A letter to the children I hope to have someday

The following is a letter I fear I might have to write to my children depending how how this economic mess plays out over the next few years. Let's hope I'm wrong and it doesn't come to what I'm about to describe.


Kids, (I'd use their names since we've already picked them, but my wife would shoot me)

I feel the need to apologize to you and any children you might have someday because your future has been sold to China and Russia. Yes, though they may not tell you that in school, that's what happened. Back before you were born, we (and by we, I mean the US as we knew it then) got ourselves (well, really I had nothing to do with it personally, but you get the idea) into a nasty economic mess. Right around the time it was all coming to a head, a new administration took office with a vision for the future that looked nothing like the past. That vision included having the US government take over nearly every aspect of our lives. Rather than being responsible for our own health care, housing, retirement, education, etc. this administration decided that the government was best suited to do all of that for us - because the government had been so efficient at managing the things they were already in charge of!

The problem was that we as a nation didn't have the funds necessary to pay for the socialization of all these programs. We tried to tax the stuffing out of anyone making more than $250,000 per year (we called them rich people, and certainly they were doing well), but that did not yield enough "savings" (that's what the President called it, really it was raising more funds, savings would have been if we could have cut spending somewhere). We tried taking away deductions and taxing other things, but still came up far short of the trillions in spending that were agreed to by the geniuses in Washington (of both parties). The show had to go on, so we printed the money and spent the money anyway, but since we didn't really have the money we were forced to do 2 things:

1. We borrowed it from investors in places like China and Russia (and anywhere else that we could). That worked for a while until they all realized that there was no way we would ever be able to pay all that we owed. So they stopped buying our debt.

2. Once that happened, the value of the dollar tanked like never before. Inflation went crazy because all this paper flooded in, but represented nothing since our production as a society was declining right as the amount of currency was surging. This created a cycle that was very destructive. As the dollar devalued, we had to print more to pay for the things "we" had decided to do, which only further devalued the dollar.

It was ugly and not nearly enough people saw it for what it was.

I am sorry. I am sorry that your future doesn't look anything like mine did at your age. I am sorry that you will spend your life paying for decisions made by the generations before you. I am sorry that by the time your children are born they won't even believe the stories I'll tell them about my childhood, because there won't be anything in those stories they can relate to at all. I'm sorry.

Truth be told, the economic mess was real and lots of people's greed and bad decisions put us in that difficult spot. It was time for change, but the change that came was a double-down on a bad bet and it failed. We didn't want it to fail, but special interests and a different type of greed doomed it to failure before it ever got off the ground.

Sincerely,

Your dad



I'm sure this post annoys a few, or maybe a lot, of you (I'm assuming it will be read by a few people). An I may end up being wrong. I hope that I'm wrong about the outcome and effects of what we're in the middle of doing right now. The problem I'm having is that I can't see how to get around the economic principles that are in play with the enormity of what we're doing. Perhaps I'm over-stating things. Only time will tell. Let me be clear, I do not want bad things to happen, I'm just afraid of what may transpire with the course we are putting ourselves on as a nation right now.

Tithing Contracts, Sign Me Up

I want to say up front that I'm not really suggesting that we do what I'm about to discuss, but I do think it's an interesting thing to think about.

Last spring my wife and I joined a new gym. This gym was just opening and we were moving, which made this new gym more convenient for us (based on location). Unlike the Y, where you can quit anytime and probably only end up paying for about 1 more month than you want to until they get the account draft stopped, at our new gym it comes with a 2 year contract with only a couple of out-clauses (like moving more than 25 miles away).

This means that if we suddenly decide to stop working out, we'll have to pay the membership out. It's unlikely that this will be a major issue and once you reach the 2 year mark you become month-to-month, but whatever happens you're committed.

I've noticed something about this new gym. It just keeps getting busier. I was told recently they now have more than 2300 members. Unlike what we always saw at the Y, the crowds of January quickly diminished and the regulars remained, we are still battling growing crowds - even at unspeakably early hours of the morning.

But if you think about it, maybe being staked to a commitment really is worth something in causing people to take something seriously.

So what about the Church? What if we had new members sign a contract that obliged them to tithe for 2-years regardless of whether they attended services, were involved or not? I wonder if people would go for that? It doesn't seem to be scaring people away from joining the gym. And not only are they joining, they're showing up. Maybe a tithing contract would give people a little push to get involved. Maybe we're a little too tentative when it comes time to call people to something difficult.

I'm not saying we should actually do this. Scripture is clear that giving should be from a willing, joyful heart, not forced. I just think it's interesting that in some instances people will sign up in droves for a commitment, but in others we will make all manners and sorts of excuses to avoid any kind of commitment.

I'm just saying...

NASCAR in HD

Last spring when my wife forced me to buy a new television I had a dream. My dream was that one day I would get to watch NASCAR in high definition. Today that dream came true. Now, this isn't the first time a Cup race has been broadcast in HD, it's just the first time I've had access to it. Local Fox waited until after Feb. 17 to begin broadcasting in HD over the air. So this evening, the Cup race looks a little different.

Daytona as the Superbowl of NASCAR

Article

A friend sent me the link to this article on ESPN.com. I'll be honest, I'm not familiar with this particular writer. I would hope that working for ESPN he has some cred when it comes to covering NASCAR, but he writes like a guy who doesn't understand the sport, so who knows.

First, I agree with him that the "Superbowl" tag given to the Daytona 500 is not well suited to this event. It is like the Superbowl of football (the only real Superbowl) in being the most watched event of the season and having the most hype surrounding it. But what makes the Superbowl the Superbowl is that a champion is crowned when it's over. I think the reason that it continues to be called the Superbowl in the context of NASCAR is that to the drivers, winning this race is a bigger deal than winning any other race - and for some maybe even a bigger deal than winning the season championship.

Now, here's what he got wrong:

1. He complains on and on about restrictor plate racing. Let's remember, there's a reason they use them at Daytona and Talladega - 210 mph in a stock car isn't safe. That's how fast Bill Elliot qualified one year for the 500 prior to the institution of the plates. You can bet that they'd be much faster now if they took them off. With the poor, poor handling of the current cars even at 190 mph and the inability of Goodyear to build a tire that lasts more than 10 laps that would be a very dangerous situation (removing the plates). Restrictor plate racing isn't the problem and probably isn't going anywhere. If you don't like it, watch Indy Car (there's an exciting sport! - that's sarcasm people).

2. His whole diatribe about 500 winners not predicting the season champion shows his complete lack of understanding of this sport. There's no single race that is predictive of the eventual Cup Champion - not even the last race of the year where the champion is crowned. Part of the beauty of NASCAR is that every week there are probably 30 cars that could conceivably win the race (at a plate track maybe a few more than that even). Compare that to Indy Car or F1 where there are less than 5 unless those 5 all blow an engine. That is why NASCAR is such a popular spectator sport in the US - the outcome isn't known before the race and every week someone new may emerge to win (that's why it's more than cars going fast in a circle to fans).

3. To slight Newman in 2008 or Harvick in 2007 for winning is poor. Both men have won races previously. Harvick has been a perennial chase contender. You're entitled to your opinion about the way the 2007 race ended and I do feel badly for Mark Martin, a deserving driver, but let's remember, the rule in NASCAR is that the field isn't frozen until the yellow is thrown. In this instance, the accident happened behind the leaders coming out of the last corner. To end the race a half-mile early made no sense and letting it go posed no threat to anyone. Let's not forget, it hasn't been all that long ago since they were allowed to race back to the start-finish line when the caution came out.

4. I agree that they called the race very quickly after the rains came, but on a track that size drying it in high humidity (which is a given in Florida) after it's been soaked takes hours. How is it more respectful of fans to ask them to chill for 3-4 hours so they can race into the night? That was a tough call, but unless you had the information NASCAR did when they made their decision, you might want to tone it down a notch.

Look I'm as frustrated with this year's 500 as anybody, but this guy doesn't seem to understand what he's talking about and is pointing his criticism in the wrong directions.

The D's of Daytona

Let me be clear, I cared far more about watching NASCAR on Sunday than I did about the Superbowl a few weeks ago. Why? I'm strange, get over it. Unlike most 500's, this was not a banner day for the Cup Series. Here are the D-words I would use to describe it:

- Darn-it - Sanitized version of what Dale Jr. was probably saying on the radio after missing his pits entirely and ending up at the back of the pack (he was in the top 5 at the time). Then, after scratching his way back into the top 5, he managed to pit with his right front tire ever-so-slightly on the pit box line, which garnered a one lap penalty, setting the stage for the crash discussed below. Wasn't his day.
- Dominant - Only word to describe Kyle Busch's performance for the first 124 laps on Sunday.
- Dumb-decisions - Led to the 10-car pile up that took Kyle Busch (quit crying, Kyle, you had this coming and no-one feels sorry for you, because no one likes you and as Gandy says, you're smug) and several others out of contention or out of the race entirely. Who was the guilty party? Either Brian Vickers or Dale Jr. depending on your perspective. If either had done a little more giving and a little less taking, everyone would have continued on. The short version is that Jr. went low on the backstretch, Vickers moved to block. This forced Jr. below the double-yellow line, which meant he had to back off because you can't advance your position below the double yellow at Daytona. When Jr. tried to get back in line behind Vickers he clipped Vickers' bumper and sent him spinning into the field. If you don't like Jr., the story is the same, except you think Jr. clipped Vickers on purpose. NASCAR didn't think it was intentional.
- Dumb-luck - Led to Jeremy Mayfield and Elliot Sadler holding the lead briefly after the Vickers/Jr. incident. They were in the pits at the right time and ended up on the point by no particular skill of their own. Thankfully the faster cars overtook them before...
- Downpour - By lap 100 it was clear that rain would either temporarily stop or potentially shorten this race. That's probably part of why Vickers and Jr. were racing so hard (a lap down no less). Shortly after Kevin Harvick pushed Matt Kenseth into the lead the rains came and halted the event.
- Disappointment - For having invested all afternoon in watching this race when it got shortened by rain before we were treated to the typical scramble to the finish at Daytona. I have no problems with Kenseth winning, I just wish they could have run the whole race first.

A Key You Don't Want to Lose

I'm pretty good at keeping track of things. I'm not known for losing my car keys, my wallet, or my cell phone. But I discovered this week that I'd lost something you don't want to lose - my wheel lock key.

Years ago I bought a set of wheels for my Civic from a friend (they were factory wheels on a 2001 Civic, my 2000 Civic came with caps, so having actual wheels was a serious upgrade plus he sold them to me cheap). This particular set of wheels came with a lug nut for each wheel that requires a key to remove it (a wheel lock if you will). He included the lock key in the sale, so no worries. I always carried the lock key in the glove box, so it was there when I needed.

Last week I discovered I had a slow leak in one of my tires, so I went to get it fixed only to find out that I didn't have the key with me. A thorough search of the car and the garage turned up nothing. I had to face the fact that I had lost it. It was tough, I'm still a little embarrassed (and calling car places to confess my failure wasn't sounding like fun either!).

A couple of calls had me headed to the local Honda dealer. The service advisor was really helpful, didn't try to stick it to me. The parts guy wanted $12 per lug nut, negotiated down to $6.57 each before I decided I'd try my luck elsewhere - remember I needed 4 of them, so $30 on lug nuts for the Civic wasn't sounding good (besides, he only had 3, so he couldn't actually fix my problem today anyway). The service advisor walked outside and used his wheel lock keys to take the locks off and sent me on my way. Seriously, thanks, you could of worked me over, that was a stand up move.

From there - with 3 lugs per wheel - I drove to Reeves Tires on 7th. I've been to Reeves a few times before and have been nothing but impressed. They are the only tire shop in town that I'll let touch my Firehawk - I was sent to Reeves by the best Goodyear place in town as the only place that could handle large, powder-coated wheels. They unmounted and remounted 2 of them without a scratch.

So I walk in carrying one of the locks the Honda guy had just taken off and ask the guy at the counter (Mark) if they carry any lug nuts that look roughly like the lock. 45 seconds later he hands me 2 options, one of which was nearly a match for the existing lugs. I walked out to the car to check it, came back and asked, "How much?"

He replied, "Ninety-seven cents."

Sold!

$4.18 and I was out the door installing the four new lugs (I had thrown my 1/2"-drive ratchet, 19mm deep-wall 12-point socket, and 5" extension in the car before leaving home).

Now, hopefully tomorrow I can actually get the tire fixed - as you recall, that's how this started in the first place.

Moral of the story:
1. Buyer beware when buying parts at a new-car dealership.
2. There are good people out there - service advisor, parts guy (who gave me some good advice before I left), and the guy at Reeves.
3. It pays to have the right tool on hand - cause who wants to use the tire tool that came with the car to install anything?!?

The American People Really Don't Care

That's what Charles Schumer said regarding what he admitted are pork projects in this ridiculous spending bill that Congress is in the process of passing (or shoving down our throats depending on how you feel about it). You can hear it for yourself here. Now, this clip doesn't give you a ton of context, Google it if you want more.

I don't care who you are or what your political leanings are, I can't imagine how disconnected from reality someone would have to be to make that statement about items with price tags between tens of millions and the low billions. Yes, you read that right - the tiny, porky projects he refers to vary in size from 8-figures to 10-figures.

I don't think this one even needs any commentary.

Another Cardinal Signing

When I wrote the post about Parker Graham and Mack Kyle, I didn't know where Austin Lepper had decided to continue his football career. Last week, Lepper signed to play at Missouri Southern. I knew Austin would move on to play at the next level, but didn't know what he had in mind. Austin was probably an under-appreciated member of the last 2 Cardinal teams. He put others in the right place to make plays about as often as he made the play himself. He proved to be a sure-handed Tight End and played with a lot of heart. If I were a coach, he's the type of guy I'd want on my team. I look forward to seeing how he does at MSSU and certainly wish him the very best.

I'm Just Saying...

I've been fighting really hard to stay away from blog posts that are political in nature. I'm going to continue that fight...but a couple of things hit the news today that I thought were interesting.

1. If all the money tied up in the various rescue, bail-out, spending, whatever bills that either have already passed or will pass (including funds to guarantee bad debt) were applied to the mortgages of every American household, 90% of them would be paid off. Hey, I'm not an economist, but I'm just saying, that sounds like a great way to spend $9.7 Trillion. Except we're going to blow it on a lot of other stuff. I'm going to stop now before I get started. I'm just saying... (Article)

2. The White House took over control of the census from the Department of Commerce. While that sounds fairly benign, remember it's the census that is used to re-district all of our Congressional districts. There's also the matter of how the counting gets done. One side prefers to go out and actually count people, the other prefers to estimate block by block in urban areas. When you let one party control the census, the odds of that being done fairly are pretty much nil. The way that's likely to play out is that the party controlling it will estimate in urban areas (which happen to be strongly in the favor of the party that is currently in power) and most likely over-estimate the actual population of those areas. Then they'll send people out to actually count the rest of the country - which may or may not lead to under-counting these other areas. Either way, the party who has control of this function has a definite leg up when it comes to ensuring that it gets to hang onto power in say 2012. Does this seem like a conflict of interest to anyone else? I'm just saying... (Article)

3. There is a report that Congress will be taking up legislation that would give the District of Columbia full Congressional representation - a Representative that has a vote (currently theirs does not get to vote because the Constitution only allows states to send voting representatives) and 2 Senators. Again, on the surface doesn't seem so bad. But let's remember that DC is heavily, heavily left leaning. The net result of this would be to give a virtually guaranteed 2 additional Democrat seats in the Senate. If we're going to add states, that's one thing, but working around the Constitution to load the Senate for one party over the other is going a bit far. I can't find a substantiated article with this report in it, only one from last fall where this effort failed. I'm just saying... (Article from last fall when it failed)

Friday Night Hoops (CJ at WC)

Anyone who looked at their calendar realized that yesterday was Friday (Yes, thank you Ryan, what's your point?). As such, you can pretty much bet that I was at a ballgame. It just so happened to be "winter" homecoming at Webb City.

Now I could go off on the fact that they call it winter homecoming, but it's at a basketball game. Why? Because we have to be inclusive. Whatever.

I could talk about the fact that only the boys played last night because the COC doesn't schedule boys & girls on the same night - yes, I know it used to be that way here back in the day, it's just annoying to me and there are other ways to do it.

We did successfully avoid the homecoming ceremony since they held it before the JV game (whose brilliant idea was that? But seriously, thanks). I think Nicole Hudson won, congrats.

Now the real reason for this post. Officiating in Missouri High School basketball is poor (that's the most tactful word I can come up with). It's always bad, last night it was atrocious. By the way, Webb won by 10 points so this isn't me being bitter and claiming the officials stole the game. Even the calls that went Webb's way were mostly wrong. Maybe they were just having a bad night, but from what I saw, they had no business calling a high school game. MSHSAA really, really needs to get some quality control going on their officials.

But some might argue, that would mean eliminating some of them and there's probably a shortage of people wanting to be officials.

Yes, but you fix that by raising their pay so that it's worth people's time, create some competition and get better officials. I mean you just added an extra round of football playoffs, which should have roughly doubled your revenue from that sport, clearly you have no problem raising revenue. Figure it out!

The Game

CJ - no offense to the players or coaches - didn't look like a very good basketball team. They hit a lot of 3's, but based on their reaction to each one that isn't normal. And without all of those long range shots this would have been a blowout. Webb came out really flat and did the same at the start of the third. This allowed CJ to make a run that Webb spent the rest of the 1st and 3rd quarters overcoming.

Patrick Drake (brother-in-law), playing with a shoulder injury sustained earlier in the week against Colgan, led the Cards with 19 points - mostly in the second half. We saw something last night we hadn't seen a lot of - Trey Laveroni looking up the floor for Patrick in transition. They weren't even running the break, Patrick was just finding a hole in the defense - usually in the paint - and Trey would feed him. They did this 3 or 4 times for easy buckets. That offensive approach needs to continue for the Cards to have success - whether it's Pat on the receiving end or not.

At the end of the game, down by 10, CJ continued to foul with less than 40-seconds left - like 5 or 6 fouls worth. This strung the end of the game out for a long time and gave the WC student section lots of time to taunt CJ. Nothing bad, but a reminder of football season (which everyone gets whether Webb is winning the basketball game or not - the taunt just changes if WC is losing. I commented to my wife, a dominant football program pays dividends all year long) followed by the classic jingling of the keys. A WC teacher made them stop that one, I was tempted to get my keys out, but I've been threatened within an inch of my life that I'm not to embarrass my wife. FINE! But seriously, that's really mild and there didn't appear to be any real animosity between the two groups.

Animal Lovers Unite!!!

An update on the previous post about the aerobics class torturing a cat on Saturday mornings.

Clearly someone at PETA must have been tipped off and infiltrated their ranks. The same group of women filed into the room right on time this morning, but not a single blood-curdling screech was heard.

Finally, something PETA and I can agree on!

Purpose In Our Trials

I had a chance to lead our staff devotional time yesterday morning here at CIY. That's always a challenge for a guy who is not a preacher to prepare something for an audience of preachers and people who hear a lot of good sermons. My approach is generally to loosen them up with several good one liners that only make sense in context (hence I won't bother sharing them here), then go after 1 or 2 hopefully clear points. They are a gracious bunch - both for laughing at my jokes and staying engaged in the whole thing.

I've been reading a book called Knowing God by J.I. Packer. It's an old book that was updated in 1993 (originally released in 1973). The author devotes several pages to discussing God's wisdom and how it plays out in our lives. He then moves on to talk about what it means for us to be wise.

A few things that he brought out that I found interesting were:

1. God's wisdom doesn't always make obvious sense to us. If you read scripture, God often chose unlikely people to do great things for His Kingdom. Examples abound, among them are Abraham (often dishonest and lacking faith early in life) and Jacob (deceitful and very self-reliant as a young man). Over time, God did things in their lives that would lead to huge things in the history of God's people.

2. Something that I often catch when I read something in scripture, but fail to recognize in my own life is that God often has a dual purpose in the things He does. When He allowed trials to come along for Abraham or when He wrestled with Jacob and left him walking with a limp those things were there to bring about a change in their lives, but also so that something greater for God's Kingdom could be accomplished later. It's easy to see looking back at it, but much harder when I'm the one going through a painful trial of some sort and can't see the purpose in it.

3. We are not generally privileged to know God's purposes at the time of the trials we face. In most cases, we don't know until later - and sometimes never - why God allows us to face the trials we do. And we're never promised by God that He will reveal those things to us - though I believe in some cases He does, mostly after the fact. If you think about Paul and his reference to the "thorn" in his flesh - II Cor. 12 - you can get a sense of a couple of things. First, Paul didn't understand why it was there at the time and wanted it gone - wouldn't we all. Second, when God answered his prayer to remove it not only did God tell him that it wouldn't be taken away, God didn't tell him why it was there. Though later, Paul realized the purpose it had served - which clearly had an impact on his life and the lives of many others that Paul preached to.

Finding purpose in trials and difficulties can be tough, but in a world where we are sure to face difficulties part of finding hope in Christ in those times is realizing that there is a purpose though we may not now see it. I hope that as you face difficulties, you will find hope in Christ and the knowledge that while we have no promise of being taken out of the trial, we have the assurance that Paul was given - "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."