So small and such a large area to travel. Thus my world in the mind of a bug today.

Please read and respond (change we can believe in?)

Here is a excerpt from a Newsweek article I read this morning.


"As a senator, Barack Obama denounced the Bush administration for holding "secret energy meetings" with oil executives at the White House. But last week public-interest groups were dismayed when his own administration rejected a Freedom of Information Act request for Secret Service logs showing the identities of coal executives who had visited the White House to discuss Obama's "clean coal" policies. One reason: the disclosure of such records might impinge on privileged "presidential communications." The refusal, approved by White House counsel Greg Craig's office, is the latest in a series of cases in which Obama officials have opted against public disclosure. Since Obama pledged on his first day in office to usher in a "new era" of openness, "nothing has changed," says David -Sobel, a lawyer who litigates FOIA cases. "For a president who said he was going to bring unprecedented transparency to government, you would certainly expect more than the recycling of old Bush secrecy policies."

I know that as a private citizen I do know all the facts that surround those top level decisions and this could be protecting my safety etc. But this really fires me up. DO not ride in on a horse of blame and finger pointing to a previous administration and then quietly pick up their practices and pretend like all is well. I am somewhat dumbfounded by all of this. So far, the change we can believe in should be called, change is only in the name switch. So far only more money spent, less results, and much of the same practices that were blamed during a campaign to acquire the White House. At what point do people ditch the party lines and just look at what is happening and compare that with what was promised. This is where I am curious to see how common America will react to these types of things... blindly following, or time to question...

Things not to say to someone

Have you ever been told that if you don't like something or someone or whatever then you have a problem? I find this not to be the best way to carry yourself into a conversation with someone. Say you are about to meet someones friend and they say, "if you don't like them, man you need to check yourself because something is wrong with you." This is what I would describe as lacking tact. So, tonight I leave you with a short blog, just a quick reminder about how to approach someone in this situation. Caring along with the approach above would not be the best way to go. Until tomorrow night, stay classy Jasper, Georgia.

Let us just examine the facts here

I am claiming no party affiliation here, just an observation of a New York Times article I read today. Please read this quote.

WASHINGTON — When President Obama arrived at the Mandarin Oriental hotel for a fund-raising reception on Thursday night, the new White House rules of political purity were in order: no lobbyists allowed.

But at the same downtown hotel on Friday morning, registered lobbyists have not only been invited to attend an issues conference with Democratic leaders, but they have also been asked to come with a $5,000 check in hand if they want to stay in good favor with the party’s House and Senate re-election committees.

The practicality of Mr. Obama’s pledge to change the ways of Washington is colliding once more with the reality of how money, influence and governance interact here. He repeatedly declared while campaigning last year that he would “not take a dime” from lobbyists or political action committees.

So to follow through with that promise, Mr. Obama is simply leaving the room.

Following this article, I do not have much to say. Well I guess that is not true, I have a lot to say but I will limit my thoughts to one main point which is mentioned in the article. When you run on a platform, you need to stick to what people elected you for. Mr. President, please stop playing the political game and start taking on the special interests that you promised to challenge. When you campaign on the idea that you are going to change the way things are run, and then turn the cold shoulder, come on... starting giving us what you promised. Again, this is not party lines, this is just wanting what was promised.

Authentic Famous People

Today, I was reminded of how people can take just a minute of their time to do something for someone and make their day because of it. I wrote an email today to the "Get it done Guy", Stever Robbins. He does one of my favorite podcast that is about everything in life, from business, to people relations, to self care. He is pretty much the stream line guru. Extremely successful in many areas, extremely gifted in the ability to teach etc, so he is a pretty big deal. Today, I emailed him a question to propose for a topic for his show. Not imagining I would ever get a response from him personally. About 30 minutes later, I get an email in my inbox... it's Stever Robbins. He not only responded personally, but he wrote a lengthy letter to answer my question that was detailed and specific to the question that I asked. It completely made my day. It is the simple acts of kindness like this that are very unique to me. He didn't need to respond, I would have never thought twice if he didn't... but he did.... he did respond. That is what makes people different and special, that extra mile.

Best Ball

At the wedding last weekend after the rehearsal dinner all the groomsmen went out onto one of the holes on the golf course. We decided to have a chipping/driving competition on a par 3 that was not too long, not too short either. Let me just say, I am not good at golf and most sports for that matter but enjoy them non the less. So each guy put in a few bucks to make it interesting and we went to hitting the golf balls... one practice, one real deal ball. My practice shot: I completely shanked it into the woods. (by the way it is dark at this point) So each practice ball was hit, on to the real deal. As a ball would get hit and arrive close to the pin to challenge the previous place holder, we would measure it off to see who was closer. I finally hit my ball about three before the last person, we we walked my ball off it was three feet closer, and I ended up holding off my competition to win the 9 dollars. Yeah buddy. Right towards the end though it got a little more interesting as the golf cart guy who had driven by a few times already silently, cut the lights and drove by this time mustering the courage to yell, "get off the course". We finished our game and left, only I had already paid for a beer or two of my evening. Oh so nice.

Still nothing.

Laptop is not working so I am writing from the phone tonight. I am seriously having a writers block. I cab still think of nothing to write about...... Nothing. I remember having one of these a few months ago and I got through it. I would like it to end soon though. Total block. Crap. Good night.

Blank Brain

This is driving me nuts, I have found when I am super busy and have little time for myself, I have very little to write about. I think this is a result of not having much time to ponder or read the news etc. As I am sitting here writing this Sarah just killed a bug, she is really sleepy, so that means a really sluggish looking Sarah slowly tracking a bug. Very funny. So anyways I think this lack of material calls for a Maple Story. Five days ago I was sitting in the living room reading a magazine/on computer and maple was at the glass sliding door. All of the sudden she tears across the living room and runs full force into the screen door in the kitchen with enough force to make it open. Turns out a ground hog came trotting by the window and Maple was on the hunt. I turned the corner to see her working her way up a really steep hill of underbrush like a mad man possessed. It was funny, I got her back and she went back to the the window and set up shop and watched out for another hour or two waiting for the ground hog to return.

Epic

Well, after a few days off being gone, I am back to action. I have been thinking about which parts to share but it is really hard to pick. Let me fill you in some of the highlights. For Jon, Bachelor party we went out in downtown Greensboro, NC. We got to Natty Green's Bar and figured out that Jon had left his ID at the hotel. Our friend Joel offered to go back to the Hotel and grab it. (Joel by the way is 20). At this point Green's was not carding, so we could all be in the bar together to hang out. By the time Joel got back they had started to card at the door and he could not come in. This is where is gets awesome. We decided to go back to the Hotel Lounge and hang out instead, we just wanted to have some place to chill and talk and just be amongst friends. Joel was pretty bummed out we had to go the hotel and did not want to mess anything up. Oh, was he so wrong, Joel was the orchestrator of one of the most epic nights of history. We walked the half mile back to the hotel meeting people along the way and getting high fives here and there, Jon did some interpretive dance for a cover band. Once getting to the hotel lobby, we brought the heat. Lets just say we are so much fun and awesome, that people would be coming down to go out on the town and decide to stay and hang out with us. That is all for now.

P.S. Bradley lifted a couch by himself, Roberts like a smart brain, B Lewis is the best white suit wearer ever, Joel does really good cheerleader moves.... You got served, Jesse is a great piggy back ride giver, IHop brings the heat, Patrick is 22.... Jeff is fffireefotyyeeeeeeeee.... B Lewis the Cougar master, Territory fighters, and the list goes on and on, if anyone would like to add please continue.

Peace

You know I thought here for a moment about what to write tonight, but alas I am dumbfounded and cannot stir anything up. I am just very calm and still in my thoughts which is very nice. So tonight I will ask myself a question and you one as well. What motivates you?

The Simple life, thanks technology...

I would love to continue talking about policy and more, seriously, I had to talk myself out of doing a trilogy of policy blogs today. The last thing about Jackson though, I do think he had an agenda in the white house for sure. His VP did leave D.C. and head back to South Carolina to where most people from congress, labeled him as an "idiot and crazy". Many of those being past presidents. But I will say that on the Jackson side, the union was his policy, he sought to keep the union together at all costs to ensure the greater good of what he saw as the bigger picture. I am excited to see you this weekend, Patrick to continue our discussion on the topic.

Onward we go, today I would like to speak to what I have considered a God send, the iphone. Okay, I know what you are already checking out and attention is fading but stick with me for a minute. I could even say the God send is "technology". I was thinking today about how wonderful it is to get my email directly to my phone, I can delete things quickly, sort things out in a matter of seconds and deal with many different things at once. I have seen some great things come out of this. I have talked to many people who deny the need of a fancy phone because it would take them away from family etc etc and up to much of there time etc etc and how it bogs people down and they spend to much time on it.. you get the point. (I do understand that some people just do not want "fancy", but their argument stays the same) But most of these people have computers, and spend time checking emails, sorting things, paying online bills, responding to this and that, and delete junk at home. This is where I think the topic gets interesting. Since having email at my finger tips, I rarely spend much time on the computer at home, I don't need to. I have seen my time I spend with Sarah go way up and get multiple things done in less time again giving me more time for living life. So, I guess my challenge is to think about technology not as something that will kill your free time, but yet open the door wide open to free time.

Policy Continued.

I have continued to think about this topic, especially with the great comments to spur on more thought. One area that I think give a great example is when nullification was around and the threat to secede from the union during the 1830's under the presidency of Andrew Jackson. For this example, Jackson took policy over some people for what he considered the greater good for the whole that was the union. I think this is a great example of policy trumping people, the union would be preserved, no matter what, no person could have convinced Jackson otherwise, no matter what they cause. He believed in it. The interesting part is the policy hurt some and helped or supported others. Where is the balance, that is where I think the debate can roll on and will sway back and forth amongst the political powers till the end of the earth.

Policy or People

I am sorry I missed a day, I plan to write one (now for the 5th) and one more today for the 6th. I would like to pose a question today. I would love some response my great minds out there. I expect something good, Patrick, as usual. I have been reading a good bit lately and in response have been pondering some good issues. Today I would like to talk about the idea of policy and people, which comes first? Should policy be granted importance over people, or should people always gain importance over policy? Does policy serve people or the other way around? I think what has really racked my brain here are the circumstances which can shape and control the differences. Most policies are shaped to serve someone or somebody, so in the end I guess policy always serves some, and controls some. So, the answer is both. Hmmmm.

Reality of hurt

Sorry for the blog postponing, but got home so late last night, my body was arguing with me about staying up, so I conceded and went to bed. Yesterday was the day that never ends at camp, it was Day 4. I know this means very little to most of you, but it basically means that from sun up to well after sun down we are going 100 miles an hour... all day. I got to work yesterday around 7am, took a 30 minute break at 5pm to go let Maple out and feed her and then back in it till a little after midnight. It was an intense day and there was a lot of staff working last night since it is the first week of the summer. Something different happened last night that will stick with me for a long time. We had some things happen pushing everything back a while and even canceling one event, so things were a little disheveled. Around the late afternoon, I got a call on the radio to "come over to Springer (cabin) we need someone to help out Nate (EMT)". I started to jog/run over there to assist Nate in what I had been described as someone got a small cut. (If you are squeamish, this would be the time to stop reading and just ask me later) I walked into the dorm and Nate was sitting there with a young man, who had punched a window and in return received a small cut on his wrist. (it was not life threatening due to EMT being present but it required stitches) I looked around to asses the scene and we will just say there was a lot of blood. I asked Nate what I should do and through on a pair of gloves. I just did what Nate instructed me to and assisted in whatever way I was needed. As I was kneeling in front of the young man cleaning off his other hand from glass and some small cuts, I just sat and listened to him and Nate's exchange. He said, "I am really sorry about this guys, I had a temper you know, and sometimes it just comes up, I am really sorry about this, so sorry". He then went on to share a little bit about his life which I will withhold, but to each sentence, Nate remained locked in eye contact with him telling him not to worry and we are going to just take care of right now. He encouraged him just to be loved in the moment and go from there. The young man's Young Life leader sat right beside blood on his shirt holding his friend. Different "Head Leaders" would come in and out of the building while this was all going on to assess where we were and with each "I am sorry about this guys" the young man would receive, don't worry about that right now and a compassionate hug and embrace to follow. This was an amazing picture of love, not matter the action and what may have happened in whatever moment, people loving people. Grace exposed.

...

The next few days might be alittle shorter than usual as I walk around the yard searching for a signal. I was driving late two nights ago and I noticed a bunny in the middle of the road. It looked at me and instead of running quickly, it decided to show me how good It was at slow motion or the robot. Needless to say, it was to late for peter and he got tagged at 80mph. That is my story for the day. It sounds worse when you say bunny instead of rabbit. I said I ran over a rabbit, I think of a stupid dirty rabbit that steals credit cards and identities, but bunny, that conjures up thoughts of free chocolate and goodies.

Goodbye GM

I was listening/reading to the news this morning and heard about some of the GM bankruptcy going on. I was informed the head person in charge of the government side of things is at the veteran old age of 31. Well, first you think, he must be an economical brain, nope, he must have a Harvard MBA or something, nope, maybe a MBA, nope, ahhhh then he must be really well versed in the auto world which grants him the place amongst the top of the company rebuild, you guessed it nope. He is a lackey, a yes man, a servant of an economical brain of the current administration. People say the spoils system is so horrible and special interest groups would not leak into this clean and clear administration, I am not saying all is a loss blah blah blah, I would just like to hear some people start to admit that what we have here currently is vaguely familiar to the last, I don't know couple hundred years of administrations. Our new ambassador to Japan, no experience in speaking Japanese, I could go on but you get the picture. Change is out there but so far for the most part, I consider it to be a tad self served. Which I expect with the changing of power, but I would love to see some of the claims honored that were promised, not that I agree with all of them but just to see some consistency within the message.

Maple Got Stuck

It has been a while since I had a good Maple story. Yesterday we were throwing the ball around the house, and it ended up going underneath the bed. Maple went under the bed to retrieve it. She got under the bed and got the ball which she kind of tossed out from under the bed. She turned herself around a little bit and then when she went to come out from underneath the bed, she had a problem, she was stuck. Every time she would go to get out, she would try to stand up in which she would be unable to get out. I found this pretty amusing so I watched her for a bit, then went in to help. I had to grab her paws and drag her out. It was pretty funny, especially the part where she was stuck for a while. Reminded me of ol' president Taft. (history trivia of the day, can anyone tell me what I am referring to?)