BigDog Speaks

Well, some of us are going to be happy with the election results. Some of us are not going to be happy with the election results. Whoever wins is going to have their hands full of trying to sort out the mess we are in. Ok, that covers the big question, how about the rest of it?

Read more! »

Whoever spends the most money wins. Sad. Why can't we cap the amount that candidates can spend on a campaign, and not allow them to go a penny over? How about taking that overstuffed warchest and distribute the wealth? I'm sure there are countless places in our governmental budget that could use an influx of cash. Social Security comes to mind. Why allow mind boggling amounts of cash to be thrown at us, the voters, until we are so sick of campaigns that all we want is to see it over? Why not a REASONABLE amount, say 250,000 per candidate and not a dime more. This could level the playing field a lot. 13 candidates on the ballots, and the majority only know of two. The difference is in the money.

Read more! »

What folks in Florida consider cold would make our northern neighbors laugh. Doesn't matter, Floridians, the REAL kind, get cold when the temps hit 60 or less. Some of us have less tolerance than others. The 41 degrees this morning prompted a breakfast of hot oatmeal and an extra pot of coffee. I don't like the cold.

Read more! »

Stepping outside this morning bright and early I noticed a slight nip to the air. Things are cooling off here and that means that hunting season is right around the corner! I look forward to hunting every year, and I mean that in the literal sense of the word, I hunt. I usually hunt high and low, around and behind, and seldom spy my elusive prey. I hunt. When I hunt, it usually means a great deal of exercise, an enjoyable walk in the woods and lots of fresh air.

Read more! »

Looking out the back window on an overcast day, I can see the downside to solar power. Still looking out that window, I see the wind is blowing pretty good, alternative energy number two, wind. Being of a reasonably curious nature I did some Googling and found a multitude of results covering wind power. Surprising, to me, is how much of this information is being shared by do it yourselfers! The quest is to disperse the information and make it available to those who will attempt to use it. A classic example of sharing, to make the world a better place.

Read more! »

Oh yes, I ran out and filled up with less than three dollar a gallon gas. I still had half a tank of more expensive gas but I didn't want to miss a bargain. Now that we are seeing gas in a range we can almost stand, it is bound to change. The greedy folks who control the gas won't be happy with the reduction in profits and will certainly find a way to jack them up, again. If you notice things going on around us you will hear the word recession bandied about quite a bit. You don't here the word deflation, the opposite of inflation. If deflation begins, companies begin reducing prices on goods to the point they are not profitable and begin to close down. Production cost exceeds sales and companies can no longer afford to pay workers, doors close. It begins as a trickle and becomes a torrent. It is a scary word that nobody wants to hear, or use.

Read more! »

The old "bigger is better" saying has been with us forever. It has been applied to everything imaginable and is still done so today. An obvious indication of truth in this matter can be applied to monitors. The normal 17 inch monitor gets the job done, just like the 15 inch ones, and the 13 inch ones. A 22 inch monitor is far better than a 17 inch one. A 24 inch monitor is better still. Bigger, IS better.

Read more! »

IF you are a sportsperson with guns, be very careful who you vote for. Obama has a LONG record of voting in favor of gun control. Biden is the guy who wrote the assault weapons ban. Do you want these folks in office? Putting these two in office nearly guarantees the disarming of the nation. Vote for what you believe in, just consider all the consequences.

Read more! »

The bears are out in force regarding the stock market. It is in a downward spiral with no end in sight at the moment. Gee, wonder how that happened? Financial institutions tightened their grip on their funds, whatever they had remaining. This put the crunch on everybody else and the results have been disastrous. IF you wanted to buy a new Chevy, chances are good you couldn't get the credit. GM would like to sell it to you but since they can't, they have a problem. GM employees a BUNCH of people. People who are now sweating their job. GM also has a BUNCH of vendors who supply parts to them. These vendors in turn employee a bunch of people who are now sweating their jobs or have already lost them. Times are tough all over and getting tougher.

Read more! »

Computers are in use, every day, every where, and the pretense is time savings. Computers save us time because they can do things so much faster. Financial institutions use computers. They transfer money back and forth in lightening speed, unless, it is OUR money.

Read more! »

How low can you go is a good slogan for limbo, a horrible one for the economy. If you look at results for yesterday, it suggests that perhaps we have indeed found a bottom. I'm not sure it is the real bottom. We have entirely too many variables to contend with and any one of them could prolong the agony of our current economy. The only good point so far is the price of gas dropped.

Read more! »

Don't be surprised when you see your ballot that there are way more choices than just McCain and Obama. There are actually ELEVEN other choices! OK, you probably haven't heard of any of them. Yes, some of them are REALLY fringe material. I suspect ALL of them will get some votes. With only McCain and Obama to choose from, we REALLY don't have much in the way of choices. Once again we are faced with voting for the lesser of two evils except now, we have a total of 13 to pick from! The closer we get to election day, the more I hope Obama doesn't win and I'm not too keen on the other one either. Withholding my vote will accomplish about the same as casting my vote and neither option will make me feel better. The American people have lost control of their government and I doubt we will ever get it back. Politicians run the country, not the people. This isn't what the founding fathers had in mind. We were meant to BE a nation, and STAY a nation. I wonder if we haven't lost all that already? Global economy? The American people have been, and should always be, fiercely independent, it is our heritage. I fail to see where ANY politicians should be in a position to barter that heritage away. We need our nation back and politicians WITHOUT hidden agendas. We need HONESTY, not political correctness. It is a sad state of affairs we find ourselves in. We need a whole lot less politician and a whole lot more real world perspective. I don't know that ANY of the candidates reflect that.

When your DSL quits working, you cannot get online. When you call the trouble line for your provider, they tell you all about the helpsite available online. IF I could get online, I wouldn't be calling in the first place!

Read more! »

As you age, every bowl of ice cream you have ever had comes back to you. Usually around your middle, and every area connected by it.

Exercise is a fabulous pastime, for OTHER people.

Power walking is what you do getting to the car. You have to have some way to haul all that ice cream.

A trip to the grocery store can be considered exercise unless you pass pastries, cookies, candy, or ice cream, then all bets are off.

All those blurry beer nights of your youth joins the ice cream as you age. The combination isn't good.

The shiny spot on top of your head cannot be hidden with a comb over. Everybody knows it's there, most are nice enough to not mention it in your presence. Be thankful you can't here the laughter when you aren't around.

Ear hair is not a status symbol. Don't even CONSIDER braiding it. Ditto for eyebrows.

Well groomed when you get older, can be as simple as making sure you are dressed. If you hear screams when out in public, you forgot something.

Bowed legs and shorts are not good combinations. Cowboy boots don't help.

Bran and gas seem to go hand in hand. Why can't we use it for fuel? Ditto for your favorite pot of beans.

Any food that takes your teeth, should be left alone. Denture wearers know what I mean.

Science can accomplish great things. Science can also cause problems. Finding a happy medium doesn't seem to ever happen. Even now they are working to prolong our lives and let us live longer, way longer. 150 years old isn't in reach yet but what if it was? If you had the choice of drinking their magic potion and living to 150 years old, would you?

Read more! »

Vacations are our way of relaxing and getting away from everyday problems. This strategy works, unless it is a working vacation. Working vacations erode away any significance a 'vacation' might have. Working and vacation should never be combined.

Read more! »