Business hurdles

Go see Atlas Shrugged.  Until you do, here's a quick little video about government and business:

Storm clouds

Most people get jubilant when April arrives. Even in the gloom of rainy days, they look forward to the budding flowers and warmer temperatures.

For me, I am beginning to dread Aprils. Last year, just before the end of tax season, my office computer died. I was scrambling to get a new one up and running before I lost too many precious work hours. This occurred about three weeks after my parents and my father-in-law were all in the hospital at nearly the same time.  Fortunately, the elderly folk recovered, and I had the new computer working and all files restored within 24 hours. Deadlines were met and clients were happy.

This year, I was whizzing away, feeling very confident that things were very much under control, and I was even thinking it might be a much less stressful end of tax season.  Until April 7th arrived - when I must have angered Thor with my confidence, and he struck me with a jolt.

I arrived at my parents' home at 6:30 am that morning, as I do daily, to fix their breakfast and help my mom with her compression stockings.  I walked into the kitchen and found my mother lying on her back on the floor, eyes glazed and lifeless, and her breathing gurgling and shallow.  I knew she wouldn't make it.  Quickly, unexpectedly, with no pain - just as she wanted.  Brain dead. 32 hours later she was gone, never awakening from  the massive stroke that struck her down.

When they removed the breathing tubes that first morning, I was told it wouldn't be long before she passed, but she didn't follow any of the "normal" routine. They didn't know the women in my family. We're determined and tenacious and obstinate. No one tells us what to do and when, even when oblivious to our surroundings.

After 12 hours of sitting alone with her in the hospital room, she never deteriorated further.  My brother brought my father there for a brief, touching moment, and then we all went home to try to sleep.

I was back before noon the next day while my brother stayed at home with Dad, and only then did things change.  At 2 pm she finally quit fighting.  "Good-bye, Mom. Have a great trip," I said.  Two days later we buried her.

And then last week, my father-in-law went into hospice care...

Wacky Wednesday Wisdom - March Madness

"The invention of basketball was not an accident. It was developed to meet a need. Those boys simply would not play "Drop the Handkerchief." ~ James Naismith

Ah, Drop the Handkerchief - an antiquated childhood game that disappeared when hankies went out of style because girls quit crying when they were finally allowed to play on the basketball court, not just lead cheers.

There's a central Illinois college student promoting himself for the NCAA Dunk Contest. Rather impressive dunking.  Here's his YouTube video:

Tuesday Titillation

When giving financial advice, I recommend keeping receipts and always using coupons.  Even when in jail, an inmate took that advice, but apparently there isn't enough storage space in a jail cell.

The man was hiding a general store in his rectum, including a drug store receipt, a coupon, matches, cigarette, pills, a SYRINGE WITH NEEDLE (ouch), lip balm and more.  All were contained in a condom to keep them fresh and sanitized.

I bet he has a reputation for being a big A**hole.

You can find other uses for a condom here.

Music Monday

Schools are promoting self-esteem these days. You've seen all the awards every kid gets nowadays; every one is a winner.  Here's how one school is instilling confidence, complete with air guitar and background dancers:



But are the schools teaching that too much confidence and self-esteem can be bad? Icarus got too cocky and flew too close to the sun which resulted in his plunge to death. Don't fly too high or too low were the wise words of his father.

Here's the original version:

Vlog - Accents and Regional dialects

Stolen from Memphis Steve, this is an interesting experiment featuring the different voices and dialects of other bloggers.  Since I'm camera shy, you'll have to look at a bowl of peaches and blackberries while the audio plays.  This provides proof that we have NO accents here in the Midwest USA.

Here's the text so you can participate in the experiment too:

Say these words:

Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught

Now answer these questions:

What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?

What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?

What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?

What do you call gym shoes?

What do you say to address a group of people?

What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?

What do you call your grandparents?

What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?

What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?

What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

Thursday Thoughts



While I've been hunkered down and slaving away night and day at my office preparing tax returns, there's been exciting things happening in my small town.  We made the big time. It's all here on the Huffington Post.

The owner of the bed and breakfast, located just outside of town in one of the few local wooded areas, has blatantly refused to allow a civil union ceremony to take place there as requested by a gay couple. The business actively markets its locale for wedding ceremonies, private parties, etc.

The B&B owners are very religious and are members of an area Apostolic church which frowns on gay lifestyle, and Mr. Owner sent some very strong emails to the couple about his beliefs and quoted Bible passages.

" We will never host same-sex weddings even if they become legal in Illinois.  We believe homosexuality is wrong and unnatural based on what the Bible says about it. It's not too late to change your behavior..."

The couple is now suing for discrimination.

The local newspaper and residents' Facebook pages have been filled with comments, mostly in support of the gay couple.  There are some who think a business should be able to pick and choose the people they want as customers because this is a free country, right?

Well, not so fast, folks. This isn't a free country.  Government says you business people can't discriminate based on race, creed, color, religion, and sex.  You can discriminate for other things like credit-worthiness, dress codes, or smoking, but just not those things named in the Human Rights Act.

One interesting thing I noticed was that one of the most vocal commenters of the "it's a free country and he (Mr. Owner) can do anything he wants" is a former City Council member, who seemed to have no trouble at all telling business owners, developers, and residents what to do when he held that position of power. I hope he has indeed had a laissez-faire epiphany since his government days.

We don't live in a truly free-market society here in the USA, but thankfully there is enough freedom remaining that I suspect the capitalist marketplace will ultimately dictate whether or not Mr. Owner's now very public personal beliefs will allow his B&B to succeed in the future.

And that is exactly why we don't need government regulation.   When outraged customers within a marketplace don't particularly like certain business practices, they will find alternative places to spend their money and those scorned businesses will eventually close.