Bacon hung by the chimney with care

I do not want you to be stuck in a cynical mood, allowing the outside world to raise your blood pressure higher than holiday treats do normally, so read this post after you read Camels, Eye of Needle, Etc.

There are many good things going on in the world, we may just have to work a little bit harder to find them because they are not self-promoting actions. My friend and fellow TFA corps member James Bacon - Ladies, he looks as good as the real stuff tastes - is raising money to take our kids from Chicot County, Arkansas to Washington, DC, to expose them to the greater possibility within our nation. It is my hope that a trip like this will be life-changing and ignite a desire to learn and grow in those young men and women who are surrounded by hopeless elements. I applaud him for taking the intiative to organize a trip, because so often we, the general population, have great ideas that we never act on. Here's to you Bacon and your elves for acting on it. If you would like to learn more and donate, click here.

Enjoy your family, be merry, open gifts, share stories, love each other, have yourself a merry little Christmas night, and help this Bacon out if you can. Look at that face.

Hopeful Sunday

60 Minutes just did a profile on Pete Carroll, USC Head Football Coach, and his involvement in leading inner-city youth peace initiatives. He meets with former gang members in the middle of the night to offer hope.

Hope is a powerful notion. We elect presidents based on hope. We seek mentors and leaders who instill hope. We want someone to say that they believe in us, that we are capable of greatness. Too often, we listen to the doubters, those who stop trying and seek to convince others of a failed, dismal reality.

I am a rat of the Pied Piper of those promising a vision and a hope. I don't even care about the cheese, just place the belief of a slice at the end. I want a real, practical hope, and the persistence bolstering courage. This is why I like Wendy Kopp, TFA Founder, Caroline Rhee, DC School Chancellor, Vaclev Havel, John Selph, my fellow TFA alumni and corps members, the show Secret Millionaire showing selfless people in impoverished areas, dad-gum tear-jerker Extreme Home Makeover, Liberty Mutual commercials, and thousands of others working to make the world better. The success of these people and their causes comes from their ability to inspire, the trickle-down, pay-it-forward notion of helping others and seeing Good come alive and change lives.

We are closing in on 2009 and a chance to begin again. Burdens of yesterday should stay in yesterday's grave. Allow yourself the chance to reevaluate priorities. The easiest way to stop selfishness is to give. Melts away like butter.

Three bottles of wine

Again, I apologize for not writing as much. I have been on that search for a job. Of course, 100% commission hires these days. Why the H-E- double hockey stocks not?

I will be working for Aflac, taking orders from the duck. I have discovered throughout this process that companies hire via paradox. They want experience but no employer offers experience. Therefore they hire someone but no one.

So tonight ended up as a date night, "When Harry Met Sally" and bride to be has fallen asleep on the couch. I noticed Crystal has a swing and the 80's seem like a great time to live in New York. That's all for now, I wanted the loyal readers to have something. Thank you loyal reader.

Honey-Do List

Self-reliant. Independent. Individual. Call me "Old-fashioned," but I like these attributes. They remind me of what Man, or Woman, is supposed to be. Life being a relationship between you and the Creator, without government interference. Why am I discussing these topics today? Because I hooked up a washer and dryer.

True, it may not seem like such a large accomplishment, but I tally it in the point-for-Chilly column. You, dear reader, may point out that I did not build the washer and dryer. I performed no mining, smelting, or assembling, on such claims I concede. I did, however, hook the duo up.

After spending multiple hours, and multiple dollars, at the laundry mat over the past several months, we lucked into a washer and dryer. Bride to be was thankful as was I. It was an older set, so a little know-how was needed to hook them up. Plus, trying to save money here, I had a buddy with a truck help move them and then I was left to set up the arrangement.

I had to change a three prong wire on the dryer to a four-prong. You might not even know what I'm talking about, thus all the more reason to be proud of my accomplishment. On the back of the dryer, there is a flap of metal closed by a screw. You unscrew the screw to find the wiring, where you have to connect the wires from the cord. Then, you have to ground the green wire with the white wire in the middle section. That's right, the middle section. The Georgia Bulldogs wires, red and black, can go on either side of the white wire. Plug it in without shocking yourself and success, a working dryer blowing Sahara winds all across you towels.

Then onto the washer, where you connect the tubes to the spigots for hot and cold. The hardest thing is remembering which spigot feeds the hot water and which spigot holds the cold, energy saving water. Check, the hardest thing is screwing in old tubes and getting sprayed in the face, not once, but twice, then emptying drain water onto your Nikes. Self-discovery leads to a trip to Lowe's, where you buy new tubes and then hook them up. Currently, I am running my first load.
I won't bore you with the details of what channel lock pliers are, how to lift with your legs, and which friend to select.

For a completely different topic, here are a few random thoughts.

I think we should go back to hanging pirates. I wonder what a sect of militant gays looks like. The government is a mess. ( I watched CSPAN yesterday and they were discussing speculators getting home loans with no intent of repaying them.) If you give a mouse a cookie, or billions of dollars, they are going to ask for some milk. Last, did the druids invent the snuggie, a fleece blanket with sleeves? Fun for the whole family!