User Profile

I am a 55 year old wanna-be codger. Even though I'm usually conservative, I DO remember what it was like to be a child of the sixties. Ergo, I'm into things that go BOOM; really good rock / rock 'n roll; fast cars (gas mileage-who cares?); and long term relationships. That whole thing of live fast and die young was slightly overrated. You had to be ALIVE to experience life. I drank copiously, used a few pharmecuticals, drove like a maniac, rock climbed, went sky diving, and protested the Vietnam war. Did I leave anything out? Probably, but who's counting. So does that make me a conservative liberal? Or a cynic? Or just an absurd realist?

Realism is a necessary facet of today's life. Philosophy is fine, but it doesn't pay the rent. Realism is doing the drudgery of going to the sometimes malodorous job that you really don't like to insure that you have the necessities of life. Sometimes you have to pay the piper for a reeeaaallly long time before you get to sit back and listen to the music. Right now I get to listen to the music once in a while. Sometimes I even get to play some of the music. While listening to my beloved wife sing. Rapture.....

I used to be really good at doing things with my hands. But twenty years of being an Army mechanic have taken their toll. Arthritis and a few broken bones have done further damage. It really frustrates me that I can rebuild an M-1 tank, or build a whole car, or frame a house in theory only because I can no longer do it physically. But I persevere and take joy in what I can still do. Cut the grass. Cook (still learning how). Play the bongo drums. Shoot a pistol at the Master level. Drive...no longer like a maniac, but with better skills and judgement as to where and when.

Family is where my main strangth is. As the second child of six we really had a strong bond between myself and my three brothers. My two younger sisters were treasured, loved, and respected. We four boys may have fought a lot among ourselves, but always put up a united front against others. And woe to those who gave our sisters a hard time. Providing a loving and stable family home was paramount for our parents. and they went through a LOT to insure that we got what we needed. I guess that's where I got MY work ethic. I've done a lot of things that I really didn't want to do at the time to insure my family's well-being. To quote a line from a STAR TREK novel "What was earned will be given; and what was given has been earned." If that is a philosophical comment, then so be it.

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