Marijuana Reform

I smoked pot in High School and College. Even three or four times since then. I don't anymore because of two reasons. The first, the stuff makes me paranoid. The second, is the risk. I have a good job and a great family. I do not want to risk those things over possession of a controlled substance.

Marijuana has messed up THOUSANDS of people's lives. I will take that back. Marijuana laws have messed up thousands of people's lives. I have never understood, nor has it been explained to me why this weed is illegal. I have never seen medical reports saying it is any worse than tobacco or alcohol.

Right now along the U.S. / Mexican border, there is a war going on. The news reports daily of whole police squads being killed. People being kidnapped or going missing. Illegal immigrants fleeing the violence by crossing the border adding strain to our already fragile economy and pulling more on government entitlement programs. Our prisons are overcrowded. Schools lack funding for basic programs. The taxpayer's backs are buckling from the sheer weight placed upon them. Why? When we can cure or alleviate many of these issues by legalizing pot.

What are the cons? People driving under the influence? I have news for you. People are already driving under the influence of pot. And alcohol. And cocaine. And heroine. And so on.

People will become addicted? People are addicted to Alcohol. Marijuana has been proven to be less addictive than Alcohol.

People who would not normally try it would? So What.

Increased crime? Reduced crime. There are shootings over drug deals gone bad. If we legalize the drugs, those shootings disappear.

Pros? Where do I start?

• The load on prisons are lightened because people imprisoned because of Marijuana possession are released. They will not go back for that crime or other drug related crimes, because it would be legal.
• The drug war at America's borders becomes more controllable because we have made the source of the conflict legal.
• The government can tax marijuana. The markup on pot is amazing. It's a weed. It will grow anywhere. This can reduce the tax burden on Americans.
• We can control the strength and reduce the harmful additives that have popped up in the last 40 years because it will be regulated.
• Fewer immigrants will be escaping violence because the violence will be reduced.

It's time. Let's legalize.

Let your State representatives know how you feel. Call or email them and tell them it's time to make it legal.

Don't know who your state representative is?

Go here:

https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

If you don't, we will continue down the same path we are on. It isn't looking pretty. This is a real solution to many problems that plague American Society.

For more info go to: http://norml.org/

Gay Marriage?

As a heterosexual in 2011, I don't see the big deal about gay marriage. Not from a civil standpoint anyway. I am a recovering Catholic. I can see where some people of faith may have a problem the concept, but Catholicism has condoned and endorsed a celebrate man to lead their congregations for two thousand years and have covered up countless acts of child abuse and molestation. I wouldn't really expect them to understand.

The fact that we allow gay couples to adopt children but not be married is bass-ackwards. These people love each other. They should be allowed the same choice to marry the person they love as every heterosexual couple. It is good for the children. Many of these people have devoted their lives to each other already. Proving their commitment. Should their partner die, what are they left with? Money? Maybe if it was willed to them. But what if their partner died without a will. They are many times left standing outside the family circle alone and feeling unaccepted. I know that if I died tomorrow, My wife would still be accepted and surrounded with love from my mother, father, brother and sister.

The bottom line is that these people are just that — people and as such deserve the right to choose who they love and spend the rest of their lives with.

Do more: Go to http://www.stateline.org/live/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=136&languageId=1&contentId=15576

This is a rundown of gay marriage legislation in all 50 states. Contact your state representative and let them know where you stand on the issue.

Lack of Workers

I do the hiring and firing for my store. My upper management is telling us with the amount of unemployment in the country today, it should be easy to find workers. Well, It isn't. The people that want to work are working. The people that are looking for a job are the people that need to satisfy a requirement to continue their benefits, or so it seems.

Each day I see a parade of unkempt, heavily tattooed, flip flop wearing applicants come through my office. Maybe I consider 1 in 15. It is said that the best a person will EVER be as an employee is that 10 or 15 minutes sitting in the job interview. Scary.

If we want to fix the unemployment rate in America, here is what needs to happen:

1. Slash benefits. If you only get 4 weeks of unemployment, you would probably have a job by the fifth week if you wanted to eat.

2. Food Stamps should be over sized monopoly money bills. People would be embarrassed to pull them out and use them, thus would be an incentive to get a job and get off of them.

3. Legalize pot. Not for use at work, but drop it as one of the tested drugs. Pot would cure more than that, but that's for another post.

That's my plan. Government should not take care of people, it isn't their job. People need to take care of themselves.

Truck repair

I love my wife dearly.

You know if it starts like that something's up.\

I love my wife dearly, but she has no luck when it comes to anything with an engine. I'll re-phrase that, She has no luck with anything with an engine that is mine.

It started when she ran over the headlights on the lawn tractor. Yes. She ran over the headlights of the lawn tractor with the lawn tractor.

A couple years later, she was mowing the lawn (again) and was complaining about the noise coming from the deck of the tractor when she went over bumps. When I pulled the blade off, it looked like a capital "J" I asked what she had hit, she said "nothing". blades that hit nothing don't bend like that unless the Amazing Kreskin is staying at the house.

Then the snow blower, then the 4-wheeler, then the tractor again. But then, I made a mistake. I let her drive my truck.

We had gone out a couple of nights previously, and she put the window down in the passenger side. When we got home, she put the window back up and noticed that it was moving very sluggishly. I told her that it had been happening for a while now, and I didn't usually put it down because I didn't want to take it in to the garage and have it repaired. Forward two weeks. I left my truck at her store  for her to drive home, and I took her car and the kids and went home.

She came into the house and said "The window in your truck won't go up". I went outside and sure enough, she had put the passenger window down and there it was stuck. It wasn't moving slow anymore, it was stuck in the half way position. I tried to move it, but the switch just made a click sound.

I called my garage, they said to bring it in and they would shim it til they could get it looked at. that didn't work. The whole new assembly for the window had to be replaced. $450 later, my window works like a champ, and my wife drives her own vehicle.

Real Estate Woes

My house has been on the market for almost a year now. I can count the number of showings on 2 hands. We had initially thought it was our realtor. I didn't feel she was doing enough to get our house in front of potential customers. So, after our 6 months contract was up, and we went with another company.

The second company talked us into lowering our asking price by $20,000. Ouch! But, We need to sell the house to get closer to work. Gas prices are after all strangling. So we lowered our asking price. Still, there have only been 3 showings under the new realtor. If this thing goes much lower, we will be under water.

When will the government finally see that the bail outs and all of the forgiveness legislation is doing no good. It is just prolonging this recession. Let the bottom drop. I know it won't do much for the price of my house now, but at least the market can begin to recover as we will see the true numbers of homes that are out there. People that can still afford it will snatch up the bargins and begin to renovate for a profit. This will drive more dollars into the stream and force the market up. We need this.

Battling Fuel Prices

So the price of Gas sucks, right? $3.67 per gallon today at the pump. I drive a Chevy Avalanche. 40 dollars gave me a quarter of a tank. Wow! I love my Avalanche, but with these gas prices, I may have to go to something less harsh on fuel.

Way back when...Last summer when gas prices were approaching $2.50 per gallon, I started toying with the idea of getting a scooter. One of my co-workers had just recently got one, and although he looked completely ridiculous on this thing, he was getting about 75 miles per gallon of gas. I continued to laugh at him (both behind his back and to his face) but the whole time I was thinking “70 Miles per gallon!”

I like money. A lot. So, I came home one night and told my wife that I was thinking about buying a scooter. I braced myself for laughter, but to my surprise, the response was: “Grow some balls and buy a motorcycle.” Now, I should have dove in right then and there and bought the bike. I hesitated.

I continued to drive the truck and watch the fuel prices grow and grow. When gas hit about $3.10 I started to crawl around Craigslist looking for a bike. Well, As soon as she found out that I was seriously considering, the song changed. She wants no part of it now. Every excuse from insurance is too much to you'll kill yourself has come out.

I am still trolling the ads. When gas hits $4.25, she will see things my way. I love my Avalanche and will not trade it for the world, but as I said before I love my money too.

The Decline of Pizza Hut

Pizza Hut. What a treat! I can remember going to Pizza Hut as a kid with my family. pitchers of soda for us, Pitchers of beer for Mom and Dad. Pizza Hut was a special night out and almost always required putting on a special shirt.

I thought of those times tonight as I took my family to the Hut for dinner. I changed my jeans, brushed my teeth, and yelled at my oldest son to put on sneakers instead of wearing his clunky old snow boots.

When we got to the restaurant around five o'clock, there was only 1 other car there. We went in and obeyed the sign that stated "Please wait to be seated". A young waitress popped out and asked how many? then told us to sit anywhere. The place was empty. We struggled to find a booth that was a whole booth. Many had been torn apart, and one side replaced with 2 rickety chairs.

We ordered our supreme pizza and waited. I looked around as we waited and talked. The decor was dated and spoke of the restaurant's glory in the early 80's. Wall paper peeled and brown stains on the ceiling told that things weren't there best for the hut. Even our pizza, the supreme, once the flagship of the Pizza Fleet seemed to have lost it's glory. The full size Pizza Hut reataurant seems destined to fall by the wayside.

New smaller walk and talk Pizza Huts have sprung up with more of a McDonalds feel to them. They are in gas stations, Mall food courts, and combined with Wing Street or KFC's. I will miss the old Pizza Hut when our fast and furious society takes her down for good.