General Thoughts

This morning I am in a strange mood. I feel somewhat philosophical but don't have that well defined edge or target for my wit or wisdom. After my second cup of Java and after reading the paper I am still just scattered. So, I will offer you some thoughts mixed in with a few of the things that I find good general lessons in life:

• The best way to avoid costly mistakes is to make good decisions. The best way to learn make good decisions is by learning lessons from your mistakes. Yes, this is circular reasoning and directed at the cost of a good education. Even if you don't go to college, there are costs to life. In fact, I recon that my time at KU fulfilled a requirement but lessons I had learned and learned after that time are a lot more valuable. (Yes, recon is used as an attempt to be more colorful than Think)
• Everyone should know what and when to do things. Sometimes day dreaming is good to help you set goals in life. When you finally can sit down and write out your goal, you are on the way to achieving them. Remember that you are not perfect and any plan is only good until the shooting starts. Plan a little for each day and then each week, then each month and then each year. Spending your money to support these steps is what life is all about. If you are not trying to get somewhere, you must be pretty happy with where you are. If you aren't happy, try to change what you are doing to make things better. If you do what you did, you'll get what you got! Is a big screen TV twice as good as that 29 incher?
• I read this morning that the time to make promises is during the campaign. During the time in office it is time to govern and sometimes what you think in the dark of the campaign is not what you see in the light of the actual office. It is good that Barack has an 80% approval level right now. He has enough time to get his feet on the ground and room to grow or screw up before the honeymoon with the press is over. Trust me, the press is just looking for a good juicy story to help sell more papers or make a name for themselves.
• Never say never or always about anything. If you have a point to make, use real life not hypothetical. Leave the story telling up to people that get paid to tell stories. It is best to tell how you feel than to make stuff up. At least people know where you stand and there isn't doubt as to what you mean.
• When in doubt, feed the birds. At least you will have time to think about what you are going to do and will go off only 1/4 cocked not a full half cocked. For those of you that haven't been involved in the carrying of guns, the cocked in this case is when you have the hammer on a single action weapon pulled back and ready to fire. Not only did most cowboys not do this, they generally carried the gun with the hammer on an empty cylinder so if the gun is dropped it won't shoot you. Drop one of those old guns and they will shoot. Who it will hit is the only question.
• One of the questions batted about on the blogosphere is Government. Do we need more, less, better or at a different level. I contend that the best government is done at the local or lowest level. The ideals here in Kansas are a darn site different than in New York. Besides, there are some questions that I don't want the Federal Government to answer.
• What is wealth? What role does it play in our lives? Does the engine of our economy need to be sped up for us to be successful as a nation? How does the first 700 Billion dollars differ from the second 840 billion. If the first big ole pile of money wasn't effective don't we need to slow down and put the second pile in to the regular budget process and let it sort out with the rest of the wash. What war are we fighting? If throwing money at the War in Iraq was stupid, how is this a better battle?
• Either George Bush was good or he was bad. Either he was smart and did the best he could and the recipient of a lot of bad things that happened on his watch, or he was evil. Make up your minds out there. It is pretty easy to play Monday morning quarterback in the plain light of day but when you day is full of dust from the falling World Trade Towers it might be a little harder. The personal experience of my family is that he is a good man and tried to do his best.
• I contend that FEMA has hurt us more than it helps. People expect Big Government to step in at every step and fix all of our problems. About 1990 I worked in the Guard as the Military Support Officer and sent Guardsmen out on the order of the Governor to help people in emergencies. I would guess that 9 out of 10 people would go live with family or friends if they lost their house or were displaced. In most cases they had insurance to rebuild and did what they needed to do to move on. Two wonderful groups stepped in in those cases where there was a problem. The Mennonite Church sends groups to help people get it back together and the Salvation Army is there to mitigate suffering. I don't think it is the Government's responsibility to put you back where you were.

OK, Enough of this. Get another cup of coffee and move on with your day.

MUD