2 out of 5

The beginning of November will be the start of my third year here in Oregon. If the progression of the improvements on the property continue at the rate they have the previous two years, by this time next year the shack should be complete. In three more years the place should be paid off, or paid down to less than what you paid for your last car.
Life is good. I'm adapting to the new world and the lifestyle changes. I need a few goats and some chickens, a 'Sea-Land container' filled with MRE's and a ton of rice and beans. A little more ammo and fishing lessons and I'll be ready for the Apocalypse.
The last thirty days I've had caretakers at the house to feed the dog and watch the property: Randy and Jacob. The three of us Insulated underneath the shack, water-sealed the exterior, dug trenches and helped the Plumber plumb the place. It's a whole house now, or at least a whole shack. When we weren't working, or they weren't fishing, I was riding the motorcycle back and forth to California. It was good to have someone watch the dog and guard the property while I rolled a little. But alas, all good things come to an end; last week Randy went to his mother's in Portland. Today Jacob returned to Sacramento. It's back to me and the dog.
It'll be nice to have the shack to myself again for a while, but it will be lonely far too quick.
I look at pictures of my sons and kick myself in the ass for not video recording our every moment together. I try to talk them into coming and living my life with me, but they want their own lives. They are exactly whom I thought they should be in many ways...what the hell did I know? They're Worldly, Educated, the Beneficiaries of learning from my mistakes, I feel like the ultimate loser on Jeopardy around them.
It was a good year. Three more to go, this base will be paid for, and I'll be able to start the next Five year plan: buy a 36 foot sail boat and become a Asia coastal trader for five years while I pay for the Boat. But I won't think about that for the moment...
Don't live for the future, Live for the NOW, you get more done that way. Yours must be a busy, enjoyable world.

Now It Is Our Time

It is now Your Time Gentlemen.
It is your duty and responsibility to the American People to speak out from Experience, Memory, and Knowledge; Those who were alive in the seventies, Who Remember the Protests, The Administrations Lies, the Bullshit, and especially those who served as proud Americans and saw the cost, first hand, of at the expense of the 1%. Those who were shelled, while Shell oil transports sat in the harbor within range of the enemy's weapons, but were immune to attack because Shell paid the Vietnamese not to do so. It is your duty to remind America of the guile of her politicians. (One of many stories the country should be reminded of...)
And why now? Because there are many other similarities between the seventies and the present, that those who were there should remember. The reason we were in Vietnam?
To stop the ‘spread’ of communism? And today’s fear? The ‘spread’ of nuclear weapons. And who is using that ‘spread’ word and continuing to propagate fear of ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ and ‘Al Qaeda in Iraq’ and ‘Axis of Terror’ etc?
Our GOOD OL' BOY: John McCain for no change. This jerk wants to recycle the mistakes of the Seventies; probably thinks our memories are completely up in smoke!
Another similarity to the Seventies? Recession. Inflation. Skyrocketing oil prices (Vietnam wasn't helping. Iraq isn't helping).
And the Commander of all US forces in the Pacific? John McCain's Father. 1968.
A Position very Close to the top, I would imagine. A man whom would know the truth, have to be a team player and, maybe, get a cut of the Profit? Or maybe have his wife get a cut? We questioned the whole damn war, so why shouldn't I now question the integrity of the Admiral, and his successor? The Vietnam war was an imperialistic military action for a Profit. So is Iraq. Like father like Son. Let's remember and end it now!
John McCain is showing the signs of a man who will do anything to win.
How Senator McCain can stand and state that Senator Obama has no right to question his action in regards to our veteran affairs because Senator Obama is not a veteran is outrageous. It is exactly the kind of arrogance and attitude that makes Senator John McCain a dangerous candidate, and a pompous asshole.
I spent six years in the Army, and my family spent three hundred years before that conquering, and defending this country, so that everyone (including Senator Obama) can give their opinion and question the Powers that be! I am American; would the Senator ever question my right to question him by virtue of his position?
Additionally, Senator McCain is willing to continue the current policies that waste billions of dollars a day, yet votes against a bill for veterans benefits that cost less per year than a days worth of folly in Iraq? That is not a veteran's actions. Those are the actions of The Profiteer. The Senators actions belie his words, and he is not a veteran that this veteran would trusts.
And I'm a super-American-voice; my family are North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountain Hillbilly charter members.