Repocalypse, the Morning After

Two decent things came out of last night: 1. McConnell’s still our Senator. Yay, Kentucky! 2. There’s not a Democrat supermajority in the Senate. At least there’s a *little* checks-and-balances remaining :-) * * * Congrats to John McCain on a solid campaign.

2008-11-05 · 1 min · Harold Combs

Repocalypse, the Morning After (Comments)

And I figure if things go well, so be it. But if … Jeff Roberts - Nov 3, 2008 And I figure if things go well, so be it. But if we’re worse off in 4 years it’s all on the Dems. Meanwhile, shame on us if we don’t find a coherent voice in the next 2 and 4 years. And although I have concerns about the endgame, if they get us out of Iraq, that will be a non-issue for 2012. ...

2008-11-05 · 1 min · Harold Combs

VOTE!!!

Well, today’s the day. Either way it goes, we make history–the first African-American president, or the first female vice-president. Whitney got up and voted a little after 6, and faced a long line at our polling station. I went a little after 7; while there were lots of folks, I was done in 10 minutes. Everyone was chatty and “up”–we know this is a big deal today. I guess that ever-present barrage of advertising (particularly in the vitriolic McConnell/Lunsford Senate race) is good for something! ...

2008-11-04 · 2 min · Harold Combs

401(k) watch

As of today, down 30% YTD. :: sigh ::

2008-10-27 · 1 min · Harold Combs

401(k) watch (Comments)

40.6 ::gulp:: (stop looking) Jeff Roberts - Oct 1, 2008 40.6 ::gulp:: (stop looking) Oh - I heard a stat (Dave Ramsey?) that after crashes like this one the market usually surges by about 30% the very next year. man, I sure hope so!

2008-10-27 · 1 min · Harold Combs

Great open letter by Orson Scott Card

Article If you do not tell the truth about the Democrats — including Barack Obama — and do so with the same energy you would use if the miscreants were Republicans — then you are not journalists by any standard.

2008-10-24 · 1 min · Harold Combs

Meeting Chaos -- 10,000 foot view

So, here I sit, amid a meeting with 14 people, trying to achieve a consensus on a topic with two sides… …and no one here can make this decision. And no one will. What remains is for Daddy to berate the misbehaving children back into line. Atop all that, there’s 14 people talking OVER one another, emotionally. ::sigh::

2008-10-22 · 1 min · Harold Combs

Quickie: "Quid pro quo" is dumb

Quid Pro Quo On the surface, it looks so innocent. “Something for something.” Equality. Fairness. “I got my share.” “S/He owes me that.” “It’s my due.” “I know my rights.” Yes, friend: You can know your rights and your due right back into your cave, where no one will lament your passing into eternity. If every action you take is ticking off a chit on your list, it means nothing. If you love someone only enough to do up to your responsibility, you love them not at all. Love may not keep a record of wrongs, but it ought not keep a record of “rights,” either. ...

2008-10-20 · 1 min · Harold Combs

Weekend--moving bedrooms

No, for those of you scoring at home, this isn’t about me moving out of the bedroom; this is about Whitney and I moving our bedroom upstairs. Since I moved into the house in June of 2005, my bedroom’s been in the suite, on the Northeast corner of the 1st floor. Yes…the dreaded (or desired!) first-floor master. Atop our story-and-a-half house are 3 bedrooms: One for Joey, the nursery for Maria, and what had previously been the playroom/guest bedroom. ...

2008-10-20 · 1 min · Harold Combs

Review: Fireproof

IMDB Link My father-in-law surprised Whitney and I last night by offering to watch the kids while we went to the 6:30 showing of Fireproof in Lexington. Fireproof is another Christian-centered offering from Sherwood pictures, the same folks who made Facing the Giants. In this film, Kirk Cameron stars as Caleb Holt, a fireman in Albany, Georgia with a darling house, a very attractive young wife, and aspirations of buying a boat. He seems to have the perfect life until you peel back the surface–underneath it all, he and his wife are virtual strangers, with enough resentment and hurt feelings to split apart Minneapolis and St. Paul. He’s hurt (yet unsurprised) when she starts talking of a divorce. ...

2008-10-17 · 3 min · Harold Combs

Some days, you just feel like this...

article Zero fell into the same moat 15 years ago and stayed there for nine days. Yep.

2008-10-14 · 1 min · Harold Combs

Requiem: Now two cars at home

The Beamer that Vicki never got to drive is no more, sent on to its new owner Grady from Indianapolis. Overall, it was a tremendous selling experience, with a detailed ad via craigslist (for free) and the buyer contacting me via email asking intelligent questions throughout the following week. This has been on my heart for some time now; glad I finally manned-up and did it.

2008-10-01 · 1 min · Harold Combs

Requiem: Now two cars at home (Comments)

Duuuuuuuuuuuude! Jeff Roberts - Oct 3, 2008 Duuuuuuuuuuuude!

2008-10-01 · 1 min · Harold Combs

Maybe selling the BMW today...

I’ve got a guy driving in from Indianapolis this afternoon; perhaps this is the BMW’s last day with me. Part of me’s not taking this so well…I got up nauseated and I was very cranky, right down to being very mean to Joey at the breakfast table. Which caused Whitney to get really mad at me (rightly so). I apologized to him on the way to school for it, but still…I’m just OFF today. ...

2008-10-01 · 1 min · Harold Combs

Armchair Sociology

While musing on the inevitable decay of our debt-ridden society, Chuck and I happened upon an hypothesis today: Entrepreneurs aren’t first-born children. Think about it…first-born kids in families are dedicated, responsible, typically over-parented. They live quite well within rules. They’re not interested in rebellion or “changing the game”. Instability scares them. Yes, those are broad generalizations based upon no hard data. But, if you’ll let me assume these as true, the consequence is: ...

2008-09-30 · 2 min · Harold Combs

Armchair Sociology (Comments)

Fits Sandra and I anyway. Kate must have more of t… Jeff Roberts - Sep 2, 2008 Fits Sandra and I anyway. Kate must have more of the last-born-ness of the only child, as she’s more like Sandra. I like it. I’m a huge fan of order-of-birth explanations and probably try to apply them way more than is appropriate - so, again, love it. Maybe you have seen something like this about the effects of China’s imposed only child family structure. Of course, halfway through they assure that order-of-birth stereotypes are shaky, but we know better! ...

2008-09-30 · 1 min · Harold Combs

Depressing article on the Depression

….or “This is what Susan’s Been Saying since High school” Nice personal interest piece in the Herald-Leader about what an economic depression might be like. Point taken–in our relativistic society, if people get down on their luck, they’re not going to just sit and starve to death. They’re going to start stealing and causing anarchy to survive. That’s the joy of living in a “globalized” economy–global points of failure. We don’t MAKE ANYTHING in this country anymore. Ugh.

2008-09-29 · 1 min · Harold Combs

Depressing article on the Depression (Comments)

Yeah, there I sit on 6 acres and I can barely grow… Jeff Roberts - Sep 1, 2008 Yeah, there I sit on 6 acres and I can barely grow grass :-) We would probably hunker down at Grandmother’s. Old school know-how, plenty of acreage, and armed to the teeth. :-) Yeah, in hindsight, this MIGHT NOT have been the best time to piss-off my parents, though their house isn’t what I’d call defensible. ...

2008-09-29 · 1 min · Harold Combs

Review: Grey's Anatomy "Dream a Little Dream"

To paraphrase a wise imaginary character: Last night’s “Grey’s Anatomy” was, without a doubt, the worst episode ever! Rest assured I was on the internet within minutes voicing my disgust throughout the world. Yeah, yeah…Comic Book Guy FTW. * * * Well, that was special. Two hours of shoddy camera work, confusing storylines and bad acting later, I yearn for season two and three. As this episode opens, we find our favorite band of 237 interns gathered around Miranda Bailey, awaiting their new rankings as a teaching hospital. Apparently, their ratings have fallen significantly since their glory days… ...

2008-09-26 · 1 min · Harold Combs

Quote of the day

GO SARCAMS!! (sic) I believe she meant “sarcasm”

2008-09-23 · 1 min · Harold Combs