11/11

Well, actually it is 11/12 and in a great deal of the country it is 11/13 but never mind that. 

I thought i would take a few minutes and thank the troops, if you are a veteran and you happen to stumble upon this post, I thank you for your service voluntary or not to the United States.

My father was in Vietnam, my Grandmother was a WAC (or i believe she was), still not exactly sure what that is, and my mother's father was in the Army in WWII.   I also believe my father's grandpa was in WWI. 

I am very thankful, that I have not been drafted and called to fight in a war like they had.  I am not diminishing the sacrifice of those who have been in Desert Storm, or the second time in Iraq or the Afghan one, I am sure all combat experiences are harrowing and horrible and i want no part in any of that.  Not that i think the soldiers want to be there, but well, this is getting off track but here is a side story

In the town i grew up in there is a statute that was dedicated to the 5 men killed in world war I from a defunct tiny little near by town.  According to the piece i found on the statue here.    This town lost 12 service men to the World Wars.   According to wikipedia in 1930 Hiawatha had a population of 939, and in 1940 had a population of 858. Maybe just a statistical anomaly but the wars since have not had such a requirement from such a breadth of the population.  For that I am thankful.

I would like to state that I do not think the service men of the wars since have sacrificed any less, or in anyway diminish their service, just the population as a whole has sacrificed less, which in a kind of weird backwards logic makes the individual sacrifices of the recent wars greater.  But I don't think they're greater either, war sucks, but were it not for the brave few who do voluntarily serve the world would be a more dangerous and evil place.

Which brings me to my point, usually I am a democratic voter, and usually liberal in things like this, but this little nugget angers me, but it requires back story.  So a few years ago Peter King of Sports Illustrated decided to raise money and team up with USO to help entertain deployed troops or something like that.  I was discussing this with my boss at the time, and I made a donation, under the name J "I need some Karma" DuBois. 

Less than 6 months later I was and am still getting flooded with mailing from the heritage foundation, the NRA, American Crossroads, and some outfit with a weird name like national republican convention or something like that, I don't even know if that is the official name of the other party which is why i call them some outfit, they could be legit, but they could also be a scam, who knows.  What I do know is they all send me mail addressed to J. "I need some Karma" DuBois

What angers me is not that i get mail from them, but that they assume just cause i want to support the troops that i am a conservative, gun toting, GOP member.  Is this an accurate assumption? If so that sucks.  Also I hope to break that association.  I am a liberal, i subscribe to Mother Jones, I think Obama has done a bang up job, and I support the troops.  I even donate to the wounder warriors project, a tiny little amount, but if everyone gave a little, they could get a lot!

Anyway  whether or not you're a liberal or a conservative if you fought for our country I thank you!

I need help

It may just be that i don't know any better, but I have always found that men's dress boots look funny, i mean i like hiking boots, and cowboy boots well not my cup of tea are not just goofy looking, but men's dress boots, that just confuses me.

I am need of a new pair of work shoes, you know the shiny kind that make you look professional?  I do not think they do either, infact i think they're obnoxious and at best are just shiny, but it is what business people wear.  Like ties, I do not understand ties either, but that is neither here nor there, i don't have to wear ties.

Anyway, so this is my informal survey, and as I suspect no one will read this, it is really just my thinking out loud,  do men's dress boots, make sense, i mean it is 26 outside, which is just this side of bitter cold.  Not sure which side it is on but it is right near the line somewhere.

Also I have dropped like 7 lbs on my diet, and today began exercising,  I had been putting off starting for a bit, but today i worked out, and i feel better for it.

stuff on my mind

Nightmares suck, and not just a little, i have some freakishly vivid ones last night, eeeks.

Second only slightly more unnerving then having nightmares involving home invasion, are the political ads that where all the rage last month, or last 6 months really.  It is kinda insane, but they ended now.

I went out to visit the family and completely fell off my diet, then I got back and got depressed, but well, i made the 2 lists tonight, to start my diet anew in the morn.

I also put together a workout i can do from home so i got that going for me, i will also start that in the morning.

I really really really miss my daughter, which based on the converstaions i had at work with a women about her ex.   Who are these guys that have kids get divorced then just sorta leave their kids?  I do not understand for a second, like I love my wife and we're happily married, or at least i am anyway, i should speak for her, anyway, if we where to get divorced and she where to move to like I don't know des moines you can bet your ass i would move there too, just to be able to see soccer games, and dance recitals, bike riding and all kinds of groovy things.

This is who i don't like today dead beat dads!!!!