Bear goes to the river II

I made a little video about our trip to the river on Friday. I hope you like it.

Until the next time
John Strain

No work today

I'm taking the day off to install a new toilet. After that, John, Bear, and I are going to the river to give his boat a little exercise. This is a big treat for all of us; especially Bear. He loves to ride in the boat and to chase his ball in the water.

Stay tuned for pictures.

UPDATE: We had fun.

Until the next time
John Strain

Rewards

OK, I liked the idea President Bush had about tax cuts to help out with health insurance costs. Of course, the Democrats say the proposal is dead on arrival because it does not help the poorest Americans. That is BS. If you pay taxes, then a tax cut will help you.

The so called poorest Americans don't pay taxes and therefore do not benefit simply because you cannot make them pay less than zero.

What about those of us who do pay taxes? Are we lepers because we have jobs? Are we somehow bad people if we are levied lower taxes?

There are government entitlements to help out the elderly, the disabled, and the children of the poor. If you are not in one of those categories, you are able bodied and should be working. In the New Orleans area, you can make $10 an hour and get a bonus on top of that to flip burgers.

Forget all of that. If a tax credit does not help everyone, say only 90% of the people, why not do it and something else to help the others? Politics has to sink a good idea to make a lousy point.

I am way tired of hearing about the poor and the rich. There are politicians who must want to see class warfare.

I have an Amazon Visa credit card. I get a 1% reward. So every $2500.00 I spend, I get a $25.00 reward certificate in the mail. I got one yesterday thanks to Christmas spending. It was nice getting something back. I wish the government did that.

Wouldn't it be nice to get a reward certificate from the US Government. Maybe put it in one of those brown envelopes on a check with the Statue of Liberty on it. It could have a letter with it that said something like this:

Uncle Sam wants to thank you for being a taxpayer and helping out so many people at home and abroad. Thank you for working and giving 40% of your income to help out. Enjoy this $10, we mean $6, to make things more convenient for you, we already took out the tax.

That would be something. So I say, the government should start a rewards program for those of us who do pay taxes. Who is with me?

Email me. In the meantime, I will be assembling torches for our march through the streets to Washington DC.

Until the next time
John Strain

Jimi

All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix

I have had this thought many times and it usually happens when I am listening to "All Along the Watchtower." I feel angry because Jimi Hendrix died so young. I feel cheated in a way. I wonder what other music he could have made. I enjoy the music he left, but I know he took a lot of good stuff with him.

I know; he killed himself with drugs and alcohol. My thought has nothing to do with judgment, just the music. There was certainly passion in his voice and in his hands. He had "IT," and that doesn't come around very often.

I was looking for a photo for this post and found an article about someone who met Jimi Hendrix by sneaking into a venue in New York where he was playing. It happened on my birthday in 1968 when I was 11 and barely aware of Jimi.

Just a thought generated by the stimulus of a song that reaches down and moves my soul.

Until the next time
John Strain

I.M. Nuts

Hi folks, my name is I.M. Nuts. John lives in my yard and he asked me to do a post for him on his blog.

He asked me a while back, but due to the subject matter he requested I cover, I had to consult with my attorney and I wanted to read through his blog to decide if I wanted to associate myself with it in any way.

My attorney assured me that I could write about the misunderstanding of going into the shed and helping myself to the bucket of corn without fear of prosecution, both criminal and civil. I have a good lawyer, if there is such a thing. His name is Ake Orn.

I found some of John's posts amusing. I also liked the fact he has other members of the animal kingdom as guest bloggers at times. His dog Bear is pretty nice. He never once chased me or my family. If Bear is in the yard, we just keep eating corn and seeds without fear of harrassment. He is OK.

I will get into more of this later. John mentioned a video. We are collaborating on the video, so it is taking a little more time than we had hoped, but that's show biz.

We hope to have it up sometime this weekend. Then you can hear about my whole family. I will tell you about my brother U.R. Nuts, my little sister P.E. Nuts, and more.

I hope you have a nice day doing whatever it is you do. People seem so busy. I will leave you with a quote from one of my favorite writers R.U. Nuts, my great grandfather - he was born a year and a half ago. He said, "Even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and again."

I thought that would be especially inspiring for John.

Well, I better get back to work on that video.

Don't fall out of your tree
I.M. Nuts