The Blog Less Traveled

When Charles de Gaulle decided to retire from public life, the British ambassador and his wife threw a gala dinner party in his honor. At the dinner table, the Ambassador’s wife was talking with Madame de Gaulle: “Your husband has been such a prominent public figure, such a presence on the French and international scene for so many years! How quiet retirement will seem in comparison. What are you most looking forward to in these retirement years?”

“A penis,” replied Madame de Gaulle.

A huge hush fell over the table. Everyone heard her answer… and no one knew what to say next. Le Grand Charles leaned over to his wife and said, “Ma Cherie, I believe ze English pronounce zat word, ‘appiness!’”

This year is going to get real ugly, real fast. Things are so volatile right now with the Democratic Primary that the General Election is going to be a real barnburner. Unfortunately, the American public will have to endure another five months of lies and half-truths. As far as I’m concerned, the political process is too far removed from reality that only a radical change can save the system and our country.

If I could make one change to our system it would be to term-limit our Congress. To me, that is the only way to stop this madness. Politicians are becoming too powerful and lobbyists are controlling too much of the political process. What I would propose is to limit a Senator to a single six-year term and a House member to two three-year terms. This would also have the benefit of removing one election cycle from the current system when running for a House seat. I think that six years is enough time for an individual to learn the basics of the job and make an impact on the system. It would also completely remove any incentive for a Senator to make decisions based on improving his chances for re-election. Another benefit of term limits would be to put everyone on a more level footing and not give a few senior members too much power. Senators would arrive in Washington with no distractions of worrying about getting re-elected. Even House members would be more focused on dealing with the real problems that need to be addressed.

I really don’t see any other way of fixing the system. Too few people have too much power in the legislative body. I have little confidence in our current senior representatives. It’s time for a major change. Anything less would be like applying a band-aid to a ruptured artery. What do you think?

A husband and wife came in for counseling after 20 years of marriage. When asked what the problem was, the wife went into a passionate, painful tirade listing every problem they had ever had in the 20 years they had been married.

She went on and on and on: neglect, lack of intimacy, emptiness, loneliness, feeling unloved and unlovable, an entire laundry list of unmet needs she had endured over the course of their marriage.
Finally, after allowing this to go on for a sufficient length of time, the therapist got up, walked around the desk and, after asking the wife to stand, embraced and kissed her passionately as her husband watched with a raised eyebrow. The woman shut up and quietly sat down as though in a daze.
The therapist turned to the husband and said, “This is what your wife needs at least three times a week. Can you do this?”

The husband thought for a moment and replied, “Well, I can drop her off here on Mondays and Wednesdays, but on Fridays, I golf.”

At the risk of drawing the ire of some folks, I’ll give you my take on the current gas situation here in the U.S. Stop your whining and do something about it! Do I like having to pay more for gas? No. However, having said that, I have a hard time feeling sorry for someone complaining about the high price of gas as they go screaming by my car at 75-80 mph in their land yacht, SUV or pickup truck. The number of people that really need to be driving around in one of these gas-guzzlers is small.

Do people really think that the politicians in this country will do anything to help long-term prices? I hate to say it but most will do what they think will make them more electable next cycle. Sad, but true. Actions should have been taken over the last 20-30 years to address these problems but no one had the guts to make the tough calls. Barring a global economic collapse or some horrendous terrorist event that cripples a major population center, you can probably expect the prices to remain high for the foreseeable future. Increased use in countries like China and India, instability in the Middle East, Africa and other oil producing countries, tough environmental restrictions on drilling and refineries and a lack of new oil reserves are all contributing to the price increases.

What could have an immediate effect but would not be particularly popular would be to lower the speed limit to 55 mph. Realistically, the real speed would be 60-65 mph since most people drive 5-10 mph over the posted speed limits. Depending on what agency or institution figures you want to believe, the projected savings would be about 5-10%. Without a doubt, that size of a gas usage reduction would impact gas prices. However, until politicians get a backbone, this is what you can do to help yourself and your country:

• Drive 60-65 mph – it won’t kill you, really! Leave for work 5 minutes earlier. That’s about all the difference it would make for the average commuter that uses the Interstate system as part of their commute. A small price to pay to save some of your own money and help control gas prices.
• Keep your tires properly inflated and check your air filter.
• Use a more fuel-efficient car. I realize it’s not financially practical for everyone to do, but if you can, go for it.
• Accelerate more slowly from the stop. You’d be surprised how often the more moderate driver catches up to you at the next stop.
• Watch and anticipate the traffic and stoplights ahead. It’ll save your brakes as well as gas.
• If you’re going to be idling for much more than 30 seconds, shut off the engine.

Here are three sites with some more tips and information on saving gas:

Save Money on Gas

Slow Down and Save Gas

33 Gas Saving Tips

So folks, what’s it going to be? Are we going to continue to complain about prices and the lack of government solutions or are we going to take responsibility for our own small part in creating this problem and help to solve it ourselves? The choice really is yours.

The Bourne Trilogy is my name for the three movies made from Robert Ludlum’s action novels The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. The story is based on a clandestine CIA operation gone awry. The agent in the botched operation, Jason Bourne, gets amnesia as a result and the rest of the first movie is a quest to discover his true identity. This set of three movies is a good selection for a mini-movie marathon. When I threw my back out last week, I decided to watch these movies again. They didn’t disappoint. Usually, movie sequels never quite seem to do justice to the original in the series. However, I think the two sequels are each well done in their own right. The action is good and the characters are well portrayed by the likes of Matt Damon and his supporting cast. According to various websites, a fourth Jason Bourne movie is in the works for 2008.

If you’ve never seen them before, these are top-notch action movies and highly recommended. If you’ve already seen them, they’re still worth a second viewing.

There’s also a song played at the end of the movies called Extreme Ways by Moby. It’s a pretty good song and you can watch the video here.

For more information on the Bourne movies, click here.

The picture above pretty much speaks for itself. I don’t think my words will do it much justice.

When I saw this picture, the first thought that came to my mind was – pure. The sheer beauty and innocence of the face leaps out from the page. The eyes just seem to penetrate right through you. She’s such a natural beauty and would put many a Hollywood model to shame. The truly amazing thing is that she is only 15 years old!

The photographer of this beautiful photo is Bjorn Leirvik from Norway. He was kind enough to allow me to display his picture on my site. Thank you, Bjorn.

If you’d like to see a higher resolution image of this photo, click here.

To see a gallery of Bjorn’s many fine photos, click here. He has a nice variety of people, animals, landscape, seascape, etc. Definitely worth a look.

“Life’s not always fair” seems to be particularly true when applied to the season finale of CBS’s Survivor Micronesia.

I have to admit that I was a little bit shocked by the winner of last night’s show. Yes, the show is a game of survival, but in the end I would expect the person who played the cleanest game would get the jury members’ votes. It seemed so obvious to me that Amanda should have garnered the majority of the votes. To see a conniving little flirt like Parvati Shallow win was surprising, to say the least. (appropriate last name, by the way) Obviously, all four women on the jury and Jason voted for her. I guess when I think about it, it shouldn’t be all that surprising. It seemed like most of the women who made it into the final ten were manipulative and scheming and would do anything to get ahead in the game. With that mindset, Parvati would be their champion. On the other hand, it seemed like most of the guys were a little more honest and forthright in their actions. It cost them dearly in the end. Did I totally read this season wrong?

Yes, the show’s theme is outwit, outlast and outplay. Both ladies certainly did that and played to their strengths. However, I always thought that people would do the right thing and make their final choice based on the most honest and decent player. Sometimes, all I can do is lower my head and shake it in disbelief. Obviously, I don’t know people all that well!

If you’re feeling pretty good right now and relatively pain-free, say a little prayer of thanks.

This has been a terrible week. I threw my back out sometime Monday and it went into full spasm-mode Tuesday morning. I can barely move around right now. If I make the slightest move in the wrong direction, it’s like a knife being stuck in my left side. I went to the Chiropractor on both Tuesday and Wednesday but it didn’t help a whole lot. Usually, with one visit I can get pretty quick relief. Not this time.

The simplest things are a real chore. To walk upstairs, I have to get both feet on each step before moving to the next. For the first three days, I couldn’t even put on my clothes. My wife had to dress me. I can’t bend over to get to the bottom drawer so I have to slowly kneel down, get the clothes and hope that when I push myself up, I don’t move the wrong way. Here’s something silly – try wiping your butt with your opposite hand when you can’t twist your body normally. Kind of funny, but harder to do than you think. It’s hard to cough – you have to make little shallow wheezes to keep from going into spasm. Don’t even try sneezing. Ouch!

Other than throwing out my back every now and then, I’m a pretty healthy individual. No medical problems and I’m taking no medication of any sort. I’ll tell you one thing, though. I’m going to be one happy camper when I can start walking around normally again. Lying down and sitting around for a week is driving me crazy.

Be thankful when you wake up in the morning in a relatively pain-free state. I sure miss it.

A little boy is playing with his new football and a little girl asks if she can play. He tells her, “No. These are for boys.”

The little girl runs into the house and tells her mother. The next day the girl sticks her tongue out at the boy and waves her new football in his face. The little boy angrily points to his boy’s bike and says, “Oh yeah? Well, only boys can get these!”

But the next day, the little girl has the same bike. The little boy gets furious, pulls down his pants, points to his package, and says, “Look, only boys have these and your mom can’t buy you one!”

The next day he walks by and the little girl promptly pulls up her dress, points to her bits, and proclaims, “My mother tells me that as long as I have one of these, I can have as many of those as I want.”

3 Doors Down is an American rock band from Mississippi that began in 1994. Their first album, The Better Life, came out in 2000. The band’s second studio album, Away from the Sun, was released in 2002. I think this is one of the better rock albums that has come out in the past six years. If you get only one of their albums, this would be my recommendation. This album had multiple hits including Here Without You (my personal favorite), When I’m Gone, The Road I’m On and Away from the Sun. They will have a new album coming out on May 20th and a couple of the songs are already out there for listening/viewing. The music video for one of these upcoming tracks, Citizen/Soldier, is featured on the National Guard Recruiting Site here. This is an excellent song, too.

To watch the music video for the song, Here Without You, click here.

For more information on the group, 3 Doors Down, click here.

Here Without You – Lyrics

A hundred days have made me older
Since the last time that I saw your pretty face
A thousand lies have made me colder
And I don’t think I can look at this the same
But all the miles that separate
Disappear now when I’m dreaming of your face

I’m here without you baby
But you’re still on my lonely mind
I think about you baby
And I dream about you all the time
I’m here without you baby
But you’re still with me in my dreams
And tonight it’s only you and me

The miles just keep rollin’
As the people leave their way to say hello
I’ve heard this life is overrated
But I hope that it gets better as we go

I’m here without you baby
But you’re still on my lonely mind
I think about you baby
And I dream about you all the time
I’m here without you baby
But you’re still with me in my dreams
And tonight girl it’s only you and me

Everything I know, and anywhere I go
It gets hard but it wont’ take away my love
And when the last one falls
When it’s all said and done
It gets hard but it won’t take away my love

I’m here without you baby
But you’re still on my lonely mind
I think about you baby
And I dream about you all the time
I’m here without you baby
But you’re still with me in my dreams
And tonight girl it’s only you and me