Cash Rules Everything Around Me

Aside from God, money is arguably the most controlling force in the world. Most of our money is spoken for before we even touch it. In fact, I don’t even get to touch most of it since I rarely use cash. So actually, my life is dictated by bills, plastic cards and an account balance displayed on a website. The frustrating thing about money is that it’s necessary. This world does not work without some sort of monetary system, whether it be paper bills, coins or the tradable value of a good or service.

“How much does it cost?” Is there anyway to escape this burdensome question? Probably not. I could turn to sustenance farming, but then I’d have to come up with the cash to purchase land, farming equipment, crop seeds, some animals and a ton of “How To…” books. It even costs money to found a lifestyle based upon the principle of sustaining your own existence!

Even if we survived those immense start-up costs, realistically I’d only master the production of one or two crops. Who wants to live off the same two vegetables for the rest of their life? As it is, I get tired of eating turkey and roast beef sandwiches for lunch everyday. At least making money affords me variety.

It’s a gift and a curse I guess.

- Matt

ps. You can thank those insightful street prophets the Wu-Tang Clan for that great title.

Saturday Afternoon Stroll

We took advantage of the beautiful day on Saturday by taking a leisurely walk along the canal.

- Matt

I Hate Local Weathermen

This is not a very interesting post, but I need an outlet for my frustration, as I've already complained to Angie enough tonight. During days of "extreme weather", local weather forecasters really piss me off (or if you watch Family Guy - grind my gears). Why do they need to completely interrupt my Thursday night TV? It's not enough that they break in every now and again to give updates, now they monopolize the airwaves for continuous hours. Why can't I watch my 30 Rock while they run text updates at the bottom of the screen like they used to? No one needs continuous weather updates. At most they need updates every 20 minutes (and that's only during the most extreme of circumstances).

No one likes you weathermen. Stop interrupting my TV and find real jobs.

Welcome Home

We're finally starting to get situated in the new house, so I thought I'd share a few pictures for those of you who haven't seen it yet. We still have quite a bit of work to do with decorating and unpacking; we're having hardwood floors put in the living and dining rooms next week, Matt has begun his attack on the back yard, I'm working on re-doing the guest bathroom, and there's lots of furniture yet to buy, but we're off to a great start.

Just pulled up to the house on moving day.

I felt completely useless on moving day since I'm technically not supposed to lift anything heavy; we disagreed a good bit about what constitutes "heavy." Charlie was curious about the truck, so my job mostly involved keeping her out of the way. Thankfully my parents, Trevor, and Mark were all there to help. Thanks!!

The stairway and living room

LOVE our new kitchen

Matt fulfilled his rite of passage into fatherhood and assembled the crib

More pictures will be forthcoming as rooms become presentable.

Don't Mess With McCain

After spending some time today reading one of my favorite "blogs", The Caucus: The New York Times Politics Blog, I've come to the conclusion that it's not in anyone's best interest to insult John McCain....

From McCain's speech at his former high school...

“I was always the new kid, and was accustomed to proving myself quickly at each new school as someone not to be challenged lightly. As a young man, I would respond aggressively and sometimes irresponsibly to anyone whom I perceived to have questioned my sense of honor and self-respect. Those responses often got me in a fair amount of trouble earlier in life. In all candor, as an adult I’ve been known to forget occasionally the discretion expected of a person of my years and station when I believe I’ve been accorded a lack of respect I did not deserve."

From David Letterman's recent monologue (about John McCain prior to McCain guesting on the show)...

“He looks like the guy at the hardware store who makes the keys. He looks like the guy who can’t stop talking about how well his tomatoes are doing. He looks like the guy who goes into town for turpentine. He looks like the guy who always has wiry hair growing out of new places. He looks like the guy who points out the spots they missed at the car wash.’’

Now, how well do you think McCain took these jabs?

I reach one conclusion from these excerpts:

I'm sure McCain was a good sport while the tape was rolling, but i guarantee he tried to rip Letterman's throat out backstage.

-Matt