Got a Kick Out of This.

Some of it was a little harsh, but funny!

NEW PREAMBLE TO THE CONSTITUTIONThis is probably the best e-mail I've seen in a long, long time. The following has been attributed to State Representative Mitchell Kaye from GA. This guy should run for President one day...

'We the sensible people of the United States, in an attempt to help everyone get along, restore some semblance of justice, avoid more riots, keep our nation safe, promote positive behavior, and secure the blessings of debt-free liberty to ourselves and our great-great-great-grandchildren, hereby try one more time to ordain and establish some common sense guidelines for the terminally whiny, guilt ridden, delusional, and other liberal bed-wetters. We hold these truths to be self evident: that a whole lot of people are confused by the Bill of Rights and are so dim they require a Bill of NON-Rights.'

ARTICLE I: You do not have the right to a new car, big screen TV, or any other form of wealth. More power to you if you can legally acquire them , but no one is guaranteeing anything.

ARTICLE II: You do not have the right to never be offended. This country is based on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone -- not just you! You may leave the room, turn the channel, express a different opinion, etc.; but the world is full of idiots, and probably always will be.

ARTICLE III: You do not have the right to be free from harm. If you stick a screwdriver in your eye, learn to be more careful; do not expect the tool manufacturer to make you and all your relatives independently wealthy.

ARTICLE IV: You do not have the right to free food and housing. Americans are the most chari table people to be found, and will gladly help anyone in need, but we are quickly growing weary of subsidizing generation after generation of professional couch potatoes who achieve nothing more than the creation of another generation of professional couch potatoes .

ARTICLE V: You do not have the right to free health care. That would be nice, but from the looks of public housing, we're just not interested in public health care..

ARTICLE VI: You do not have the right to physically harm other people. If you kidnap, rape, intentionally maim, or kill someone, don't be surprised if the rest of us want to see you fry in the electric chair.

ARTICLE VII: You do not have the right to the possessions of others. If you rob, cheat, or coerce away the goods or services of other citizens, don't be surprised if the rest of us get together and lock you away in a place where you still won't have the right to a big screen color TV or a life of leisure.

ARTICLE VIII: You do not have the right to a job.. All of us sure want you to have a job, and will gladly help you along in hard times, but we expect you to take advantage of the opportunities of education and vocational training laid before you to make yourself useful. (AMEN!)

ARTICLE IX: You do not have the right to happiness. Being an American means that you have the right to PURSUE happiness, which by the way, is a lot easier if you are unencumbered by an over abundance of idiotic laws created by those of you who were confused by the Bill of Rights.

ARTICLE X: This is an English speaking country. We don't care where you are from, English is our language. Learn it or go back to wherever you came from! (Lastly....)

ARTICLE XI: You do not have the right to change our country's history or heritage. This country was founded on the belief in one true God. And yet, you are given the freedom to believe in any religion, any faith, or no faith at all; with no fear of persecution. The phrase IN GOD WE TRUST is part of our heritage and history, and if you are uncomfortable with it, TOUGH!!!! GET OVER IT !!!

If you agree, share this with a friend. No, you don't have to, and nothing tragic will befall you if you don't. I just think it's about time common sense is allowed to flourish. Sensible people of the United States speak out because if you do not , you know who will.

...anyways...

Moving on!

All Rise for the Leader of Our Nation.

I read in "Newsweek" yesterday that, according to one poll, President Bush is has spent 23 consecutive months at less than a 40% approval rating. The author of this article makes this statement:

"No matter what he does, or what happens in the world, the public seems to have decided that Bush has been a failure."

I don't know how accurate this particular poll is, and whether or not it can actually speak for the "public". I've heard that poll statistics can be a tricky thing. However, the above quote still disturbs me.

I don't claim to know anything about politics, and I consider myself out of the loop when it comes to current events (an ailment which I am trying to remedy), and I knew very little about the Bush Administration's policies till I read this article. So maybe I'm a little naive about all this stuff.

I just don't see a reason to call Bush a failure.

Sure, maybe some things he has done were not the best. But who hasn't? President Bush has always seemed to me to be the kind of guy who genuinely cares about this nation, and what is best for it. And I respect him for doing what it takes to do what he feels is right for this nation and it's people.

If the polls are correct, and we as a people consider Bush as a failure, then we have essentially withdrawn our support of him. That bothers me. He's the leader of our nation. He's not oppressing us as a people. He's not sending in the troops to impose his unrighteous will on us. We did not elect him as president so that he could make us all happy. We elected him because we thought he would be the best man to run our country for four years, and then four more.

The thing that I really liked about the "Newsweek" article was how it almost defended President Bush. Though you could tell that the author didn't really care for our current President, he made it clear that there have been significant changes for the better in the Bush Administrations policies over the last few years. Even though they started out making some mistakes, they have done many things to correct them.

This to me is another reason to be proud of our current leader. No matter how gung-ho he was, and how convinced he was that he was doing the right thing, he can still say, "I was wrong. Let’s go another direction."

Not that the media would like you to know that. That's a whole different rant.

Again, I'm relatively uneducated about the topic, so maybe I shouldn't even be writing this. I just feel like we as a people enjoy complaining. That we enjoy placing blame where no blame is due, as long as it is not on ourselves. And that perhaps the fact that we don't approve of President Bush is our own problem. That maybe we will never approve of whoever we elect as President because we are more concerned with what we want than what is actually good for the nation as a whole.

I don't know.

Maybe.

I think the President of our country has a hard job. I don't envy him. I don't think I could do a better job.

Do you?

Not Your Run-of-the-Mill Reading Experience.

I finally finished "Breaking Dawn".

Loved it. Absolutely loved it.

It's not often that a book catches my interest anymore. It's even more rare for a book to keep me captivated. I have to say that the "Twilight Saga" is the first new series to keep me entranced since Harry Potter, and the Odd Thomas books.

And this last book! I think it was very well written. If I hadn't had to go to work, I would have finished it in one 8 hour read-a-thon.

I'm glad it took me a week to read though. It made it last longer. It gave me time to think about what was going on. To process all the unexpected twists. And boy were they unexpected.

I agree with my sister-in-law, Noelle, it was a little more intense than I would expect from a YA book. But then again, I started reading "The Wheel of Time" series when I was in 7th grade. That's college level reading. So I guess it just depends on the young adult.

Spoiler Alert: If you haven't read "Breaking Dawn" yet, stop reading now.

I gotta say, I like Bella better as a vampire than I liked her as a human. She just seems to have more clarity of thought, and her priorities seem to be more in order. She annoyed me just a bit as a human.

Plus, it was fun to read about her discovering her new found "vampire powers". And her relationship with Edward was more interesting to me after her transformation as well. It was on more equal footing.

Anyways, I suppose I should go get ready for work.

I'm a little sad. Now I have to begin the search again. The search for truly well written literature.
Hopefully, it's not as hard to find as it has seemed these past few years.

Here's to Life.

Payday always comes as such a relief. Right up until you realize that it isn't going to go as far as it needs to. But that's OK, at least it goes somewhere!

Just talked to one of my missionary companions a little while ago. Spencer McKinney. I love that guy. He's actually planning on moving out to Rexburg for school at BYU-I in January. I hope he does, cause it would be awesome to see him again.

We were just talking about how things were going in our lives, and what our plans were. It's amazing how nothing ever really works out the way you think they should, or the way you envisioned.

Take for example my life. Some things have turned out the way I planned. Like marrying my wife. I knew from a young age that I would marry someone I had dated before my mission. And I couldn't be happier with that part of my life.

But my plans for my education and career? Those have gone nothing like I thought they would. I was supposed to be a music teacher. I was supposed to get my Masters in music. Hasn't happened, and probably won't. Music just isn't the path I feel like I should follow.

Without that, I am completely adrift. No real plan, no real idea of what I want out of my life. I have some ideas, but nothing solid.

It's weird living like this for me. When I was young, I had goals to work towards. Graduating high school, going on a mission, starting a family. Well, those goals have been realized, but my career goals are shaky at best.

I guess every one's life is different, but it's hard not to compare myself to other people. I have a friend from high school who has his PhD in some engineering field. One of my really good friends just got his BS in Electrical Engineering, and has a great job with the government. It seems like all the people I know my age are either graduating, or starting great careers. And here I am, floating.

I'm not complaining, I'm quite happy. I love my wife, I'm excited to have a daughter, I enjoy my job. But I know it needs to get better. We've been praying for better.

That's why this Rad Tech job seems to be such a great thing for us. It's a great job, and it's in an accessible avenue. It gives me the means to support myself, and my family. I would actually feel comfortable going to school. As it sits, I don't feel like I can do that, because I don't feel like I could support my family and do school in my current situation.

Sometimes I wish it was now. I wish I already had the great job. I wish Pamella and I were living a more comfortable lifestyle than we currently are. But the Lord often sees fit to try the patience of those that follow him. He knows its the only way to help us grow. If there were no trials in life, why would we try to improve? And if I hope to improve far beyond my current level, I have to be OK with the challenges.

Dream Come True?

There is a course offered every so often. This course prepares one to take a test. Passing this test certifies one as a Radiological Technician. The course is a few months long, and costs $3500.

The job isn't the most exciting job in the world. It pays very well though. At least compared to what I'm getting paid. It's at least double my current yearly salary.

Unfortunately, I missed out on the class for this time. There was an open house for it this last Saturday, and there they filled the class. The next one will be offered in either January or February.

As much as I wish that I could have gotten in this time, it's probably a good thing that I didn't. First of all, I don't have the money. Second of all, I really wouldn't have had a whole lot of time to think it through, to weigh the pro's and con's.

Gotta say, the pro's seem to far outweigh the con's right now. The money alone makes it seem worth it.

The disadvantages? I may not be able to get a job in the Tri-Cities immediately. There are plenty of places that will hire Jr. Techs, but they're either in Idaho, or South Carolina, or somewhere else in this nation. I can either take a job somewhere else, or become a road technician. That means that I would be shipped out to other plants for a few weeks out of the month to refule them. I'm told the money is really good for road techs.

Once I get enough hours as either a road tech, or a tech somewhere else, I could probably come back here to the Tri-Cities, or maybe we'd live in Idaho. Dad says that it could take 6 months or so though.

This seems to be a long awaited answer to lots and lots of prayers. It's the first thing that has felt this right to me in a long time. It answers so many questions. Seems to solve so many problems.

We'll see I suppose. For now, I'm extremely excited.

Now to come up with 3500 big ones...