Resolution for 2012!

Take Educated Action, Send the Message!

This is an important year for all of us in 2012.

Please educate yourself on what your Congressman and Senator did these past few years and how they voted. Then send them the one and only message they truly listen to. Remove them from office and put a more RESPONSIBLE representative in their place who will actually do something good for this country. I, for one, am fed-up with this Two-Party system that does not know how to live with a budget. I believe all representatives in Washington should have to adhere to the same financial retirement and medical institutions as their constituents. Their retirement should be Social Security just as ours is. The funds that have been set aside for their retirement should be immediately transferred into Social Security and they should also go on Medicare along with the rest of us. They need a wake-up call and a real-world check of reality. I think it is high time we sent them the proper message.



Bringing Meaning To Madness

The United States of America was setup as a Republic; not a social democracy to be run by government. Please educate yourself if you do not know the difference. Big government is not the answer. Do your part and send the correct message to our leaders.

Never give up, never surrender!

Power To Change! (Re-Stated)

Change meets Resistance! (This was previously published and requested.)

Change is inevitable and resistance is necessary to accomplish lasting change.

Think about it. Have you ever had change forced on you? Have you ever forced change on yourself or others? Evolution is constant change. So, the things we can count on to be consistent are: taxes, death and change. Change, in and of itself will happen. Most people here in America are hopeful that 'change' means 'better'. With our current political administration, it turns out that 'change' has been definitely for the 'worse'. The really sad part is that the people who elected those lying 'change' charlatans do not have the common sense or moral fiber to realize what a huge mistake it was and are therefore doomed to repeat their own mistake unless they are educated or wake up from the hypnotic trance that has engulfed their ability to reason and understand the dynamics of freedom and responsibility as prescribed by our Forefathers who fought for our way of life. The Constitution was written to preserve our freedoms and also protect us from our own government leaders from having too much control over our lives. It is time for real CHANGE to restore the rights and values of this great nation.


Bringing Meaning To Madness

The United States of America was setup as a Republic; not a social democracy to be run by government. Please educate yourself if you do not know the difference. Big government is not the correct "Change". Do your part and send the correct message to our leaders.

Never give up, never surrender!

Power To Change!

Change meets Resistance!

Change is inevitable and resistance is necessary to accomplish lasting change.

Think about it. Have you ever had change forced on you? Have you ever forced change on yourself or others? Evolution is constant change. So, the things we can count on to be consistent are: taxes, death and change. Change, in and of itself will happen. Most people here in America are hopeful that 'change' means 'better'. With our current political administration, it turns out that 'change' has been definitely for the 'worse'. The really sad part is that the people who elected those lying 'change' charlatans do not have the common sense or moral fiber to realize what a huge mistake it was and are therefore doomed to repeat their own mistake unless they are educated or wake up from the hypnotic trance that has engulfed their ability to reason and understand the dynamics of freedom and responsibility as prescribed by our Forefathers who fought for our way of life. The Constitution was written to preserve our freedoms and also protect us from our own government leaders from having too much control over our lives. It is time for real CHANGE to restore the rights and values of this great nation.


Bringing Meaning To Madness

The United States of America was setup as a Republic; not a social democracy to be run by governmment. Please educate yourself if you do not know the difference. Big government is not the correct "Change". Do your part and send the correct message to our leaders.

Never give up, never surrender!

Compromise!

Relationships and Compromise!

Relationships grow stronger when there is compromises made by both parties.

Ah, yes! Where there is a union of two into the blissful idea of "us", we are now "one"; the ultimate questions that confront all of us with relationships deals with the "me" or "we" (selfish or giving)? Where is the priority and what is the long term plan? If the relationship is going to survive there must be compromises made by each and the percent of compromise should be fair and discussed early.

My wife and I have been constantly balancing the relationship "boat-of-life" to be sure ours is sailing down a smooth river. Occasionally, there have been rough waters, but pulling together we righted the boat and were/are off again on the continuous journey of life always hopeful at what's just around the bend.

Bringing Meaning To Madness

The Lord wants all of us to have a healthy and happy relationship with our spouses and children, and their spouses and children. It is up to each of us to find it in our hearts to be just a little more compassionate toward our family members.

Never give up, never surrender!

New Beginnings!

A New Year, A New Beginning!

Let go of the old, make new good habits.

Ah, yes! It's that time when we all look forward to making new habits in our life that will improve our health, physically and mentally, our relationships, our careers and our standard of living. What improvements do we need to make and what improvements do we want to make? Break them down into two categories and prioritize them; then take the number 1 from each category and focus on them for sixty days or until you have made them a habit. Then add number 2 on each list to your focus for the next 60 days while maintaining action on the original number 1. Continue the process of adding new ones every 60 days and that process will also become habit. Before you know it, you will be amazed at your progress and this will be a great year of new beginnings.

Bringing Meaning To Madness

The Lord wants all of us to be healthy and happy. It is up to us to put action into our lives to achieve a more fulfilling life. Find the motivation to take action to improve your life and encourage other family members do the same. Never give up, never surrender!

Holiday Traditions!

Holiday and Time Off.

Traditions are comforting.

Thanksgiving has come and gone. I do hope yours was a great one without any drama or unnecessary grief. Mine was not traditional for the first time in years. I did not have my whole family together nor was there any wonderful turkey, cornbread dressing with pecans and giblet gravy or lemon meringue pie. I did host one of my sons and his family and we ate out on Thanksgiving day. The prime rib was very good, yet it was not traditional, therefore leaving me with a hollow feeling. I really enjoyed their visit, but I really missed the tradition and ceremony. Next year it will be traditional.

Bringing Meaning To Madness

Enjoy your family traditions wherever you can or start some to pass on to your family and friends. Be careful, be safe; Never give up, never surrender!

So Busy!

Yes, I have been extremely busy.

Life throws curves at you sometimes, whether you need them or not.

I did make the time last week to complain about our natural gas company in a very long and heated blog and then put it on hold until I calmed down. I published it for all of 10 minutes, then deleted it. I am still upset with them, and rightly so, but life is really too short to get myself totally worked up. So, suffice it to say this to will get resolved. It is one thing to put up with human error, it's another to have to endure human arrogance or stupidity in action. The real gist of this commentary is to apologize for not keeping my blog regularly updated with comments just because I have been extremely busy of late trying to meet some personal goals. I am sorry!


Bringing Meaning To Madness

Going into the up coming fall season has us all very busy. Be careful out there and do your best and forget the rest! Never give up, never surrender!

End of Summer!

It's still August! Another season about to end and time to reflect.

It is hard to believe another summer/season is about to come to a close.

For those who have the time, peace and quiet to reflect on the end of another season, whether that season is a calendar one or a life cycle one, it is always good to take stock of where you are, where you've been and where are you headed. I do not do that enough in my life to make concrete plans to improve and really focus on just what is really important; and am I making the necessary steps to get there?

It is so true, the saying, "In the beginning we make the habits and in the end the habits make us". My life is good and I do not celebrate it appropriately. I take most of it for granted until I really stop and analyze it. To make changes for the better takes courage and determination, sometimes referred to as character. Doing the right thing in all circumstances in today's world is almost unheard of. Do you have that kind of courage?

Bringing Meaning To Madness

Find the courage to do the right thing throughout your daily life and make those changes that are necessary to keep you motivated, strong and an active member of our American society. Stay positive, never surrender and never give up!

Time Flies!

It's August! Where does the time go?

It is hard to believe another summer is about to come to a close.

Whether you believe 'time flies' or 'time drags on', it does neither. It is consistent about moving forward, never looking back. And, we should take a lesson from the march of time, to consistently move forward. Look back only to help yourself move forward. Do not dwell on past mistakes, but be motivated to improve.

I have really enjoyed this summer, and hope you have had some pleasant experience as well. In looking forward, I see more opportunities to improve and have plans to do so. There are goals I want to achieve and looking forward is the only way to get there....one step at a time. I am taking mine. How about you?

Bringing Meaning To Madness

Every day is a new day. Use this one to make it count for something you really want to accomplish. Take that first step, and don't look back unless it is just to see how far you have gone. Stay positive, never surrender and never give up!

Father's Day!

Father's Day! A day we honor our dads. I hope your dad was a wonderful man and father. My dad loved all of us and was a pretty good dad.

Dads are supposed to be head of the household leader and protector.

What is it about most dads? They are either exceptional or lousy. Very few fall in the mediocre category. There are times when I look back over my own life as a father and think I must be exceptional for the love, patience and guidance I have given to my children. Then there are times when I examine my life in detail and the reality sets in and I say to myself, "I must be a lousy father". When all is said and done only my children can vouch for my character, be it good or lacking. All I know is that I love each and every one of them and would gladly give my life to save theirs.

Leave it to say, my father and I had issues. I loved him very much, but I did not like a lot of things he did. The last few years of his life he lived in a nursing home and I rarely visited him. He died 31 days after my mother was taken by pancreatic cancer seven years ago. He and I never really cleared the air between us, it was sort of a mutual understanding not to really discuss it. I know he loved me, my brother and sister, but he marched to his own beat.

Life is pretty messy sometimes and our parents in most ways either provide a positive or negative approach that we as young adults will either emulate or rebel against.

Bringing Meaning To Madness

Dad's you set the living life standards for the family. You are to heed your wife's council and be fair and just. If you don't your family will pay the consequences. BE a parent and take responsibility for yourself and your children's actions.

Powerless!

Being Powerless is agonizing! Most parents at one time or another do experience this.

Powerless to do something for another is heartbreaking.

When your child is in pain and there is nothing you can do to ease it or relieve it you get that horrible feeling of being powerless. My wife and I have had that sensation too many times in our lives and are going through it again. You call your family Dr. (and several others) and can't reach him, leaving a voice mail to please call you as soon as possible. You do not go to the emergency anymore, for you know nothing will be done for hours, if at all (been there and added to the frustration and expense). Somehow in the end we all survive and learn something along the way. We also learn that one can never be prepared for all situations in life.


Bringing Meaning To Madness

In cases where pain, and powerless to change it occur, remain calm, use common sense and be persistent until the situation is resolved. This too shall pass.

Memorial Power!

Memorial Day! A day we honor our Veterans. I hope you can hold your head up high for those who payed for your privilege to do so.

Veterans, God's gift to America!

IT is the VETERAN that has given us in America our Freedom and our rights and privileges to enjoy, not the Politicians, Preachers, Lawyers, Reporters or Poets.

This Memorial is a time to honor our Veterans and all those who serve this country with pride and honor. Show them the respect they deserve for doing the job no one really wants to be associated with in a time of war. We all have family members who have served and lived to tell us about it and some who died to provide the freedom we have come to take for granted.

I love America and honor those who helped chisel out our freedom and lay the foundation for a strong nation, one we all can be proud of. The best way to pay them respect is to make sure that those values still hold true for every American today and for our future generations to come.

Bringing Meaning To Madness

Show your support for those who sacrificed their lives and time to provide us our freedom to live a life of our choosing. Love this country or leave it.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day! A day we honor our mothers. I hope your mother was as wonderful as mine. And Men, I also hope your wife is as wonderful a mother as my wife is.

Mothers, God's gift to mankind!

Isn't is unfortunate that we only have one day a year set aside to honor our mothers. When we think about all the things they have done and continue to do for us, we should really honor them one a week.

I am guilty of not honoring my mother enough for all those menial day after day chores that she did for me while growing up. My wife, likewise, has been taken for granted by our children. Mothers normally put their children first on the list of every decision they make, daily.

I lost my mother to pancreatic cancer seven years ago. It was a fast moving unexpected cancer that took her life within a month of discovery. She was only 72 when she died. I miss her and wish I could honor her personally one more time.

Bringing Meaning To Madness

Do yourself a favor and honor your loved ones while they are still here on this earth. Slow your life down just a little and share your feelings with those you truly love. You will be glad you did.

Golf in 2010?

I do not know about you, but I will dearly miss Tiger Woods!

2009 has been a year of unbelievable events. Tiger coming back from knee surgery and playing at an exceptional level. Phil finally finding his game at the end of the year after his wife and mother both having breast cancer. Then, horror at the events of Tiger over Thanksgiving when his world blew up in his face, due to his own human mistakes. How unfortunate for Tiger and his family.

I can understand that he is human and accept that he has been put on a throne of godly like admiration for the athlete he is and the persona that we have seen these past 10+ years. I have loved watching him ascend into the heavens with his golf skills and have admired his ability to help children throughout the whole world with his charities. I truly believed that he was infallible in all areas of his life. I also thought his dad was probably one of the best dad's in the world for guiding him through golf and life.

We can all speculate on how or why, and we will never really know. It is not ours to know, only Tiger and his family. I pray that Tiger and his family find forgiveness and build a stronger relationship going forward. In the event that does not take place, I pray that they find peace with each other and heal quickly.

It would also be nice to see our entertainers and news media give the guy a break.

Bringing Meaning To Madness

2010 without Tiger on the PGA Tour will mean less time in front of the TV and more time spent on the course. Maybe my game will actually improve this year.

Perception

Perception is really everything you believe, whether it is actually real or not. In my earlier career where supply versus demand fundamentals did not necessarily determine the movement of the price of crude oil, refined products or natural gas, it dawned on me there must be other forces at play. One of those forces is “perception”.

Perception Outweighs Reality

It is the perception of supply and demand that creates the confidence or fear of price movement and the aggressive or passive approach of taking action (buying or selling).

Take natural gas as an example. In 1999, it was perceived there would be such a tremendous growth in demand, and that supply would not be able to meet that demand. I personally was responsible for buying a 5 year strip of natural gas for the company I worked for at that time at a price of $2.25 per MMBtu.

Within one year, that 5 year strip was over $10.00 per MMBtu. We are talking hundreds of millions of dollars of actual price movement due to the perception there would be a shortage of natural gas.

Eventually the priced spiked as high as $15.78 per MMBtu in December of 2005. During that 6 year period of high prices, these increased revenues allowed producers to budget more for exploration. Because of that, supply has been able to meet and exceed demand so now natural gas prices have fallen to $2.409 per MMBtu, near the 10 year low of $1.620 per MMBtu.

With the advances in technology and the increased revenues companies are experiencing, we will probably see an increase in the fledgling natural gas liquids import market. This will probably keep the price of natural gas very low for the next 10 years.

Bringing Meaning To Madness

What does this mean to you? It means that the utility companies should be passing on these tremendous savings to you through lower energy bills.

My Favorite Tax

I was reading an article by Scott Burns in the Business section of the Houston Chronicle recently. The title caught my eye because it had the word tax in it. I like to keep abreast of any news that might indicate changes afoot in the taxes we pay. Like most Americans, I think we pay too darn many from property taxes to sales taxes to income taxes.

Like Mr. Burns says in his article, I'm like everyone else. My favorite tax is one that doesn't affect me. Want to tax smokers? Bring it on. I don't smoke. I like to think I'm too smart for that since I saw my dad contribute to his death by smoking. My father-in-law too.

Taxes I'm Okay With

Want to slap a luxury tax on a yacht? Go for it. I don't plan to throw away a few million on a floating status symbol.

Want to tax imported luxury cars? Good for you. I buy American because I know enough about economics and balance of trade that it makes me feel downright virtuous to keep our economy strong by supporting the American automotive industry.

How about extremely expensive liquor? I can live with that. I'm a wine drinker mostly. Besides, I've still got a bottle of well-aged Scotch that I bought in a duty-free shop that should last me a very long time.

Let's Change

However, I know that eventually they'll run out of taxes I can live with then they'll start raising income taxes. After all, who do you think paid for all those clunkers that are being crushed if not us, taxpaying Americans?

Now's the time to make a change to a flat national sales tax. Everybody, individuals and businesses, would pay a flat percentage. They could, and should, exempt low income earners. With a small 1-2 per cent flat sales tax, the Treasury would overflow, and we'd all have much more from our hardwork than we currently get.

Think about it. You pay, let's say 1.5% of your annual salary, and Bill Gates pays 2% of his. Wow, we could balance the budget in nothing flat.

Bringing Meaning To Madness

How about it, America? Write your representatives and tell them you're in favor of a flat, across the board, national sales tax of 1.5%. That would be a win/win situation for everyone.

Choosing Between Electricity and Family

Trying to do the right thing isn’t always easy. I’d like to see our nation become self reliant, and I am sure you would too, but at what cost? Why does it seem to always come out of my middle American pocket?

Suddenly, the electricity providers are pitching that I can help the environment by locking in my residential rate at an unbelievable rate of 12.8 cents per kWh. The “unbelievable” part is that they think I don't know that's not a good deal. I represent 2 of the lowest retail electricity providers in Texas so I know what I'm talking about.

Other Unbelievable Items

Apparently, electricity utilities think we are all made out of gold. What I find unbelievable is that they keep lining their already bulging pockets with more of everyone's hard-earned money. Of course, I guess that helps them meet their quota for a big honking bonus.

What They Don't Know

How is it that one of the companies I represent can offer 8.0 cents per kWh for residential accounts right now and only lock me in for 12 months? Let’s compare. Do I pay more as in 12.8 cents per kWh to enrich a company that does not respond to anyone's needs during tough economic times? Or do I reduce my cost and pay a fair price of 8.0 cents and use that extra savings to help my family?

Bringing Meaning To Madness

What would you do? Help your family and yourself or help your electric company? I know my answer.

Death To All Mosquitoes

I started to reflect on mosquitoes, but I decided all I want to do is squash them. Fast. Preferably before they bite me since I'm lying in bed at the moment. Don't you just hate it when you turn the light off, and then you hear that buzz by your ear.

Bringing Meaning To Madness

American actor and writer Tom Wilson was probably right when he said: "Mosquitoes remind us that we are not as high up on the food chain as we think."

El Nino or La Nina

Everyone talks about the heat, but I think the reason it's so hot is the El Nino effect. Someone else is getting our rain, and we're getting all the heat. You know El Nino, don't you? It's always on the news in conjunction with California usually, but it effects a lot more than California.

Depending on where the weather pattern starts, lower part of the Pacific or the upper, it's called El Nino or La Nina. Can't remember which so I'll have to look that up. I may not know at the moment which it's called, but I do know the golfers have given in to the heat. Today when I drove by the golf course, there wasn't a golf cart in sight.

About 20 years ago, it was equally hot here in Texas. Then in 1980, it was one of the hottest summers in history. We were living in Dallas at the time, and the cracks in the ground were big enough to lose a golf club in.

Bringing Meaning To Madness

Weather is cyclical. Global warming may be a real phenomenon though it hasn't been proven yet, but this summer heat in Texas does seems to run in 10 year cycles.

(Expletive Deleted) Property Taxes

I'm climbing out from behind the 8 Ball to tell you about another one of those challenging experiences where I ended up with less than the desired result. I went to protest the appraised value of my home with the County Appraisal District.

Annual Chore

We do this every year, and it is really one of the most useless, helpless, and hopeless events to have to go through. Bless my wife for preparing all the documentation. You see, the law in Texas allows the county to raise your property tax at least 10% per year. So that means your County Tax Assessor raises it 10% every year.

Market Related

Now, the property value is supposed to be market driven. In other words, if homes are appreciating in value in your neighborhood, tax values go up a like amount. If home values go down in your neighborhood, taxes are also supposed to go down. Right?

Wrong

Not according to our County Tax Assessor. I had documentation with me when I went to the meeting that showed home values in our neighborhood were declining. We had 17 Foreclosures in 2008 and 3 in the first quarter 2009. The average sales per sq ft dropped more than $5.00 a square foot, and the length of time it takes to move a home went from 67 days to 101 days.

In my particular situation, I live in a golf community though not on a golf course lot. After going through the list of like homes for comparison we discover our lot is valued at 2 times more than homes on the golf course. How is that possible?

My Case

I reviewed all this information with the first person who was assigned to me when my name was called. This person must be paid to play dumb or is just a stalling tactic to get you to give up and go home. I refuse to give up!

Therefore, I was remanded to another room to wait and see the appraisal board. When my name was called, again I presented my documentation. It was like talking to a blank wall. The Deputy Chief Appraiser told me it was the LAW that they could raise my taxes.

Their Action

I agreed that it was based on market values improving, but that property values hadn’t gone up and that it was not only unfair but also almost immoral to raise taxes during a declining market and economy. My remarks had no impact on him. He didn’t even address the issue of my lot (land) value being higher than lots on the golf course.

The net affect was, by pushing the issue, they lowered my appraised value a bit. So it only escalates 6% instead of 10% when in reality, they should have lowered the taxes to emulate the market value. I know, all of you on the east and west coast are wishing your property taxes were as low as mine, but that's not the point. The point is that they should not have increased the tax appraisal on my property or anyone's property here.

Bringing Meaning to Madness

Sorry, but there's no way to bring meaning to the madness of tax appraisers. You really can't fight city hall. Or tax appraisers.