Happy Birthday Mom

Mom’s birthday was actually yesterday, and while I did indeed call her and wish her a happy birthday, I didn’t get to post this (didn’t get to bed until almost 3am).  So anyway, I wanted to get this posted before it was too late.

I know there are a lot of people who didn’t have good home lives, and who don’t have good memories of their parents.  I am not among those people.  I was an only child (and an only grandchild on my mom’s side for almost 12 years).  I had plenty of friends, but I always could come home to a loving family.

When I was young, Mom had plenty of time for me.  Whether it was playing a game or fixing my favorite dinner.  She was always wiling to spend that little bit of time to make me feel special.  Sure, there was also discipline and correction (which I surely needed), but there was a lot of fun, too.

As I got older, my parents decided to home school me.  Mom was my teacher for many subjects, and for some, we “learned” together.  Mom always had time to read with me when I was finding something a bit too boring.  She would gladly review me when I wasn’t sure that I knew the subject well enough.  Once the laws were relaxed enough, she even would award my hard work by taking me out to lunch on Friday if I had finished my week’s worth of work by then.

After I married, my Mom could have easily been a typical mother-in-law and caused problems with my wife.  Initially, things were not always the easiest as Shannon and Mom both adjusted to their new relationship, but within a few years, they had grown to be close.  Now they enjoy spending time together, shopping and talking (and, yes, Mom even enjoys it when the grandkids aren’t there).

Mom isn’t working anymore, at least not outside of the home.  She runs a home based business called Patti’s Originals.  Mostly sewing, but some gift baskets and accessories thrown in.  If you have a daughter or granddaughter, you will not find a place to get more lovingly created clothing.  I know because my Mom is frequently making clothes for my kids.

All in all, I have a great Mom and in addition to a hearty Happy Birthday, I want her to know that I love her very much.

CC

The Finality of It All

The severance package pay arrived in my bank account yesterday.  It made my layoff seem so final.  I didn’t realize until today that the payout for my pending vacation had also come.  So I’m now officially unemployed and I don’t have any income (asside from unemployment).

The total amount is nice, and if Uncle Sam sends that money he keeps promising, I will likely be OK with no changes through September.  Of course, if I’m not working, we will definitely be cutting back.  That will let us last longer, maybe through November.

That, of course, is worst case scenario.  Far before then, I would take a job doing something to have an income.  Hopefully it will not get to that point.  I hope to get a job before the end of June, but that may not be the case.

In any case, finally having the payout has generated some unexpected feelings.  It just seems so final.

CC

A Father’s Fear

One of my biggest fears as a father is that I will do something to let my kids down.  I try my best to be there for them.  While I don’t give them everything they want, I do sometimes find that they are upset with me.  Sometimes this is good (when they want something not good for them), other times it isn’t (when I needed to do something for them).  Here’s my story from today to explain.

Before Lydia started her (11:00 am) ballgame today, she had to take off her jewelry.  So she was headed to the bench to give her mom her watch and ring.  Only she was supposed to be lining up, so I told her to give it to me instead (as an assistant coach, I like up with them).  I put it in my pocket not realizing that her ring was with her watch.

Fast forward to sometime durring the game.  The watch was jabbing into my thigh whenever I sat down on the bench between innings.  So I pulled it out of my pocket to give to my wife.  Unfortunately, I still didn’t realize the ring was there.  The ring fell out at some point.  The watch took its place in my wife’s purse, the ring settling on the ground somewhere.

More fast forward, and we are leaving (after our 9:00 am, 11:00 am and 1:15 pm games) to come home.  After my wife calls to order pizza for dinner, Lydia asks for her watch and ring from her mom.  Shannon digs the watch out of her purse, but couldn’t find the ring.  She emptied her purse and still nothing.  I checked my pockets (finally realizing that I was supposed to have the ring as well), and nothing.  We turned around and headed back to the fields.

Lydia, Christian and I got out of the van and looked around the field while Shannon manned the van.  We looked for 10 minutes or so, and found nothing.  I called her coach to check and they hadn’t found it.  I was feeling lower than the dirt and grass we were looking through.  We checked the two other places on the fields where I took stuff out of my pocket.  Nothing, nothing, nothing.

We drove home as I beat myself up for losing the ring.  Lydia for her part, tried to help her dad feel better.  I had told her that we would get her another ring if we couldn’t find it.  This ring was a promise ring that her mother and I gave her for her 13th birthday.  It was a promise by her to wait on the person God has for her.  It is a heart with a keyhole in it, and it came with a key tie tack for me to where.  It represents the fact that God has tasked me to guard her heart.

You see, we have taught Lydia that it is as important to keep herself emotionally pure as it is for her to be physically pure.  How beautiful it will be if her husband is her first love.  How much pain and sorrow will she avoid by staying away from the typical “dating” lifestyle.  She wants for part of her wedding ceremony to be a moment when I give the key to her husband to represent the passing of the responsibility for guarding her emotions.  More on that some other day.  Anyway, suffice it to say that this was a very special ring for her.

So, I’m feeling aweful, and despite the fact that I promised to get her another one, it will not be the same.  When we got home, Lydia caught me at the door while everyone else was at the van.  She patted my shoulder and consoled me, “It’s OK dad.”  I almost cried then and there.

I sent an email to all the coaches asking if perhaps someone found it.  When that was done, I reached for the last chance in my quickly dwindling hopes.  I called the coach that was on the field for the game after Lydia’s.

God was watching over Lydia’s absentminded father.  Someone had found the ring during the next game, and turned it in to the other coach.  He held onto it and is keeping it safe for us until we can meet up to get it back.  After the long day, and the stress of my maximum mess up, I was drained.  I was so grateful that everything worked out so well.

CC

Technological Woes

Well, I heard from another company earlier this week.  They decided to go with another candidate because he had more of the supplimentary skills they were looking for (web development, networking, etc).  This is understandable, but very frustrating.

You see, when you work for a financial institution (like MetLife was), and you work in technology, you tend to be very far from the cutting edge.  Now, I know (and knew) that PowerBuilder (my forte) was dwindling in market share, but there was also a decent core of people using the product to keep a job base.  Now, however, the market for PowerBuilder programmers is open, but looking for something else (most often .NET).

So, for seven years I worked for MetLife on a product that was going out of style.  While there, no offers were made to upgrade our skills, we were just maintaining our applications with nothing new, especially nothing as “cutting edge” as .NET (please read the sarcasm in that).  So here I sit with skills that are a few years out of date watching others with more current skill sets get the jobs.

I will admit that it is difficult to not get bitter over this.  I mean after all, I honestly expected to be able to stay at MetLife until I retired.  I didn’t expect to need to find another job unless I wanted to.  Unfortunately, that was not the case.  And so, the temptation to get bitter comes.  Bitter because I have to find a job.  Bitter because my skills weren’t kept current while I was at Met.  Bitter over the entire situation.

But I can’t let myself get bitter.  Bitterness is a cancer that will not only eat away at me mentally and spiritually, but physically as well.  It will be a root that sprouts discord and discontent through my life and the lives of my family.  Fortunately, despite what seems to be a bad “lot”, I have and know the cure.

God is the cure.  I know that sounds simplistic, but it is true.  Once we have a true and correct concept of who God is, there is no need for the bitterness that fights to come in.  You see, God is perfect and has a perfect plan for each and every one of us.  Because of that, I know that God is in control of these events (not MetLife).  And while I may not understand or be aware of it now, He has a perfect plan for the resolution of these issues.

Faith, that is what we are talking about.  Faith in God and His perfect plan to overcome any doubts or problems we have with our current situation.  It is a constant, daily battle to fight the bitterness, and one that we have to keep in our attention.  Faith is the key to the victory, but we must still be vigilant in fighting the battle.

CC

Congrats to John Smoltz

Last night, the Braves played the Washington Nationals, and John Smoltz got strikeout number three-thousand in his career.  This is a major achievement, and should cement his eventual election to the Hall of Fame (not that there was much doubt beforehand).  Unfortunately, the Braves didn’t get the win despite Smoltz holding the Nats to only one run in his seven innings.

Smoltz is the sixteenth pitcher to reach the 3000 strikeout mark.  Some of the active players he joins:  Roger Clemens (4672), Randy Johnson (4629), Greg Maddux (3287), Curt Schilling (3116), and Pedro Martinez (3031).  Behind him, there are only seven active players with more than two thousand, and only Mike Mussina (2670) and Tom Glavine (2576) are close, but neither of them will likely reach 3000 before they retire.

Smoltz finished the past couple of years with an average of 204 K’s, so keeping close to that pace, he could finish with over 3500, putting him somewhere in the top 10 all time.  With the specialization in the bull pen and the way managing pitchers is changing, John my be in the top 10 for a very long time.  In fact, it will be difficult for anyone to displace him the way today’s game is played.

Last night, my son and I were driving home from his baseball practice listening to the game on XM Radio (thanks XM).  I will remember where we were when that strikeout came for many years to come.  I wish I had been home with the rest of my family to see the pitch.  My wife described it for me.  A typical sinker from Smoltz that dropped late and had the batter totally off balance.

Maddux, who was a teammate with Smoltz and Glavine for many successful years with the Braves, is said to have sent John a congratulatory text message.  Maddux told Smoltz that now he had one strike out for every hair he had lost.   Great to have friends to celebrate career milestones with you.

So congrats to John Smoltz.  A well deserved honor for a great pitcher.

CC

Nolan Ryan (5714),

One More First Game

I know everyone who reads my blog (all five of you) is probably getting tired of hearing about my kids baseball games.  Unfortunately that is the majority of our life, and I don’t want to write about the job rejection notice I got today.  So, I am going to tell one more baseball story for now.  Hopefully tomorrow I will have more variety in my thoughts (or I will remember to write before I get so tired).

Lydia played her first game Saturday.  Lydia is my oldest (14) and she is very glad to be playing again this year.  Her year off cost her some of her skills, but she was anxious and ready to play on Saturday.  Unfortunately the same couldn’t be said for her team.

The game started and, to be kind, it was ugly.  Bobbled balls and wild throws, and by the middle of the third inning, they were donw by 9 runs.  First game jitters are one thing, but this was just ugly softball.  Being somewhat unsure of how to handle a team full of 13-16 year old girls, I generally jogged over to the third base coaching box and let the head coach handle the dress downs and pick-me ups.

Two outs in the bottom of the third, and something happened.  I’m not certain what it was, but a spark ran through the team and by the time the inning was over, they were down by only two runs.  Lydia cranked out a double that inning, and scored on the next batter’s hit.  I had to laugh at the other coach.  After her first at-bat when she popped a fly ball to a leaping short stop, he decided to bring his infield in for Lydia.  I’m not sure if he thought she was someone else, or what, but he definitely didn’t know by girl.

Lydia had been very frustrated at the down-turn her hitting had taken, and I had given her a few pointers as had her coach.  She was trying to figure out what to do to remind herself of those things when she came up to bat, and despite her first at-bat being an out, she was getting there.  Then came the double and score in the second inning.  Now, for those of you who do not know my daughter, she is not the fastest runner there is.  In fact, she is rather slow.  She knows this and we have worked on it (her coach from 3-4 years ago was at the game and said she was running the fastest she’d ever seen her run).  So for Lydia to get a double and then score from second is saying something.  In fact, she confessed to me later that she was shocked when I sent her around third to home.

Anyway, to make a long story short, we were abel to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth.  The bases were loaded with two outs and Lydia came up to bat.  Now, I confess that I always remember the “mighty Casey” when my kids are batting in these situations.  I have had it happen twice recently and both times ended well.  Back to Lydia.

After 5 pitches, Lydia had a full count.  One more pitch, ball or strike and she would be either the heroine or the goat.  Pitcher threw the ball, and Lydia swung the bat.  The ball went skidding sideways, past the baseline, foul.  My stomach churned as Lydia stepped back in for the next pitch.  I’m not certain who had the worse case of nerves, but I will defer to my daughter since she was actually in the situation, and I was just watching her.

The next pitch came floating in, and Lydia didn’t swing.  Ball four, and she was walked to first.  The other runners advanced, pushing the winning run across the plate.  No, it wasn’t a dramatic game saving hit, but she was able to fight off that pitch before to stay alive long enough to draw the walk.  Lydia with the game winning RBI.

There is always next time for the dramatic hit, but at least for now, the JV Tigers were successful due, in no small part, to my Lydia.

CC

My Little Princess

After posting about both of my sons, my youngest daughter asked if I had posted about her. Well here is what I came up with.

Let me clarify, I love my baby girl a ton, and I wouldn’t trade her for the world, but she is such a princess and a diva, we have to enjoy her differences.  My older daughter and my wife, while very feminine, are not the girly type.  My baby girl is, in spades.  She loves shoes, and despite having many pairs of footwear, none go unworn for very long.  We have had to clamp down on her changing outfits once we got to three outfits a day (we’ve cut that down to only one or two).  Make-up was the latest big thing, and while I won’t get her any “real” make-up, that doesn’t stop her from putting on what she has (thanks to grandparents).  Last time she put some on, she looke as thought she’d been beaten about the face, but she was “wearing makeup”.

I know that one day I will turn over the care and protection of this little diva to some young man who may end up very surprised at what he gets.  You see, as I (an only child, therefore no sisters) have learned, it can be very expensive tending to the needs of a princess.  I am facing now, the feeding of a teenage son, and I can say this rivals the care and tending of an  8-year old princess, but I’m sure as the age grows, the funds required to care for her will change.  So I feel for this young man.

My Little Princess

I have a little princess who is more than just a girl.
She is my little diva, my precious little pearl.

She goes by many names, and is still my “lady bug”
And she makes my smile brighter with just a little hug.

Dolls and toys are still her fun, but she also knows
That every diva cannot live without her shoes and clothes.

She is too young for make-up, but as she will explain
Every princess needs it, their beauty to attain.

With every girlish giggle, I find a sweet release,
He simple childhood laughter, gives her daddy special peace.

Someday she will grow older, and with that thought in mind,
I’m sure some special gentleman, her heart will likely find.

I must confess I’ll not be glad to see that “one day” come.
But the poor guy will need to have quite a large income.

Not for me, I don’t expect my kids to pay my way,
But he will learn you need lots of cash where the Diva’s gonna stay.

CC

Caleb Ran Away

Last year in February, our family was involved in a bad car accident.  Our minivan was destroyed.  Caleb, my younger son (8 at the time), was the one injured the worst.  While everyone else just suffered scrapes and bruises, Caleb was not so fortunate.  He had taken his shoulder strap off to lay on the seat to sleep, and when the vehicles impacted, he hit is head against the seat in front of him.

When I asked if everyone was OK, Caleb didn’t respond.  About the time I turned around, Lydia (my oldest) began almost hysterically calling his name.  I jumped out of the van to check on him, and he had a huge lump on his forehead and he was not responding to our calls.  I tried to get him to respond for what seemed like forever, alternately calling to him and calling to God to spare him.

Finally, after several other people had stopped, and while one of them was on the phone with 911, Caleb whimpered.  After a trip by helicopter to the hospital, they did many tests and scans and declared him healthy, at least healthy enough to go home.  Caleb was suffering from Post Concussive Syndrome.  There was nothing the folks at the hospital could have done to prevent it or to change it.  I wish someone had told us to watch for it, but I’m not sure that would have even prepared us for what happened.

I wrote the following on the day of the event that I never expected to face.

Today is Thursday, March 15, 2007.  Today Caleb ran away from home.

 

I awoke with the first sounds of my alarm clock sometime around 6:51 am.  With a 9 minute snooze, I can snooze once and still be up at 7:00 am.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get up with the first snooze.  I must’ve hit is 4 or 5 times, because it was after 7:30 when I finally got up.  Following my traditional routine, I headed for my shower unaware that around this time my 9 year old son was making his exit from our house.

 

After showering and dressing, I headed to the living room to read my morning Bible reading.  Shannon, whom I had wakened while I dressed, was soon out and starting work on my lunch in the kitchen.  After putting the toast in for the sandwiches, she headed past me to wake the children.  Shortly, she asked the question that brought to a screeching halt the normalcy of the morning.

 

“Where’s Caleb?” she asked.

 

“Isn’t he in his bed?”  Looking to the futon.  “No”  Looking to the girls, just exiting from their room.  “Caleb!  CALEB!!!”

 

From his bedroom, “Paul, his window is opened!”

 

Up, I’m dashing to the front door.  Quickly turning the alarm off and out the door, I rush around the house looking for my lost boy.  Around the back of the house, I open the shed door.  One, two, three.  His bike is missing.  Where has my boy gone.

 

Back into the house, I gather my keys and pass along instructions.

 

To everyone:  “His bike is missing.”

 

To Christian:  “I need you to get dressed and go look for his bike in the yard and woods.”

 

To Shannon:  “Did you find him?  No, I need you to get dressed and look around here.  I’m going out to drive and look for him.  I have my cell phone.”

 

Into the van, I’m down the driveway trying to get the windows clear of dew so I can see.  Wipers flipping and side windows down, I’m slowly moving up the street looking on the side of the road and in the ditch where the kids play.  Nothing.  I keep moving, a bit faster now, more nervous.

 

To the end of our cul-de-sac, nothing.  Turning on to the short road out of the subdivision, nothing.  Out to the crossing street, left or right?  Right first, and just over the hill and down a couple hundred feet, and I just know this isn’t the right way.  I feel like I’m trying for something very futile.  Turning around I have a quick decision to make, do I try the other way, or head back home.  It is just a quick, short trip up the other direction to the main road, I’ll try that far.

 

Why, Caleb, why?  Of course, there is no answer.

 

Down the hill and back up, around the curve.  There’s a truck, and a man.  But…

 

Stopping at the stop sign, I finally see Caleb, on the shoulder, fallen down.  Rushing to him, I’m overjoyed to have found him, but still deeply concerned as to why.  Little did I understand at the time, the hand of God showing His mercy and grace.

 

Caleb’s pants were stuck in his bike chain.  He was past the bridge and continuing on the road when it got stuck, and he came back to the bridge to fix it before moving on.  That’s when the man saw him and stopped.  Caleb was in the middle of the road when the man stopped.

 

God was there.  If Caleb’s pants hadn’t been caught in the bike chain when they did, I may not have seen him.  I might not have gotten there in time.  If I hadn’t decided to try this direction to the end of the road, I might not have gotten there in time.  If I hadn’t decided to turn around from the other direction, I might not have gotten there in time.  If Shannon hadn’t decided to wake the kids up when she did, she wouldn’t have noticed he was missing as early, and I surely wouldn’t have found him in time.

 

The man who had stopped, had already called the police.  After loading the bike, backpack, and boy into the van, the police arrived.  I jumped out to see if he needed anything from me.  Everything was fine, the other man left, and the officer asked to speak with Caleb.  I made phone calls to allow the officer to ask questions to satisfy him.  Shortly, Caleb and I were on the way back home.  God has given grace and mercy to spare my son twice.

The evidence of Got that morning was so clear.  From the protection of Caleb to the His leading me in the right direction.  Even the smallest detail of Caleb’s pant leg getting caught in his bike chain.  The Saturday before, the kids were riding their bikes and I was adjusting my daughter’s chain.  My older son told Caleb to ask and I would fix “that” for him.  Turns out the “that” was the chain guard (that prevents your pant leg from getting caught in your chain).  Seems Caleb didn’t like it and wanted me to take it off.  So off it went.

Caleb is back to normal now, whatever normal is for a 9 year old boy.  He is caught up somewhere between Star Wars, Stargate and Stargate: Atlantis with a little Batman and Spiderman thrown in for fun.  He played his first baseball game of the season last night, and while they didn’t win, the team showed huge potential.  Caleb had a blast, and listening to him describe the game to his grandparents on the phone reminded me of why I coach and assist.  Despite the loss, it was very clear that my 9 year old miracle boy had the time of his life playing.  I’m just glad that God has allowed us the privelege of keeping Caleb here to show us all how to enjoy life to its fullest.

CC

 

Last year in February, our family was involved in a bad car accident.  Our minivan was destroyed.  Caleb, my younger son (8 at the time), was the one injured the worst.  While everyone else just suffered scrapes and bruises, Caleb was not so fortunate.  He had taken his shoulder strap off to lay on the seat to sleep, and when the vehicles impacted, he hit is head against the seat in front of him.

When I asked if everyone was OK, Caleb didn’t respond.  About the time I turned around, Lydia (my oldest)

The Smell of Fresh Cut Grass…

The roar of the crowd, the crack of the bat, yes, it is time for baseball again.  Opening night was last night (my daughter was supposed to play, but got postponed), and my son’s first game was tonight.  Wolverines (my son) at home against the Gators.

Beautiful 45 degree evening for spring baseball.  I was glad I was just coaching and not playing.  But the boys played a great game and pulled out a win, 8-6.  There were several times we got lucky from the mistakes of the other team, and a few times we made mistakes on our own.  But in the end, we pulled it out.  I say we because I was coaching third base.  I had a few mistakes, but we had a good game when it was all said and done.

But the story of the night is not me.  My son, Christian, had a great game.  In fact, it was probably one of his best games ever.  He played catcher for the first two innings and did a great job.  A few steals of second on him, and maybe one or two at third, but did some great stops to prevent any runs from scoring.  Another couple innings in left field where he was backing up everything.  He almost caught one fly ball, but it was just a little too short for him to get to.

His bat was great.  First time up, he hit a grounder to the right side to advance a runner, despite the out.  Secondt time up, he struck out swinging.  Sure it was a strike out, but compared to last year when he struck out standing there.  He was swinging, and anyone who has coached kids knows this can be a problem.  Final at bat of the game was a bases loaded situation.  He sent a fly ball to right center field for a double.  It would have been a triple, but the runner from first wasn’t very fast.  Christian was a step behind them when they passed the short stop position and I had to send Christian back to second.

A great game tonight and even better given the results.  Christian had a great game and I was very proud of how hard he has prepared this year and at how well he is playing.  Of course, like I told him before the game, I am very proud of him and I love him regardless of the outcome of the game.

CC

Paul For President

OK, step aside Barak, Hillary, and John, I’m declaring myself for the election this year.  I’m fed up with politicians and their minions and all the games they play and I’m throwing in because I think I can do better than anyone running right now.

OK, maybe not.  I mean, if anyone wants to write my name in, I’ll not object, but I doubt there are enough that will do that to get me anywhere close to getting elected.  Actually, this year is the first year that I am old enough to run for President, and I had told several people that I was going to run for this election.

So what would you get if I were to actually be elected.  First, I can guarantee you would see some nepotism.  I’m an only child, so no brothers or sisters to give jobs to, but I would give my dad a position in my cabinet.  He is one of the smartest guys I know, and while we don’t always see things eye to eye, I would definitely value his opinion on things.

The War:  OK, here is the problem with the war.  Most everyone, me included, is very upset over the loss of life, and the seemingly poor handling of the war by the current administration.  I don’t want to minimize the loss anyone has experienced, nor do I want to debate the facts (or lack thereof) that got us to the point we are in today.  What I would want to do is make the best out of what has become a bad situation.  I’m very disappointed that the candidates all seem to be sticking to what they think is right despite the suggestions of the commanders involved. 

My solution is to make an official announcement so that the insurgents, the Iranians, Syrians, and anyone else involved in the country.  The announcement is simple.  Iraq will be an internally governed, democratic country.  Period, the end, no discussion.  If it doesn’t happen with the government that is in place, that is, if everyone doesn’t let it happen, we will make Iraq a US protectorate like Puerto Rico, Guam, US Virgin Islands, and others.  Then, any outside involvement will be considered an act of war against the US.  No, we don’t want that outcome, and that is a worst case scenario, but if the fighting and involvement doesn’t stop, that will be how we will handle it.  I’m not naive enough to believe this will instantly solve the problem.  Quite the contrary, it will cause many other problems, but one thing it will do is let everyone know that we are serious.

Immigration:  There are a couple of issues with immigration.  The first, and most important issue is terrorism.  We have to secure the borders in order to prevent another 9-11 massacre.  The second issue is the drain on the US economy from illegal immigrants.  It is interesting that we have this problem on these two fronts.  One group wants to get into our country because we are so evil, the other group wants in because we are so successful.  While I don’t begrudge anyone coming to our country to better themselves, we have to enforce the way they do this. 

The best solution is to require that companies not hire illegals.  If they do, they should have to pay severe fines.  Included in the fines, should be the money required to help the illegals become citizens or to return home, whichever they prefer.  The focus of the INS should be to patrol companies suspected of employing illegals, and in ensuring the communities where illegals might reside are educated as to the facts of the laws.  Again, I’m sure it will not solve the problem tomorrow, but, with enforcement, it will hopefully make companies think twice before employing illegals.

The Economy:  I can see three areas where the economy has serious problems.  First when the gas prices go up, the prices of everything goes up.  I’m not certain what the number is now, but 15 years ago, I seem to remember that something like 50-60% of the price of gas is taxes.  With the economy where it is, and the price of gas where it is, this has got to change.  Also, while I don’t want to see the price of gas regulated by the government, gas companies should not be allowed to milk people over the summer and on holiday weekends just because they can.  There has to be a happy medium that will allow companies to make money while not ruining the economy. 

The second major concern with the economy (and this one hits close to home) is the business off-shoring.  The interesting thing about this is that it doesn’t really save the money companies think it will, but that is good fodder for another post.  The government should increase the taxes on companies that use off-shore models and offer tax breaks for companies that do not use off-shoring.  Simple solution, and the simple reason is that we need to encourage US companies to employ US workers.  When our economy is recession-proof, and we no longer have problems, we can worry about helping the economy of others.  Along with this is the overt money-grubbing of company leaders.  Any company that lays off employees should have to show equal percentage of pay cuts from their officers and above.  How can you justify paying someone a million a year but expect people to believe you can’t afford to employee people who make less than $10K per year.  Doesn’t make sense, and while I don’t have a problem with someone making a lot of money, but not at the expense of their employees or the US economy. 

The final issue is the so-called mortgage crisis.  I have a hard time accepting this as a crisis of anyone’s creation aside from the people who took too big a mortgage.  While I understand the problem of not being able to pay bills (may be there myself soon), I don’t have much sympathy for people who extended themselves too far.  The bailout, if there is any, needs to take all of this into account.  Just because someone can’t make their payments, it doesn’t mean they need a bailout.

So that is where I stand on three of the biggest issues that are out there.  I’m sure that everyone has their own ideas of what will work and what will not.  At least now you know what will happen if you decide to write me in for President.

CC