TOPIC: My Wife's Birthday Present (Part II)
Well, the big day came and went... Guess what I bought my lovely bride of 13 years!?! From the children; a 14k gold bar w/ a bezel-set peridot -- for her charm bracelet. From yours truly... drum roll, please... a sterling silver bracelet, AND... you guessed it -- a bagger for the lawn mower. Darn it! She really wanted the bagger. I even tried to get the kids to probe her for more ideas. She wouldn't tell me or the kids ANYTHING else -- just a bagger for the lawn mower.
The compromise deal we struck is -- she agreed to tell her friends and coworkers ONLY of the jewelry, cards, cake and balloons -- but NEVER tell them she got a bagger for her birthday.
[! HUMOR !]

TOPIC: Hamming it Up!
A new chapter has opened in my life. No, I'm not doing standup at the local comedy lounge. It's much more mundane than that. I just received my amateur radio Technician license. That's right -- I am officially a "ham".
This is a very cool (in my book) prospect for someone who wants to serve the community and enjoy a world reknown hobby -- at the same time. OK, so it's not rocket science, but being an amateur operator is not for the faint of brain or those who love anarchy. Ham offers both a service to their community (under the alspices of the FCC) AND a fraternity shared only by those who can and will study, take the test and then obey the rules (lest thee be fined THOU$AND$ by the FCC or other foreign government).
I'm not going to give my callsign here mainly cuz I don't want all the fruitloops to have my personal info. So, I'll just sign-off with 73s to you...

QOTD: Rumor travels faster, but it don't stay put as long as truth. -- Will Rogers in 'Politics Getting Ready to Jell' The Illiterate Digest c.1924

[Keep this in mind the next time your neighbor's tongue is wagging with that juciy bit of gossip. Be quick to listen and slow to speak -- that's why God designed us with TWO ears and ONE mouth. It shoulda been a hint. ;-) ]

TOPIC: My Wife's Birthday Present
Before you pass this one by, take a moment to consider this -- especially if you're a married male. My wife's birthday will be here in a few days. I have asked several times what she would like as a present. Without fail, she has told me one thing -- a bagger for your lawn mower. My reply -- I am NOT buying you a bagger for the lawn mower! :-)
Let me back up a bit -- my wife loves working outdoors. She loves moving the lawn. Since I have horrible allergies that flare to the point of allergy-induced asthma, I don't mind if she mows the lawn. My wife is a loving and giving woman -- a cherished Christian who lives as Proverbs 31 tells us a woman should live. BUT, I'm still not buying her a bagger for the lawn mower!
Not bragging, but my lovely wife tells me that her friends at work think I am a great guy. I take her out to dinner; buy her nice gifts when we can afford it; give her days at the spa for gifts and generally don't sit around on my fat arse eating chips and drinking beer every Saturday.
As such, I have a reputation to uphold! I can just hear the conversation when she returns to work after her birthday... Coworker: "Hey, happy belated birthday! Did you have a good birthday?" MyWife: "Thanks. I had a great day and received some nice presents." Coworker: "Really? What did your family get for you?" MyWife: "Well, the kids made cards for me... and they gave me a charm for my bracelet. Oh, and my husband gave me a bagger for the lawn mower." Coworker: "Reeaallly... (says to herself) That schmuck. I thought he was a nice guy and here he is giving his poor darling wife a stupid bagger for their LAWN MOWER. Men! They're all alike... (says aloud) That's nice. Gotta run."
Get the picture?!? I just can't buy her a bagger for the mower. It will ruin my reputation. So what would YOU do?
[! HUMOR !]

QOTD: The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers. -- Thomas Jefferson, Statesman & Co-author of US founding documents

[As I continue to harp on the liberal media, it is sometimes humorous to find such quotes. As the risk of over stating the obvious, this quote, by one of our founding fathers, is included purely for your amusement.]

Speaking on the same topic from Saturday...

QOTD: Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save. -- Will Rogers, Humorist & showman, in the New York Times, April 29, 1930

TOPIC: Why So Many "Quotables"?
I've been doing a lot of reading of quotes lately -- as is evident here on the Sope Bocks. Even though this blog's purpose is to provide an outlook on life through my eyes, I don't want to be selfish. My ego is not bruised by quoting others. My thoughts are no more important than others.
For those of you who have asked why I'm blogging quotables -- here's your answer. I'm no poet. I'm not a philosopher (well, at least not in some ways). I'm no intellectual guru. I'm just an average guy who wants to contribute to the world at large -- and share a piece of my mind with those who will take a moment to read the Sope Bocks.
Therefore, quotables are sometimes a good way to offer compelling, thought-provoking and even dissenting ideas. My goal is make you THINK for yourself. If someone else's words help in that endeavor, then quotables are exceedingly welcome on the Sope Bocks.

QOTD: The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. The trite subjects of human efforts, possessions, outward success, luxury have always seemed to me contemptible. -- Albert Einstein

[I always wondered why Einstein was not the mega-rich, egotist of his day. Seems to me he had it right -- possessions, outward success & luxury are but trite and vain attempts to find happiness and fulfillment.]

QOTD: My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind. -- Albert Einstein

[Here is further proof of Einstein's belief in God. It is amazing to me how modern science is so afraid of religion -- especially Christianity. They work so hard to try and disprove a living God and Creator of the universe -- and all things in it. They work hard to prove their religion of evolution -- which fails its own tests over and over again. Were they only as humble as the genius of Einstein. Who knows what science could discover...]

QOTD: Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish.

[This is a great quote with so much truth. I betcha can't guess who said it. Nope, not him... Nah, not her either. OK, I'll give you a hint: This man is thought by many to be the most intelligent person to ever be born. Still don't know? One more hint: He was a German physicist from the early 20th century. Give up? This quote is from the lips of Albert Einstein. That's right. Even Einstein believed in God. Though he was not a Christian or member of any orthodox religious group, Albert Einstein did see and acknowledge God's hands in Creation. Pretty profound, eh?]

TOPIC: Work-a-day Worries
I don't know about you, but every day life sometimes weighs on me. I get up in the morning and head off to work. At the end of the workday, I head home. During the workday, my mind sometimes drifts from the tasks at hand... towards valiant efforts; profound accomplishments OR just spending the evening in our pool. Some days, these thoughts - especially the ones concerning what I could be doing IF I didn't have to make a living - bug me. They worry me. I don't always feel as though I'm doing enough to make the world a better place. Do YOU ever feel that way?
Well, I don't have the answer for making the work-a-day worries go away... but I am working on it. :-) Usually, I pray about doing a better job to be a better employee, a better coworker, a better husband, a better father and a better person. Over time, God has given me several tasks to handle. On the days, I put my energy, my worries and my fears in His hands, I always come out on top -- rested, at peace and a sense of accomplishment. IF you haven't tried it, take some time out today to pray to the true and living God. He WILL hear you.
For added encouragement, here's another Churchill QOTD: "We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give." Remember these words. They are SO true!

QOTD: Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm. -- Sir Winston Churchill.

[I've been on a kick with Winston Churchill's quotes over the past few days. Some are so profound they need no further comment. When you read them, mull the words and their meaning over in your mind. Let the meaning sink in to your very soul. There is wisdom in these quotes. Let them help you find meaning in your life.]

QOTD: One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half. -- Sir Winston Churchill

[This Quote of the Day is particularly poignant during this time of war; election and political rhetoric. Where would the world be if the USA had turned it's back on the threatened dangers we now face?]

QOTD: Complaining is good for you as long as you're not complaining to the person you're complaining about. -- Lynn Johnston, Canadian cartoonist' from "For Better or For Worse" [11-06-03]

TOPIC: What Liberal Media?
Some of my readers have asked... What liberal media? I don't see anything decidely liberal in the media. Apparently, neither does Lesley Stahl of CBS. Here is a 2003 quote from her:
CBS’s Lesley Stahl: “Today you have broadcast journalists who are avowedly conservative....The voices that are being heard in broadcast media today, are far more – the ones who are being heard – are far more likely to be on the right and avowedly so, and therefore, more – almost stridently so, than what you’re talking about.”
Fox's Cal Thomas: “Can you name a conservative journalist at CBS News?”
Stahl: “I don’t know of anybody’s political bias at CBS News....We try very hard to get any opinion that we have out of our stories, and most of our stories are balanced.”– Exchange on Fox News Channel’s After Hours with Cal Thomas, January 18.
The voices being heard in the media today are avowedly conservative... yet Mrs. Stahl cannot name one conservative journalist at CBS. Pretty fishy logic -- as is the idea some of the Soap Bocks readers have espoused. Ya can't hide it, folks. Liberalism permiates the media every single day.

TOPIC: Katie Couric should be FIRED!
I could quote dozens of examples of why Katic Communist should run out of New York City on a rail. Here's a fine example of her ultra liberalism slant found on Best of Notable Quotables 2003 :
“Derrick Jackson, who’s a columnist for the Boston Globe, Tim, back in July when ESPN hired Rush Limbaugh, he wrote a column about some of the comments that Mr. Limbaugh has made in the past. In the 1970s, according to this column, Limbaugh told an African-American caller, ‘take that bone out of your nose and call me back.’ He goes on to say Limbaugh has always had crime and black people on the brain. He once said, ‘have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?’...Given the fact that Rush Limbaugh has made these kind of inflammatory comments in the past, was it appropriate for ESPN to hire him in this capacity?”– NBC’s Katie Couric to Tim Russert on the October 2 Today. Couric did not identify Jackson as a left-wing columnist or note that his source was a book published by a far-left group more than 10 years ago.
The big problem with Ms. Couric is that she doesn't know the truth even when it's in plain view. Her overt liberal slant on every story she mouths is simply unacceptable. Sometime, I'll find the transcript from her interview with a liberal after Matthew Shepard's death. She asked that person if James Dobson was to blame for Matther Shepard being killed. Absolutely absurd! NBC, fire Katie Couric. She has NO place in serious journalism!

TOPIC: Liberal Media Bias
Would you like a good example of liberal media bias? Here's one:
“In the past several weeks, your policy on Iraq has generated opposition from the governments of France, Russia, China, Germany, Turkey, the Arab League, and many other countries; opened a rift at NATO and at the UN; and drawn millions of ordinary citizens around the world into the streets in anti-war protests. May I ask what went wrong that so many governments and peoples around the world now not only disagree with you very strongly, but see the U.S. under your leadership as an arrogant power?”– ABC White House correspondent Terry Moran to President Bush at a prime-time press conference, March 6.
Where does Terry MORON get off asking a question like that to the President of the United States? Is there a slant here? DUH! Would he have addressed such a pointed question to former President Clinton? NO WAY! Slick Willie was the dreamboy of the liberal media. They fell all over themselves drooling over him. This is disgusting!

TOPIC: Democratic National Convention Rhetoric
I admit that I have not watched the DNC on TV this week. However, I have listened to the highlights on both liberal & conservative radio shows each morning as I commute to work. My conclusion is the same as it was several months ago. The Democrats are full of crap. They have ONE agenda -- and that is to get GWB out of office at all costs. They have NO real platform, NO real direction and NO concrete ideas for making the country better. They simply scream & yell things that mean little to nothing, but sound very inticing.
Actually, it's sickening. Even though I'm a conservative at heart, I believe in the multi-party system of government. I listen to both sides -- my normal news channels are CNN & FOX for TV; NPR and SRN for radio. I truly want to hear both sides of the issues -- both points of view. I just wish that the Dems had something to say with meaning. Unfortunately, all they have offered is empty rhetoric -- even up until the very point when they will name John Kerry as their contender for the Presidency.
The utter incompetence and total lack of party direction was displayed in the selection of John Edwards as a Vice-Presidential running mate. He was picked because he's handsome, articulate and semi-popular in the South. Nevermind that he has ZERO experience. Yes, he's a Senator -- but he's a one term Senator who has spent nearly HALF of his Senate time on the campaign trail. Are the Democrats seriously going to offer this nation a person with less than three years experience in the federal government as the 2nd most powerful man in the world? They have GOT to be joking! The worst part is that most of the Dems and even some of the Reps have not even talked about this in the news. Of course, I don't expect to see a serious critique of Edwards' qualifications on CNN or ABC, but someone should be talking about it.

Edwards is ultra-liberal -- which won't wash with many Dems and very few Reps. He is portrayed as middle of the road, but I have proof he's ultra-liberal because I have corresponded with his office here in NC many times. He is FOR abortion-on-demand. He is FOR homosexual marriage. He is FOR bigger government programs. Even the media's protryal of his life story has been fabricated. Edwards is not some working class stiff from the backwoods of NC. His dad was a millworker, but Edwards made his millions by suing corporations using what some would call sleazy tactics (the phrases "ambulance chaser", "slip-n-fall" & other frivilous ideas come to mind). Gimme a break. ZERO experience / Ultra-liberal / Ambulance chaser.

 

Is this who YOU want in the White House?

TOPIC: Decadent Airwaves
In an age when "the Fruitcake Lady", the "Juggies" and pseudo-reality shows are popular, it's no wonder men and women are confused about how they should act in public -- not to mention in private. Ignorance, promiscuity and lack of common sense abound -- and it all centers around the media [TV, movies, & the news].
Folks, we are in BIG trouble, but too many of us are too far gone to realize it. We are constantly barraged with sexual images, with violent images -- from liberal ideologists who cram their lack of belief in anything down our throats. Don't believe me? Strike up a conversation with your local anarachist. They don't believe in anything, but they have no idea why. The hate all estblishment or rules, yet they are ruled by the liberal establishment and the true "opiate of the masses" -- television.
When is it going to stop!?! The cycle is vicious and its killing American culture. Are we now too ignorant, as a society, to take back the airwaves? I hope not... but I fear we're too busy being "entertained" to care.

QOTD: Christians - If you're going to drive like the devil, take all that Jesus stuff off your car! -- CharlieJ