Second Degree Dawg

To my sisters and ALL liberals

2008-02-04T15:01:00.000-05:00

See this link which explains Hillary to a tee:

http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/hillary_will_garnish_your_wages_if_you_dont_buy_healthcare/

She will force ALL of us to buy government-run healthcare plans........I thought this was a free country......under her despotism, apparently not......and now she is crying again to win Super Tuesday?? If she wins.....ALL of us will be crying REAL tears......

Kid Pics

2008-02-03T16:49:00.001-05:00

Eli had a pajama party at school recently.......he loved it, and of course, his mother sent him as the best dressed of the group.......he likes to run around the house sans clothes, so he has requested that the next party be a "naked party"............I doubt his teacher will allow it.....

I turned 38 on January 26th, and the kids helped me blow out my candles.....good grief, only 2 years until I am 40.....quite amazing......it is true that when you have kids time flies......Hagen is almost up to my shoulder, and he turns 11 next week........he will be in college before we know it......

Politics and

2008-01-19T09:22:00.000-05:00

Ok......I have officially had it.......these politicians in Washington find new ways to irritate me every day, and during this political season, there are times I feel like reliving many of my college late nights, which usually involved worshiping the porcelain god......

First off, I am so sick of these morons saying they will fight for the middle class (me) by offering new programs and taxing the wealthy. I have two problems with that: I do not want more government programs because those are paid for by taking more of my money, and second, I want to be wealthy one day, so in effect they are talking about me (in the future) and anyone else who aspires to be wealthy......

This health care argument is getting old. Sure there are many poor people who do not have health care, and that is sad. But anyone can walk right into an ER and request medical help and they will not be denied care due to lack of coverage. Many of the uninsured CHOOSE not to be covered. Why should the government force these people to acquire coverage they do not want?? As for the rest of us who have insurance and struggle to pay for it, here's a novel idea: cut our taxes!! I paid MORE in property and auto taxes combined this year than I paid all year for my health insurance premiums.........

Now I want to look at each candidate who has a realistic shot at this "election". I put this in quotations because the presidency has become more of a beauty contest than anything.....the majority of voters vote for who they think looks good on TV or can speak well during a debate.....qualities which have NOTHING to do with running our country.....in fact, I believe both the Senators AND the president should be APPOINTED by the House of Representatives, thereby giving everyone more local control of politicians......and the House should have term limits....

Hillary Clinton: To sum this lady up, watch the following ad which appeared right before Christmas:

Now obviously this ad has been edited to show the costs associated with her "gifts". This ad shows Clinton at her best: giving away stuff at Christmas to garner votes. Oh look she cares so much! We have to vote for her!! Sickening....... Has she ever thought that maybe the government is not the solution but is the problem?? Ever been to renew your license?? It's a pain in the ass because it is a GOVERNMENT institution, and they don't care because there is no competition.....I would rather use UPS or FEDEX any day rather than USPS because they are private businesses competing for my dollar.....the federal government is bad at EVERYTHING it does, save our armed forces.....
One more thing on Clinton....she is running on experience.....excuse me, experience?? She has been a senator since 2000.......fine, that is some experience, but that is where it ends......she claims to have gained experience for 8 years as first lady.....please........I have a neighbor who flies jets for the air force.....does that give his wife (a homemaker)the experience necessary to drop bombs on Al Qaeda?? It is ridiculous.....
Lastly, she claims to have "fought" for issues for years.....I didn't know "fighting" included billing clients 200.00 an hour for law work......working as a high-priced attorney for Rose Law firm is not "fighting" for issues........

Barack Obama: He claims to represent change. Fine, we can always use change. But change to what?? This guy has been a senator for two years, and he has been running for president all of that time. It is great that this country is ready to elect a black man to the office, but surely not this black man......he is actually more liberal with my money than Clinton, and he really scares me in his approach to our war on Islamic extremism.......he wants to "talk" to our enemies and negotiate with evil dictators.....please.....what these extremists need is serious ass-kicking......
Same as Hillary, Obama will reach in our collective pockets and say it is for health care, the poor, education, the arts, etc......

John Edwards: The scariest of the bunch because he looks so good....the women swoon over this guy.....he claims to fight "corporate greed".....just what the hell is that?? Corporations are in business to make money.....and if they make a lot of money, what business is it of John Edwards?? If consumers feel they are being ripped off, that can shop elsewhere.....
He claims that "big oil" is making too much money and he wants to take those profits.....excuse me, since when does government get to take a company's profits?? The high price of gas is the fault of our own government....if Clinton had authorized drilling in ANWR 10 years ago, we would be producing over 1 million barrels of oil a day, and this would drive the price down because supply would be larger......instead Bush is overseas begging the Saudis to increase production to lower the price....all this to "save" polar bears......
Throw a dime on an 8x8 rug....that is the size of the drilling in Alaska.....not much of an impact, is it?? And we are YEARS away from alternative energy.....for now it is oil, and we have reserves in Alaska and off the coast of Florida.....but we can't touch them because of environmentalists......
Edwards is also on a crusade for the poor. Fine. How does he plan to beat poverty?? New programs. We have had a "war on poverty" since the '60's, and we have spent trillions on it.....has it helped?? I don't think so, and to see a politician like Edwards who is worth millions claim to be fighting for the poor is a joke.....

Mike Huckabee: Being a Christian does not mean that you automatically get the Christian vote......last time I checked, religion was not a prerequisite for running for office. He is good on one issue: taxes, because he is for the Fairtax. This is a brilliant idea and would save this country and boost the economy like no other tax cut would.....it wound take power out of Washington and put it in our hands.....can you imagine receiving your ENTIRE paycheck with no withholding for tax purposes? It would then be up to you how to spend your money, and if you chose to buy items other than necessities for living (aka groceries) than you would pay an embedded tax of 23%. Keep in mind that with no taxes except this 23% rate, the embedded taxes in items would go away, so items would cost the same or just a bit more....and rebate checks would be issued each month to cover the necessities....
This would also do away with corporate taxes, which are paid by us anyways....can you imagine the influx of new businesses due to no corporate taxes?? This would create jobs like no government plan could.......
If Huckabee was strong on other issues, he would be my guy due to the Fairtax, but sadly he is liberal on most other positions. And the dead giveaway for me is that he is being pushed by the media......the media loves him (and McCain), so that raises a big red flag......will they really endorse him if he wins the nomination?? No way......
He wants amnesty for illegals, health care for all, and his tax-record in Arkansas is very suspect....he is pretty weak-kneed on our current war as well.....sorry Huckabee, being a Christian does not get you an automatic vote......

John McCain: A war hero, and frankly, one of my heroes......his book about his captivity in 'Nam is unforgettable, and he is truly a man of honor.....
He would take no prisoners in this fight with Islamic extremism, and he was a huge backer of the current surge which is working, by the way.....
But that's about it. McCain does not deserve the office solely based on the fact that he is a hero and a POW. He was one of the "gang of 14" who blocked some of Bush's nominations to the court.....he was against Bush's tax cuts....he has bought into the "global warming" hype and wants to up taxes to fight it....and he is for amnesty for illegals. He claims that he wants to fine all illegals and send them to the back of the line for citizenship......sorry, this is amnesty, McCain.....

Mitt Romney: A good conservative who actually looks good on camera and speaks well, so he will look good to the dumb masses who vote on election day.....yeah he is a Mormon, but who cares?? Aren't we free to worship how we choose in this country? He wants to cut taxes and cut the growth of government.....the main thing that bothers me is he has changed his mind on abortion.....for the most part as governor of Massachusetts he was pro-choice, but now he claims it was a mistake and he is now pro-life......fine, he has changed for the better, but I do not understand the pro-choice view at all......

Fred Thompson: The best conservative of them all. As an actor, he can get it done on camera....remember that is important in this day and age.....but I am afraid he is too far behind to make an impact. My hope is that he can come in third today in Nevada and SC and that will give him some momentum.....other than that, he may be a VP candidate.......

One last thought:

A great bumper sticker......you could replace Hillary's name with either Obama or Edwards.......or for that matter, McCain and Huckabee....these guys think government is the solution to all ills.....I think the government is the problem and people and businesses are the solution.......

Vote wisely, my friends. This is not a beauty contest. We are at war with Islamic extremists who want us all dead. We need a candidate who will fight back and not cry under pressure.......

Been a while.....no excuse

2008-01-18T07:50:00.000-05:00

I have no excuse.....but I haven't posted in a while.....thought I'd post some pictures of the kids.......

This is Hagen on his way to Cotillion where he learns how to properly "court" girls.....he is excited because he gets to look at "hot chicks"......my gosh, we sure feel old......

This is Eli who likes to disrobe at odd times of the day......he seems more comfortable in his underwear than clothes.....Clay actually took this picture with his camera.....I laugh every time I see it....I think Eli was pretending to be a dog.......

Next post....some presidential thoughts.....be ready, siblings.......

Squat and Gobble

2007-12-09T17:24:00.000-05:00

Now Eli knows what the bombers from World War II thought.....it's easy to miss from this height.........

My Better Half

2007-12-09T17:02:00.000-05:00

'Tis the season to be thankful, so I thought it would be appropriate to write about my wife, Kelly. The old adages are "battle axe" or "old lady", and these terms are usually used derisively. In fact, on the way home from the airport Friday, some loudmouth was talking with one of his buddies about getting home to the "ball and chain". I am amazed to listen to other men talk about their wives, and it is usually coupled with statements of misery.

With me, however, it is just the opposite, and I guess that's what happens when you marry your best friend. I have never once thought of myself as miserable because of my marriage. In fact, after 14 years of said marriage, I have grown even closer to the woman I love. When it comes to our children, Kelly puts her entire life on hold to make sure they are cared for. She always puts the kids and me first with no complaints.

Today we attended our Sunday school class where the topic was marriage and relationships. We listened to stories of other couples fighting, not speaking, constantly arguing, etc. I looked at Kelly and just smiled, still marveling at her beauty. Sure we fight and have our disagreements, but show me a marriage that doesn't. The one thing I love more than anything about Kelly is her ability to laugh and have fun. As the three boys and I descend into bathroom humor, she is right there with us, cutting up and cracking her own jokes.

I love how she can make me laugh. I love how much she gives of herself. I love how she constantly stresses over our children's well being with no thoughts about her own. I love how she gets overly excited about sales at department stores. I love the fact that she knows better than to ask me to go shopping with her, because she knows I will make her miserable. I love her hair. I love her ability to teach children how to dance. I love her classiness. I love her southern accent.

I never imagined being married with kids would be easy. But when you marry your soul-mate, it makes it wonderful. I thank God every day I have her, and if I ever lost her, I would never be the same. She is my life.

Hot Air?

2007-12-05T11:19:00.000-05:00

I have just returned from my first successful duck hunt, and I froze my ass off. I could have used some of Al Gore's hot global warming air to unfreeze my feet. This picture says it all....and the fact that he won't debate the "global warming" issue because the debate is over is insane. Yesterday these holier than thou politicians sat on a panel to discuss ways to help with the impending planetary crisis. I say my ass......you idiots should have been in the blind with me this morning.

My wife drives a tank of a vehicle not because I want to destroy the planet, but because of the freedoms I have, I chose to buy her the biggest, safest vehicle possible to protect her and the kids. Yes the planet may be warming, but last time I checked, my local weatherman can hardly predict the weather 2 days from now.....and we are to believe that in 20 years New York will be under water? Please...for every doom and gloom article or movie, there is a counter-argument. Kind of like scientists tell us one month that chocolate may help stave off cancer, while the next month a new study says chocolate contributes to cancer.

I was told as a child not to litter. I still to this day try not to litter. According to scientists, the earth's air and water are cleaner now than 20 years ago. I am tired of being made to feel guilty because we have a large car, a large house, and eat certain types of food. We as a family are not trying to destroy anything. We are trying to do what is best for our family, and we actually do conserve when possible. But I do not try to scare my kids into thinking that if we continue driving them around town, in 20 years the town will be flood land. Cool it, guys. There are proven issues we need to be more concerned about.

Up and away.....

2007-12-04T07:35:00.000-05:00

I am off this morning to fly out to Fort Smith, Arkansas for a factory tour and 2 day duck hunt, where I will be staying at the appropriately named "Buck Shot Duck Lodge". Needless to say, this is "work" because I am taking customers with me. I am very excited about the trip, but I am extremely nervous for two reasons: I haven't flown since 1999, and I am leaving Kelly and the boys behind. I hate leaving them, and last night it about killed me because I told our 3 year old Eli I was going hunting, and he followed me around all night saying "I want to go hunning wiv u"........

I don't know which is worse, the flying or the leaving. I guess it is the leaving because the flight is a relatively short jaunt of only 2 hours. It will be over before it starts. Yes I will be busy for the most part, but the down time is what gets to me. I will miss Kelly bustling around the house at 90 miles an hour to get our kids ready for school. I will miss the interminable fights between Hagen and Clay. I will miss the races that ensue when Eli grabs one of Clay's toys. I will miss nights like last night where we all sat around and watched "Shrek the Halls". I will miss Kelly's humor, and the way she jumps right in when me and the three boys start our evening "bathroom humor" (which is usually right in the middle of dinner). I will miss being able to check on the boys and steal one last good night kiss from Eli before heading to bed (Hagen and Clay have sadly outgrown the kissing thing).

It's funny...the things I will miss the most are at times the things that drive me crazy. When I am at home, half the time I want to kill my kids for their behavior. But when I am gone, that's the stuff I miss. I just pray for my safety and theirs, and I pray that Kelly can sleep. For some reason when I leave, she has a terrible time getting to sleep. So she whiles away on the internet until the wee hours of the morning. Kelly has informed me that she is watching "Hairspray" all by herself tonight, because she knows we would have no part of it. I know she will miss me, but she does gain one thing when I leave: remote "control".

Ducks in hand, I will return Friday to reality, hopefully having secured more business for my company. These trips are actually good for our business, as we are such a relational type of industry. I am blessed to work for such a good company, and blessed to have opportunities such as these. Kelly thinks I entertain clients solely for fun, but actually having lunch with a contractor can be stressful because I always have to be on my game, and have to be an intent listener even when I am bored out of my mind. But home is never boring. Do I pull my hair out? Yes. Is it worth it? When I see my wife and kids, absolutely. I work for them. Even when the work is play.

Why The Title??

2007-12-01T16:51:00.000-05:00

I thought I would clear this up since my sister just asked me if I was a burn victim who roots for the UGA bulldogs. These are two things I am passionate about....karate and my beloved Bulldogs. The second degree part is my black-belt. Of course this picture is two knee surgeries ago, so I don't flip anymore. But I still break things when my Dawgs lose.

The Fam

2007-12-01T16:07:00.000-05:00

Three boys, ages 10, 8 and 3 are what run our lives. Yes, they are a joy, but they daily push the limit of patience. My wife Kelly of 14 years has the unenviable task of staying at home to raise them, and it is easy to sense a trying day when I walk through the door and see that look of stress. Usually the culprit is homework, where she has had to relearn long division, America's colonies, and how to undangle a participle. All this while with one arm trying to fend off a screaming 3-year old who wants more juice because he has dumped the remainder on our new rug.

Homework, fortunately, is not something I am involved in because it is usually finished by the time I get home. Meting out punishment, however, is a part of my responsibilities. Yesterday our 7-year old was a witness to a skirmish on the bus. A boy kneed another in the head, and he was promptly punished. But we soon found out the perp was incited by our child, who was mad at him and called him a "fumdart". For some reason the slighted kid took out his aggression on another child, and that's why our son Clay claimed his witness status. I was proud he used this term instead of "the big one", and laughed about it much to the chagrin of my wife. Needless to say he is now grounded, even though he still got a recent birthday party with presents and cake. Grounding a child from his own party is quite impossible......

Our three year old presents his own challenges because he is constantly surrounded by older kids. Unfortunately, he has figured out how to entertain them. An example is that he likes to pee outside no matter the temperature. The reason he continues to do this even though we have told him no is because his two older brothers are rolling on the ground in tears. Heck if it makes them laugh, must be cool. But don't cross him. Once our 10 year old, Hagen, hit the little one because he had messed up a toy. After much crying and consternation, Eli promptly went right into Hagen's room and "shoo-shooed" in his bed. Hagen discovered this "surprise" when he went to bed, and he wanted to hit Eli again. We held him back, washed his sheets, and laughed where Hagen could not see our faces.

Challenging? Give me a 10 year old (Hagen) who used to cry if you sang "Happy Birthday" to him at his own party. This is only the beginning of quirks. He is the consummate artist, and he lives in a world of imagination. This drives me nuts because sports is the farthest thing from his mind. He even calls football stupid because of the shape of the ball. Believe me, I find this insulting because I sit entire Saturdays and Sundays watching it, and live and die by my two favorite teams, the Georgia Bulldogs and the Atlanta Falcons. I dream of one day being able to watch sports with him, but right now he is content to imagine himself Luke Skywalker defending off Dementors. Oh well. But he is one of the most thoughtful and compassionate kids I have ever seen.

My wife and I are truly blessed to have three happy, healthy boys. But at times, we wonder why we did it. I have found you do not appreciate your parents until you have kids of your own, and then your parents get to laugh at you. Can't wait to laugh at my kids......