Don't You Know What Causes That?

Nice title huh!  What gives?

Well, my dear wife and I are expecting child number four in October!  Yes we are excited.  We actually like kids!  It will be quite an adventure for a couple of years, but the future will be exciting. 

It has been quite comical when it come to the different reactions when we tell people that we are expecting our third child in as many years.  Some are ecstatic.  Some are shocked.  Some are scared for us.  Some seemed confused.  Some seem disappointed. 

I was talking with a friend of mine who was excited to hear of Baby #4.  Then she brings up a very interesting observation.   It seems everyone have a rather strange take on children, especially when it comes to numbers.  Think about the questions that are asked:

When you are first married:  "When are you having children?"

After child #1:  "When are you having another?"

Then the attitude changes after the second:

After child 2:  {With a perplexed look}  "Are you planning on having anymore?" 

After child 3: " Ok, well good luck.  It must be tough.  I don't know how you do it."

Announcing child 4:  "Do you know what causes it??"

Me:  "No.  We have been forming theories and hypothesis.  We've been wrong so far.  We now have a new theory.  

OR

Me:  "Yes, I'm just really good at it."

I have to admit, this child was not planned, but neither were any of the other three.  I have come to the conclusion that though I have things I want to accomplish and do, God has something much greater in store and these kids are a big part of it.  

It's pretty awesome being a father of one.  It is even better to be a father of two.  I promise you it gets no worse when three or four are around.  I love every one of them dearly and can't imagine life without the first one.

We do not know if this child is a girl or a boy.  Frankly, I don't care which it is.  I have wanted a girl the last two time and both have been boys.  I could imagine it any other way.  So I will take what is given to me.  

What about your wife??  

She is slightly stressed about how are we going to arrange rooms.  If you know her well you will certainly know that she is concerned about how she is going to get all of the cleaning done.  She was concerned the same at two children and then again at three.  She has done awesome with all of them.  I have complete faith in her.

She will eventually employ my grandmother's tactic.  People would ask how she kept her sanity.  She would reply, "I send them outside everyday for one hour.  That is my time to drink a cup of coffee, read the paper, or work on puzzles."  Then she would be asked "What happens if it rains?"  "Well" she said, "None of them have melted yet!"

Carbon Dioxide Destroys My Thinking!

Carbon Dioxide has been the hot topic for the last couple of years thanks to Tennessee's own Al Gore.  You've heard of Global Warming, now Climate Change, and the affects of CO2 on our planet.  Right?

Well, this has trickled into every aspect of our earth and though the issues have toned down lately it certainly does come up every once in a while and really strikes a nerve within my very sensitive body.  Why?  I don't know.  It just seems that CO2 is so......................natural.  I breath it out everyday, quite a bit.  Generally in the form of hot air.

Caveat to the Hippies, earthy people, environmentalists, hippies, democrats, republicans, independents, and others who are for or against this topic. :  I certainly want a clean earth, water, air, etc.

But truly, I can make an argument for anything?  Like saying that an increase in tornadoes is directly related to the decrease of CO2 we've experienced.  Don't think I can argue that?  Ha!

Al Gore starting pushing the whole Global Warming/CO2 thing around 2005.  His movie, The Inconvenient Truth was released in 2006, when there were approximately 1,106 tornadoes confirmed in the US.  with 2007 having 1,092 while things were catching on and Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Oh, but wait.  Look what happens in the following years:

2008 - 1,691 Tornadoes confirmed
2009 - 1,156 Tornadoes confirmed
2010 - 1,266 Tornadoes confirmed
2011 - 1,688 Tornadoes confirmed

It increased significantly, though not consistently from 2006-2007, but I can eliminate the years I don't want.  Isn't that what you do?

My next argument is that Oxygen created the mortgage crisis.  Really......How?  Well, back in the early 2000s until around 2007 all you had to do was breath on a mirror to get a loan.  So basically, if you couldn't afford the loan but you could create fog on a mirror you got the loan through creative financing.

So how do you solve that problem.  Well, I have created a plan known as an Oxygen Mapping System.  If you breath in oxygen you need to pay me $10 per oxygen share to breath in.  One share equals 12 hours oxygen time.  Then you pay Al Gore to breath out (CO2).  I will then need to be notified where you are going by providing an electronic map of your stops.  If you make a wrong turn, or stop somewhere not on the map, I can then charge you triple for the oxygen.  This will provide us with a safer environment as I can make sure you don't go and do something stupid like get a payday loan, go to the liquor store with your welfare check, or cheat on your spouse.  It will also decrease the amount of oxygen, or air, that your car breathes in and the amount of CO2 it discharges, or breathes out.  This is purely optional, of course.

Why do this?  Well, we will have to re-balance the amount of CO2 and Oxygen.  The only way to do it is to control you and make you believe this.

My Nobel Prize Please!!! and lots of money.  $1,0000,000 was it?  Large bills please.

If it all works out right my net worth will be $100,000,000 more than it is now.  Worked for Al Gore.  My understanding is he was worth about $2,000,000 before this whole Carbon Dioxide/Global Warming/Climate Change thing.  Now he is somewhere in the neighborhood of $100,000,000.............NET!

Carology

I like cars..............check that................I LOVE cars.

I have been an avid fan of cars since I can remember.  I was that kid that had car posters littering the wall when all other kids had superheros, women, or their favorite bands.  I was the kid that had his own subscription to AutoWeek magazine.   I was such a fan that every now and again my father would bring me the latest issue of the Dupont Registry, which is a catalog of very exclusive cars that are for sale.  Yep, I was somewhat sick.

I write this as I watch the Barrett-Jackson car auction on SPEED.  It's amazing to see the type of cars available.  Many of them are works of art.  Beautiful cars that are carefully crafted with much care and precision.  Cars built in the 30s-60s seem to have a personality you don't see today.  They are the elite cars of the world. 

More interesting is the type of people who are buying them.  Some people see these buyers as selfish rich people who just want more stuff.  I see most of them as people who not only love cars, but are there buying their dream cars.  Some maybe buying because they are interested in them, others are buying them because they were the cars that bring back memories of their childhood, or were in awe of them during their childhood.  It may even be to get that car back that they wish they had never gotten rid of.

I often find it interesting to hear some of my older friends talk about the cars they had when they were in high school, or even after that.  They speak of 60s Camaros, Bonnevilles, Malibus, Impalas, etc.  It seems to light up their eyes when they talk about it.  I a little smile comes across their face.  Sometimes it's a car they had and wished they had never sold it because it brought $60,000 on the Barrett-Jackson auction.  The talk about their cars and engines and transmissions in their cars.  There are often several stories and memories tied to them.   I think about the cars I've owned and none of them really speak volumes about my personality including the mini-van my wife had me purchase last year.  I often drive that vehicle with my mind saying "Hurry up and get back home so we can drive the truck to get that off..........ITS THE ONLY WWAAAAAAYYYYY".!

 I have to admit, I really dread the day my sons ask me what my first car was.  Not that I didn't appreciate the fact I had one.  It is more of the fact that it is really hard to make cool a 1990 Nissan Stanza.  I mean how do you really say "That baby had a 4 cylinder engine with a five speed manual tranny giving me an entire 115 horsepower" in a real cool, manly way?  I'm sorry, you can't.  I don't really think that talking about tinted windows and headlight covers would really help either.   Of course I can make it look better by talking about one friends Geo Metro 3 Cylinder. Or my other friend's Geo Storm that was so small the subwoofers he had in the back seat weighed so much that the front wheels would start lifting off the ground at 90 mph.  But then I think my sons would probably roll their eyes and think we were all losers. ( I only say that because my oldest two watch Top Gear with me about every night.)

What in the world is the fascination with cars?    Back in the day, it was a privilege to ride or drive a car.  Generation Xers were excited to get in a car and take a trip.  Memories were made in those cars.  Cars had personalities.  Cars were a luxury that was not taken lightly.  In the 60s cars identified the individual as muscle cars became popular.   Cars brought families together for vacations and memories.  They brought friends together to compare who had what or what they did to their cars.  You don't see much of that today.  It's kind of sad.   Today, its more comparing as a status symbol.  I often wonder if my children are really going talk about the trips they took in mom's ole Honda Odyssey.  Probably not, but I could be wrong.

I have yet to own the vehicle that I believe would show my personality.  To tell you the truth, I don't know that I could ever afford it.  Moreover, I don't know that I could fit in it.  Hmm.

What is it?  1966 or 1967 Shelby Cobra Roadster with the 427.   For some reason, I see it in blue and white.

Could you be more practical.  Nnnnnnnope.  Other than that it would be something I could take to a road track to fly through as fast as I can.  It would be considerably less expensive than the above, but practicality would not be in the subject.  Whether a Porcshe 911, or Corvette, or one that I have a love for now and that is the Cadillac CTS-V.  The Wagon version of the CTS-V is slightly more practical, but it would be for that.  It would be for the incredible power and handling rather than to haul kids around.

Yes, my wife thinks I'm crazy, too.


Final Thought:  If you ever really want to know how the economy is doing, you should watch Barrett-Jackson.  When the economy is down, sales and prices are down.  When the economy is up, sales and prices are up.  Right now, I think it is decent, but still not good.  There have been some very high sales prices for the premiere cars, but for the typical muscle cars and other typically high demand cars it is still down.  At least, that's my opinion.