Evolution and oh, how I love my Swiffer!!!

Dear Mr. Swiffer, whoever and whatever you are – just want to tell you about my experience with your products. I have been keeping house for many, many years, too many to count. I began when there was nothing else to use except a broom, a dust mop, and a terrible, heavy wet mop. I did my part, though. I swept the whole house very single day, I dust mopped in between sweeping, and I mopped whenever and wherever it was needed. It was not an easy thing to do to wring out that heavy, heavy mop. I would not say I was really good at housekeeping, but then with much practice, I got better. And the products also got better. Next came the big, heavy, lug around vacuum cleaner. Everyone had to have one of those monsters. I drug it all over the house several times a week. In between, I used that old dust mop. But my house was clean. Or at least it looked clean. Of course I could not run the vacuum when the children were asleep because the overwhelming noise woke them up. And I could not run it when they were awake because they were all afraid of it. So I cleaned house whenever they were gone somewhere or outside playing.  The noise is probably one of the reasons I can no longer hear well. Next came that whirling vacuum that spun around all over the house.  It had a big hose that got caught around every chair leg and under the tables. And the whirling vacuum got caught under the bed. I usually tripped over the hose at least once a day. But my house was clean, so no complaints. And my children were not afraid of the whirling vacuum and it didn’t wake them up when I ran it during naptimes. So things were better.

Along came the central vacuum system. This was wonderful except that mine did not work very well. I was always having to go back around with that handy old dust mop and pick up whatever the vacuum had missed along the way. I also tripped regularly over the hose. But this was progress, no doubt about it.

But then, you came along. I have never had so much fun cleaning house. I just push that combination broom, dust mop, vacuum, and wet mop  throughout the house and everything looks cleaner all the time. And then I dust regularly with those magnetic dusters that are on the market today. Well, I’ll just have to tell you, I think I have died and gone to heaven for sure. This product even gets the dust out of the corners and nothing ever did that before. And besides that, I no longer have to drag that heavy, dirty old mop around, trying to clean and then rinse and then wring it out over and over again. Nope, not anymore. Now I just put that mopping cloth on this apparatus and mop my kitchen.  No problem, no trouble, and besides it will also mop the bathrooms. All I need now is something that will push this combination broom, dust mop, vacuum and wet mop around my house while I read the paper and have my cup of tea. I would appreciate your working on this upgrade as soon as possible. Thanks again.

Hips, Ibuprofen, and Ducks

If you are interested or even if you are not, thought I would tell you my long, sad story. I had a bad fall a few years ago and broke my hip and my shoulder. I always had one leg shorter than the other one and so when I was put back together, one leg is definitely shorter than the other one by another quarter inch or so. So, to make a long story short from the beginning, my good hip started hurting me so I decided to raise that hip up a little bit to sort of match the other one. I put an extra gel sole in that shoe. I walked on that for about a day and a half. Then my knee starting hurting pretty bad. So I took the gel piece out of my shoe and thought that would make my knee stop hurting. Instead, it just kept right on hurting all the time and it was really, really painful. Now, I could not walk right at all. So I was limping around and that made my bad hip start hurting. The good one didn’t hurt anymore.

I limped so much that my foot started hurting and over time it swelled up pretty good. This made my heel where I had broken it several years before, start hurting as though it was broken again. Although I knew it was not. And my foot was drawn up in pain because I could not relax it enough to walk right. I could actually feel my toes retract when I tried to walk. Then, in order to be able to live my normal life since I was in such pain in all directions by now, I had to take a couple of ibuprofen just to get through each day. And even at this amount, I was still in a lot of pain. After taking the ibuprofen a couple of days, it began to have an effect on my stomach which it always does. So here I was, with my knee just ruining my life and my foot hurting all the time and my stomach upset from the ibuprofen, and my other hip hurting sometimes. Oh yeah, by now, the ibuprofen was causing me to have a diarrhea, too. I would have cried but there was no one around to hear me, so why bother. No point in crying if there is no one to hear you and feel sorry for you. So I gave that one up.

But I sure did feel like it most of the time. It was an effort to just get up out of a chair and walk across the room. Of course I could have gone to the doctor, but there was not much he could have done for me except give me more medication and I didn’t feel that I needed that just yet. Not until I was to the screaming stage. Almost there now.

And then I was sitting in a chair the other evening, looking down at my foot that was hurting so much. I was trying to see if it was swelled as much today as yesterday.  Then the thought crossed my mind that maybe, just possibly, my shoe was too small. So I immediately changed shoes and put on a pair that I had in the closet that was 1/2 size larger.

Now, I’m still hurting some, but it is not nearly as bad as it was. And I note that my toe is at the end of this shoe, so maybe I even need a 1/2 size larger than that one. I will have to go to the store one day soon and have my foot measured so I can see if I have grown longer feet.

And besides that, I am at the age where I shrink occasionally. That is, I get shorter over the years. So wouldn’t that be something if I am shrinking from the top and growing longer from the bottom. If so, I will soon look like a duck I guess. Hope I don’t have to waddle like one.

Peace Prize?

Well, in case you have not heard the big news – Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize.

So what.

Just makes it clear that there is no credibility to the Nobel Peace Prize.  Must be political as usual.

Obama had only been President of these United States for 12 days when the nominations were closed for this year’s Peace Prize.

So he had accomplished absolutely nothing in his Presidency at that time.

No reason to have given him the prize.

Obviously, no credibility to the Nobel Peace Price.

And I’m sorry about that.  Another special thing of this world gone down the drain.  Something else you cannot depend on.  That’s a shame.

Thoughts About War

Well, I don’t know how anyone else feels about this issue, but I am sick of hearing about Wars. I have heard of the various wars all my life. I grew up in the 1940’s with World War II. I was definitely tuned in to what was going on during those years and wholeheartedly supported Mr. Roosevelt and all his decisions. You can read more about World War II from my perspective in my book, In the 1940’s. Then as I graduated from high school, the Korean War was going strong. Some of my classmates went to that war. So did my brother. I didn’t know enough about what was going on to be supportive or not. I never could get excited over the 38th Parallel. When I began having a family, the Vietnam War was going full steam. I certainly did not agree with the terrible atrocities that were occurring at the hands of the North Vietnamese. I was all for getting our men out of there and bringing them home. And of course as a mother, I was beginning to worry that my sons might have to go and fight that one.

Next was the Gulf War and I was all for getting Hussein to stop bullying everyone else. So that one was alright and it was fast and furious and over before we hardly knew about it. That was the way to win a war, period. Then we had the Iraq war. We were going to clean up Hussein’s problems and let those people who wanted a better way of life have a chance at it. And we have done just that. But now that they have a chance at a better life, let them get on with it. Get out of there and bring our men home. Let the Iraqi’s deal with their own problems. We have done more than our part.

And then I pick up the morning paper and there is Afghanistan. Why. I don’t want a single one of those rocks over there. Nothing there has any interest to me. Why waste even one more life on that barren place. I don’t see that those people want anything better than what they have. I can still remember the pictures of the Russians pulling out of Afghanistan, riding on their tanks. We don’t need to be there. We don’t need to try and teach everyone how to live our good life. If they want that good life, they can get it for themselves. I don’t see that anyone over there even tries to have a better life. And I cannot buy the story that by being there, we are protecting our way of life.

We need to strengthen our own borders, build up our own defenses and as President Teddy Roosevelt once said, ‘Speak softly and carry a big stick.’ I’m all for that.

The Truth about Social Security and How We Can Fix This Mess

I wrote all my Senators and Representatives this past week regarding the health care package Mr. Obama is dictating for all of us. Only one Representative wrote me back. He tells of the skyrocketing cost of health care and how it is bankrupting American families and businesses. Says it is leading this country down a path to fiscal disaster and that 40 percent of all federal tax dollars go to fund Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Children’s Health Care, Veterans and Military Retirees Health Care. I sure didn’t know any of that. Wow! 40% of my tax dollars. If I had known that, I would have had suggestions long before now.

Social Security was originally put into place during President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s time. In case you are not familiar with Mr. Roosevelt, he is the one who came on the scene after blaming Mr. Herbert Hoover for all the problems regarding the Great Depression. Mr. Roosevelt was President for all of my growing up years.

The Social Security plan worked for a long, long time. But it was always destined to run out of money, even when it began. Of course, they did not know that at the time it was set up. Social Security was originally based upon the fact that everyone would contribute during their working years and then when they were 65 years of age, they could begin to collect on what they had contributed. Worked out fine at that time because most people were dead before they could reach the age of 65 years of age. This is a very simple but true fact. It was therefore a case of more money coming in than going out.

However, over the years, with better medical care, longevity has increased to much more than 65 years. Also, and this is very, very important, Social Security was never intended to provide a total income for people. It was only intended to be a supplement. Or provide a part of their living expenses. Never intended to provide enough to live on. The recipients of today do not know this. They expect and receive enough money to live a simple but satisfactory lifestyle.

Also, those seniors who would rather work now have to stop working because they make too much money and therefore cannot draw their full Social Security. Many would be happy to be allowed to continue working, either part time or full time. This should not be mandatory, but if they prefer to work, by all means let them. Do not penalize them because they prefer to be productive.

But there are a few very simple answers to this problem. And they do not require another government program to implement them. If the younger people are expected to live longer lives, then they should contribute more from the beginning. Perhaps starting when they first begin working, they could simply contribute more percentage of their salary. This would cause a great increase in the amount of Social Security funds available. Perhaps, over the years, their percentage could be changed. For instance, a certain amount for ages 20 to 30, then lower from 30 to 40, then ever lower from 40 to 50 and then perhaps those 50 and under could begin to draw their Social Security at 70 instead of 65, since people are much healthier now at 65 than they were in Mr. Roosevelt’s time. All of these answers would greatly increase the pot of the Social Security. And definitely would not overburden anyone.

Next, there might be some consideration of raising the age of collection from 65 to 70. As longevity has increased, the health of those at 65 is much better than it used to be. This should be optional, but I would imagine a number of those eligible at 65 would be agreeable to making the mandatory age 70 instead. Especially if there were some incentive thrown in. Perhaps allow them to still earn their normal full salary, while letting them collect a small amount of their Social Security early between the ages of 65 and 70. Remember, since they would still be working, they would still be contributors to Social Security.

If the disability age was raised from 62 to say, 65 or even 68, this would be a tremendous savings for Social Security. There again, the recipients could be compensated in some smaller way if necessary.

These are just random thoughts, but they can be studied and implemented with very little problem. Most Americans would understand the problem if it were ever  explained to them. Then they would be willing to make whatever adjustments need to be made to save our Social Security program.

As I said, this should not require a huge influx of tax dollars nor another bureaucratic government program. Just a few adjustments and all would be o.k.

Vote Republican and see your country return to you, the citizens of the United States of America!!!!

We Don’t Need Your Health Care

One of our Senators recently made a speech where she said that the worst thing we can do is to do nothing. I would like to tell all the Senators and Representatives in Congress to PLEASE DO NOTHING!

We have a great country. We have a great health care program just like it is. The worst thing we can do is to try and mess it up.

We don’t need more government programs. We need fewer government programs.

There are lots of scare tactics being used today. We are all going to hell in a hand basket if problems are not fixed immediately! Immediately! Must be done right now. In a hurry!

Well, I remember the words that Haste makes Waste. And that is usually true. I believe it is true regarding the government programs of today.

The simple supply and demand will fix most problems. Where there is ample supply to meet the demands, there will be self governing prices and programs. If the insurance industry is allowed to run on a supply and demand level, then the health care will fix itself.

People who need health insurance should purchase it for themselves. When I was younger, I had to pay $7 a month for health insurance and this only covered getting into the hospital. If I didn’t have that, I could not get into the hospital because they did not accept those who would not pay their bills. And while I was there, they came around and made sure that I was going to pay my bill in a timely manner. Nothing wrong with that. You owe the bill, you pay it. Period.

Nowadays, of course, there is nothing for $7 a month, but there are health plans offered by almost every insurance company that are very affordable. Since when did you have to have insurance to pay a doctor’s normal office visit bill. I see no reason for that. No wonder insurance premiums are high if they have to cover everything imaginable. I can certainly see where a physician should be paid by the insurance if the patient is in the hospital and the bill is for a specialty there. But otherwise, why is it necessary that the doctor’s bill be paid by the insurance company. Surely people are capable of paying something for themselves.

It took me years to pay off the Pediatrician bill for all my children. But I did it. And I paid off every other bill that I owed. And I didn’t look to the government to do that for me.

I was responsible for myself and my own life. Personal Responsibility is the answer to most of the problems of this day.

The government cannot supply that one. Everyone has to do that for themselves.

Slicksters

By the time Bill Clinton ran for President, I knew exactly what was going on and why it was. I paid attention to the news of the day and watched while the current President, George Bush Sr. was maligned every day by the press. We who knew  about Bill Clinton tried our best to tell the national press what he was really like, but they would have none of it. He was the young, vibrant candidate and they were going for him, no matter what his past record had been. For instance, he had raised Arkansas taxes 148 times while he was Governor. He had promised the people that if they would vote for him as Governor, he would NOT run for President. He broke that promise almost as soon as he was sworn in as Governor.

When he ran for President, Clinton had a backup core of young men who knew what they were doing and why they were doing it. Clinton seemed to spend an awful lot of campaigning time in the wrong parts of the country. No one could  understand that. I certainly did not. Why was he doing all his hand shaking and talking in the manufacturing states in the upper midwest. Didn’t make any sense to me. But then when the votes were counted on election night, Clinton won before California had even closed its polls. Not much was ever said in the national press about this occurrence.

What these young advisers had planned  came true that night. They had figured out that the electoral votes which would elect Clinton could be obtained within the first few states that voted. All they had to do was have him win in those early states and he would be proclaimed the winner before the votes were ever counted in the other half of the United States. So those votes would not even count.

Now I’m sure others had figured out this manipulation  over the years, but no one had ever dared to put it into practice. We were a country 200 years old and no one, no one, had ever attempted to manipulate the votes in this manner.

This is typical of the Democrats way of doing things. They are not about to break the law. They will just bend it until it is double. This is what they did that night. They bent the odds in their favor. They used every angle possible. And then they walked away as victors. Smart people. Very smart people. But just a little bit too slick to suit me.

I want to see things done the way the United States of America had done them before. I want honesty and integrity in all that goes on in the government. I don’t want a slick campaigner. I don’t want a slick politician. I want someone who will lead us on the straight and narrow path. I want a good, honest person who says what he believes in and then acts on it. I don’t want rhetoric that keeps on being rhetoric and means absolutely nothing.

In other words, I don’t want Obamas in the White House ever again. I don’t want programs crammed down the throats of the working people. I don’t want taxes raised. I don’t want hidden agendas salted by lobbyists. I don’t want rushed and hushed legislation enacted.

I want the Republican way of doing things. I want honesty up front. I want someone who says what he means and means what he says. Even if we don’t like what we hear. Integrity. Honesty.

Vote Republican the next time around so we can take our country back.

THEY May Think THEY Know, but THEY Don’t!

The liberal element in this country has been trying to change things to their way a long time. They came out in full force during the 1960’s and have been going strong ever since. THEY want to tell you that you and your daughters and everyone you know should have an abortion. THEY know what is best for you.

THEY were the ones who hollered loud and clear about the population explosion. I still see lots and lots of land for expansion. It has been 50 years since they first hollered about this issue and I still see no problem with the population explosion. None whatsoever!

THEY want to tell you that we are having an energy crisis. THEY want to be the ones to tell you what kind of car you can drive, how far you can go each day, and what kind of fuel you can use. And yet, THEY are the ones who have stopped the production of oil in this country. THEY are the ones who won’t let the oil companies drill in certain areas. We have lots of oil, but cannot get to it because the liberals say we cannot. So we have to remain dependent upon oil from the other side of the world because THEY say so.

Well, I have been through many a clunker in order to get to the automobile I have now. I do not intend to feel guilty because I drive a nice automobile. I do not feel bad about the amount of gasoline I use each week. I do not intend to feel guilty about the way I live at all.

THEY are the ones who are now hollering as loud as possible about global warming. And yet, this has been the coolest summer we have had in years. According to the local weather report, there were over 200 records broken this past week because the weather has been so cool for July. No global warming in my part of the world.

THEY say  we will soon run out of electricity and water and coal and natural gas and everything else we need in this world. And yet, all around me, I see progress by the electrical companies who  invest constantly in new technologies. There is ample water for everyone. Scientists have known for years how to tap the oceans and rivers for more water if we need it. Coal is beginning to make a comeback and has been doing so for the last several years. Natural gas is plentiful everywhere it is needed.

And just look around at the new technologies coming out every day. New ways of communicating, new ways of doing research, new ways for progress in almost every area.

And yet the liberals continue to preach doom and gloom at every opportunity.

And now THEY are preaching about the ‘green’ world we should all live in. THEY know best as usual. Or they think they do.

THEY don’t seem to understand this is God’s world. And He will take care of us just fine. I have no doubts about that.

THEY are just simply not in charge of this world. It is high time THEY realized this.

Change We Can Believe In??

Promises! Promises! Where are the promises Obama made to all of us. He was elected on promises. He promised to fix the economy although it really was not that broken. He promised to fix everything that was wrong in the whole wide world. He was going to make peace everywhere so guess that’s why we are not leaving Afghanistan although he has never told us why we are there. But I suppose that is in the peace promise – somewhere.

And the economy is in terrible shape, much worse than it was when he was elected. His extreme deficit which HE – not George Bush – has created. And the jobs – where are they! More jobs lost now than at any time since the Great Depression. More homes lost than ever before. More businesses closed than ever before. When is he going to ever stop.

Maybe we didn’t really need his sort of promises after all. Maybe we would have been better off staying with what we had, and knowing where we were headed. Maybe we should have all voted Republican last time around.

Hope you will vote Republican the next time around. We sure do need that CHANGE that Obama promised. Wonder what it was supposed to be.

They decide, We Foot the Bill

When I was younger, early 20’s, I could have been called a liberal for sure. I had heard about the people who needed clothing, especially shoes, food, and shelter. After World War II, the whole world needed something. And my young mind accepted all this and thought of ways I could help – some day when I got older. Then the true liberals started talking about other things, like the population explosion where each person was only going to have one square foot to stand in. Why, we were not even going to be able to lie down or sit down. And then they started making lots of noises about everything THEY wanted to do in this world. WE were all going to save the world. WE were going to provide for all those poor souls who could not provide for themselves. Of course, I thought of children when they said these things and I knew that children could not provide for themselves. But then I came to realize they were talking about people like themselves. People who were not interested in working to have a better life. They were just simply going to hold their hand out and someone would provide for them. Later, we went on a picnic to a national park. While there, we watched as a young family taught their children to wash in the pond and brush their teeth in the public water fountain. They were all unkempt with hair that not seen a comb in many a day.

By this time, I had been married for several years and had children of my own. I taught them to brush their teeth in the bathroom at home and to wash in the tub each day. I combed their hair and provided clean clothes for them to wear. I fed them three solid meals every day. And I considered this to be my job. I was their mother. I did my part to care for my family. My husband went to work each and every day and did his part to provide a comfortable home, a nice car, food, and clothes for all of us.

By that time, we were literally surrounded in this world by those liberals among us who wanted to care for the world and yet not bother to care for themselves. Someone else was going to do that.

As I have grown older, I still see these same liberals who, in the name of compassion, are going to fix the world – on someone else’s dollar bills. THEY will decide what to do and WE will pay for it.  Health care, car industry, banking industry, welfare, educational opportunities. You name it, YOU can pay for it. THEY will make sure of that.