Simple America

Dave who is apparently a liberal posted the following in response to my 10 Commandments post:

“”Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Separation between Church and State. Religion has no place in government; if you disagree then you disagree with the 1st Amendment of the US Constitution.”

Dave you are in need of history lesson sir. Maybe English too, because the language in Article One is clear and simple.

“Congress shall make no law” – Looks clear to me. Congress is not to touch these areas.

“respecting an establishment of religion,” – Here is the history lesson. Why did the pilgrims come to North America? To practice their religion. The Church of England, the Anglicans, prompted the oppression of those that did not follow the government church. To avoid this these people moved to Holland. However,their children started picking up Dutch culture and language and their parents did not want that either. What could they do? They opted to leave Europe and sail to North America and the new world where they could worship God in their own fashion without suppression and maintain their culture. They were able to do this and others followed with the same goal.

When writing the Bill of Rights the authors recalled the government sponsored churches of Europe. What these words mean is that there will be no government-backed Church of America. No religion will be preferred over another. Never does it say that the church cannot visit government, just not be favored over another.

Bottom line Congress cannot pick the American religion.

“or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;” – Government may not tell the church how to worship, pray, or select Holy days. This means I can go to any church I choose. I select when I pray, who I pray to and for how long. I even get to pick the subject matter. Because my church and I are not to be prohibited. I can pray at the school I work, on the road while I drive (gotta remember to keep my eyes open), in my home, wherever I feel the need. This is true for every American. Conversely they cannot make me pray either. I’m glad for that too.

The separation of Church and State is a fallacy. Dave I copied your 1st Amendment to this post. The words, Church, separation, and state, are not present once within this article. This idea came about when Thomas Jefferson addressed the concerns of one church that another would be awarded the national religion. Jefferson wrote:

“I contemplate with solemn reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.”
Thomas Jefferson, Jefferson Writings, Merrill D. Peterson, ed. (NY: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1984), p. 510, January 1, 1802.
Information provided by http://www.noapathy.org/tracts/mythofseparation.html

This is the first mention of separation between church and state. It shows the article being used for its proper purpose. To alleviate the fear or occurrence of an official American religion. The Left has taken this thought in an attempt to remove religion from out lives and history.

The first amendment is not written to change history. That is what the liberals, socialists, and communists want. The 10 Commandments are part of this nation’s history. The law of God does not promote a state religion. It does not require a religious conversion to read or speak the words. No one is required by law to read them. Thet provide the basis of common law. Nothing more, nothing less.

This is a simple truth from a simple American.

I saw War of the Worlds last night. Go see it. Ladies, Tom Cruise must be hot still. I literally heard a few females gasp when he walked around without a shirt. Did nuthin’ for me of course. Dakota, whatever her last name, is a really good child actress. The emotions she portrays and at her age really made the movie work in her scenes. The special effects in this movie were great. Spielberg did a good job, though it is not his best by far. I admit that I caught myself looking up at the sky while I was putting out the garbage last night. I think H. G. Wells would give this flick his approval. Go see it if you are a sci-fi fan.

One thing that got me during the movie was I had to get up and go to the restroom during the flick. I hate doing this sort of thing. But I try to be as considerate as I can and waited for a scene without action or dialogue. One presented itself and I moved as quick as this fat boy can. I am passing some double daters, praying I miss their feet (I did) and this punk in the row behind them blurts out something. The only word I picked up was asshole. His friends told him to shut up and it was good thing for him my bladder was about burst. It kills me how rude people are today? I saw a police officer in the lobby and I had a half a mind to find out what I could do. But I just went back to watch the last ten minutes of the flick. I sat in the front upon my return minimizing the distraction I might present.

12 to Midnight is getting pretty busy. When I got home last night I wrote several freelancers that we intend to send contracts and nondisclosure agreements to. I need to look over the edited copy of my next Modern Dispatch adventure. Won’t mention the topic but think X-Files here. Should finish that today. Also working on a short adventure that is going to be the sequel to Weekend Warriors. This won’t be a one shot like WW. It will actually kick off a new campaign for GMs and let them use the D20 Future book if they are so inclined. It will be produced for Savage Worlds too, but I ll let Ed handle that. He is our Savage Sage.

Every country has a shape. People glance at maps and they can recognize many countries based on their form. Every nation’s outline is defined by a border. Without a border there is no nation.

America has a distinct shape like every nation. In Texas, we share a border with Mexico. It is defined by the flow of the Rio Grande River. In the past this border was protected by the state and the federal government. Today it acts like a sponge, absorbing whoever has the inclination, savy, and perhaps a few diniero to pay a coyote or Mexican border official. The government of Mexico publishes guidebooks to help people enter the USA.

Chris Symcox leads the Minutemen and he appreciates the importance of a border. President Bush called for the nation to report suspicious activity. What’s more suspicious than a person crossing a national border without the permission of that nation? In less politically correct times it would be considered a crime and these people were referred to as illegal aliens. Today, they are called undocumented workers and we provide them access to out social services. Its no wonder these services are going bankrupt.

In October Chris Symcox is coming to the Texas border. He is organizing a Minuteman group here. These Americans will act like those in Arizona, informing the Border Patrol when illegals are encountered. The feds don’t care too much for the Minutemen.

Why is that? Is it because Bush is pushing the New World Order, and he wants a single united North America? The leaders of these three nations met last week and that was a topic on their agenda. Well President Bush, I don’t want to a form a union with corrupt Mexico and socialistic Canada. That’s not why I voted for you.

The USA is a sovereign nation that stands apart from all nations because of freedom. Mexico is full drug thugs and corrupt government officials. That nation has the resources to employ their population. They do not have the capability to put it to good use because the powers that be are evil. Canada is a beautiful place and it came from an English tradition, but socialism kills it for me. They are a God-nation that takes care of its people from the cradle to the grave.

Texas Senator John Cornyn admonished the Minuteman recently. He said, “I would hope that everybody who is concerned about the porous nature of our borders would allow the federal government to act.” America has been waiting Senator. You better act, because I can and I will vote when you come up for election. Give me a reason to vote for you. I question the vote I gave you last election now.

It is time to protect the borders. Only the grace of God has prevented the terrorists from exploiting the open access to this nation. Please use a little of my tax money to maintain our country for my children.

The US Supreme Court has ruled that the 10 Commandments can be on government property, but they cannot be inside court houses. Heaven forbid (whoops how’d that get in here) that justice be exposed to the 10 Commandments.

The 10 Commandments are part of the court’s history. How some may ask? Well let’s go back to common law and England. That is the root of all American law and English common law has its origin in the 10 Commandments.

Lets look at the 10 Commandments. There has to be something in there that frightens modern government and liberal thinkers (there’s oxymoron). The analysis starts now:

ONE: ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.’
This one is easy to figure out. Government wants to be God. That’s what welfare is all about. There was a time in this country that the church provided welfare to the needy.

TWO: ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image–any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.’
You know it seems like the government wants to be the altar for today’s American. They want to feed you as a child. They want to teach you through school. And as an adult the government wants to keep you suppressed and needing the government’s help in every little thing. You must go to government before any other source. Today people pray to God that government will sustain them. I think the government would prefer the prayers go straight to Washington. There working on it too.

THREE: ‘You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.’
The government would prefer not to hear the name of the Lord of Christians and Jews at all, much less in vain.

FOUR: ‘Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.’
There use to be blue laws that prevented certain businesses from operating on Sunday. I never agreed with this. This should be an individual choice. Chick-Fil-A makes this choice for example and I respect them for it. However, I believe government did not remove blue laws to be noble. No, I think it was a slap at the Sabbath.

FIVE: ‘Honor your father and your mother.’
The government wants to replace your mother and father. They try to say they know better than parents ever could. Argue this point too strongly and you could be considered an unfit parent and lose your children.

SIX: ‘You shall not murder.’
Government upholds this law one unless your last name is Schiavo.

SEVEN: ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
There used to be laws against cheating. Hell now sodomy is a commodity.

EIGHT: ‘You shall not steal.’
Government agrees with this, except on April 15th. Tax payment day for my international friends.

NINE: ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.’
Who cares about this anymore. I mean we allow sedition and treason to run rampant in the halls of government and on universities. What’s a little lying when you are trying to aid our enemies?

TEN: ‘You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbour’s.’
The government charges citizens usurious property taxes. Did people leave the old country with the dream of owning property so they could pay a tax to the government? The government never gets out of our life. They believe that all we own is at their allowance and they can take it back at a time that they so choose.

We no longer have the government of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton. They must cringe when they look down from heaven upon today’s America. Fortunately, they are with God and with his grace they know who is stronger and who will last longer.

Does American have another 50 years? It won’t last much longer if we don’t get some respect for the God that has blessed us to this day.

Woke up alone again. My son slept in his bed one night and then I took him to Caldwell. He’s going to spend a few days with Ed. Going to fish, play with puppies and relax.

Had a good time with Ed. He briefed me on the Haunted House play test. Wish I could have been there. We chatted a while. There had been a plan for me to write a setting for True 20 rules. They decided to not do it after all. Now I will write another military horror mod. I can do that. After that we looked at the puppies. Real cute. Then Ed picked me some tomatoes and peppers. Yummy!

Then Ed started the first episode of Firefly. Oh my God! What an awesome show. Who is the dumb ass that cancelled this? Its better than Star Wars. It reminded me of Heavy Metal magazine. Great plot, interesting characters and I have to buy this one. Everyone. Look for this. You will not regret it. It’s better than Lost and that was my favorite show. They are making a movie of Firefly called Serenity. I’ll be there on opening day.

Had to leave. My sister-in-law came back from Hong Kong and I needed to pick her up. Unlike summer camp, my son gave me a big hug before I left. I arrived ten minutes late, but my sis-in-law was cool about it. It rained the whole time she was in HK, so she did not do a lot. She also said my in-laws had left for Toronto a day before she left. She slept most of the drive. Cannot blame her. That’s an exhausting trip.

After I dropped her off I called Preston. I intended to chat about Firefly, but it turned into Skinwalker art discussion. Very good, fruitful conversation. We have all the descriptions for 9 interior sketches and the Skinwalker cover ready for the artists. The cost of art for Skinwalker and Fear Effects/Brainwashed are all coming at one time. Royalties are also around the corner, not to mention Savage World license fees. I believe these products will sell good. We just need to get em done and out to the emalls.

The rest of the night is quiet. My wife left earlier in the day for Detroit. She returns Thursday. I wonder how much Firefly costs?

All of the boys were asleep at the late hour that I arrived. I fought the urge to peek in on him. I was unaware which tent was his. The Scoutmaster told me he had asked about me a few times that evening.

Next morning, I was awakened by our oldest leader. This was one of his camp roles. To get the boys up in morning, he regaled us with a song from Oklahoma, “Oh What a Beautiful Mornin.” After four mornings of hearing that I must admit that this song is on my most hated list. Well I got up directly, greeted my tent-mate who slept when I arrived.

I walk out of the tent and I realize how blind I am at night. All of these boys slept on their cots outside of their tents underneath their kitchen flys. Yep, I walked within 10 feet of my son and never spotted him. We waved at each other I went on to take care of my toilet.

As a parent in this troop I am a member of the adult patrol, or Old Goats as we are called. We do all of our work just like the boys. I get back in time to learn that I’m cooking breakfast for the Old Goats. Yikes. I had to get moving. I made French Toast, sausage and some scrambled eggs. It was not bad. Though we joked about the sausage. We called them soy links that a cow passed on the way to breakfast.

After breakfast I passed by my son again. He has a habit of spearing me in the gut with head. He did this at this time and rested therefore about five seconds. I gave him a pat on the back and we had to go get ready for our day. Turns out we would go our separate ways, as he worked on basic scouting skills and I went to leadership training.

My tent-mate and I are both new to the troop. This meant we needed the basic training skills for adults. I had missed a day of classes, so I was sweating whether I would be able to make up the portions I missed. Only one way to find out and that is go to class.

I now learn that the campsite is right along the Blanco River. Don’t remember the river from when I was a boy. There is a lot of activity along the river. Boys and leaders are walking to class. Me and my tent-mate follow one of our boys. He’s a cute little guy and he’s carrying a fishing pole across his shoulder, whistling like he’s Tom Sawyer. Boy is working on his Fishing merit badge and everyday at lunch I ask him what he caught. He never got a bite, but I told him don’t say that. The most important part of fishing “is” the fishing story. Tell people about the one that got away. He came up with a good one eventually.

My tent-mate and I walked to Iron Wheel Mesa for class. This place I remember. Here is the area I camped at the start and end of my fifty mile hike as a boy. The class is interesting as we learn Scoutmaster Fundamentals. I talk to one of the trainers and he says he’ll come by my campsite after lunch to help me make up for the missing class. Great I think. Of course he never comes, which increases my anxiety. We have a couple of hours of free time after lunch. I sit and read, but mostly I nod off. Then we go to Outdoor leadership. There we learn about map orientation and how to use a compass. I also got to make up the previous day’s class. This is tying knots and whipping the ends of a rope. Now I only have to make up the scoutmaster stuff.

That evening I made my first trip up the notorious Appetite Hill. Thought I was going to die. It’s a steep climb to the top. But it beats cooking a meal ourselves. They served hamburgers, which weren’t half bad. After supper we took another steep walk up the Stairway to Heaven. This path led to a natural amphitheater where we held vespers. We sang some spiritually neutral songs. Two of our boys brought guitars and they played quite well. They had planned on playing “Amazing Grace”, but they were told not too. Cannot risk offending any Jews, Moslems, or Buddhists. So why could they give out copies of the New Testament, which was read from? I really get sick of some this dumb shit sometimes.

That evening we had the Order of the Arrow ceremony. The Order of the Arrow ceremony is a fraternal organization of scouts. They learn a lot about American Indian lore and the spirit of scouting. Three of our boys and one leader are going to join. The Indian costumes worn by the OA are quite good and they lead away our boys that are about to experience 24 hours of hardship, including service projects, a vow of silence for 24 hours, and a period of being left alone.

The next day is much like my first day. The same training. In Outdoor leadership they go over knives and axes. The guy that was going to help me with Scoutmaster training invites me to his campsite. It was a fun visit. I learned a lot more than what I could have in the classroom. The evening we walked to the top of Appetite Hill and I took my son to CPR training. It was a good lesson for him and I benefited as well. Then we went to supper where we had baked chicken. It was okay.

After supper my tent-mate, our sons and another boy, went to do Death March I. This is a five mile hike, which includes walking to the top of Sentinel Peal. I would like to slap the person that named this hike. Person has no appreciation or understanding of history. Every time I hear Death March I think of Bataan and the cruel treatment of the Americans and Filipinos by the Japanese. The hike was good. We made it to the top of the peak just as the sun set. Great view of the surrounding area and the guide told us a story of the Indians that used to live in this valley. The hike was fun. I did hate the stopping and starting that it entailed. But there were around 100 people in our group. Big hike. Also gave me an appreciation for the boys of our troop and how well behaved they are. I don’t understand some of these other troops. Boys practically get away with murder. Where’s the Scout Law?

Friday my tent-mate and I had one class. A new leaders essential. This course was added at the last minute and it was appreciated. With this class, all I need is two other classes (that are offered online) and I can receive my trained patch. Good news indeed. Its mostly a boring video, but it brought us into contact with other new leaders and helped with the camaraderie that scouting builds.

Cleaned my uniform that afternoon. At camp you wear your uniform to all evening meals and certain activities. We also have to wear it on the drive home. As my shirt smelled funky I took advantage of this opportunity. That evening our boys provided the color guard for retiring the colors. They did a good job. We were informed because our boys did the flag ceremony weBarbecueat first. Barbeque brisket and sausage (the real stuff) was on the menu. Well we got dissed and except for the color guard, were served last. This pissed me off, not that I got to eat last and they ran out of grub. Its just that this is scouts and we teach the importance of being true to your word. Say what you mean and mean what you say. This could only confuse our boys. Fortunately, I do not think it spoiled anyone’s week. The campfire that night was good. Every troop put on skit and rewards were handed out to troops and individuals.

The next day we packed up and left. I was a little worried, because one of my training cards did not come in Friday. Fortunately it caught up to me Saturday before leaving.

The drive back to the scout house was uneventful. I drove alone, my son wanted to be in the car with the DVD player. Long drives let me think, so I don’t mind. I have story ideas that I need to sort out in my mind. I mentally write things in my head two or three times in my head before typing. Unlike this blog.

Scout camp was great. Made all my personal goals and was able to spend some time with my son. But first I had to get there.

Tuesday I made the long drive to El Rancho Cima. The journey started from Lake Jackson when I got off at 5:30. Everything had been packed in my truck so there was no need to go home first. Stopped in West Colombia and bought some road food as well as a few treats for my son. He likes those sour gummies and designer jelly beans. So I fixed him up. From there I took highway 36 all the way to I-10. Stopped at Columbia, for a What-A-Burger break and gas. If you have never eaten a What-A-Burger you are missing out. In High School I worked at one these restaurants and their burgers are super. Thier pepper is very good, which enhances the beef’s flavor. Good stuff. Left Columbia around 8:30 and continued on I-10 until I got to Luling and cut across some farm roads to head over to San Marcos.

Turned north out of San Marcos and it was really dark. I’m thinking the camp’s sign is going to be hard to spot. Sure enough I missed it. Neatest thing was I saw a full grown doe on the side of the road. She had to be four feet tall at the shoulder and the deer blended in well with the surrounding woods. Luck allowed me to make out her outline. She was a pleasant though as I drove 20 miles passed the gate before I finally confirmed that I missed the entrance. Texas roads can be long before you hit the next intersection. I figured when the road quit at a T-intersection that I had gone too far. Well I could have gone farther but the community across from the road’s end had a big gate and a security building.

So I turned around and the Scoutmaster calls to see if I’m still coming. I assure him that I am and he is surprised that I overshot the place so much. So I’m driving along looking for the damn gate and then this fricking huge ass truck speeds up on my ass. I got no choice, petal to the metal or I my Chevy Avalanche is going to be his hood ornament. So I zooming along for the next couple of miles, praying for a place to pull over. Finally, there is an intersection to the right and I pull over. Bastard turns there. I’m worried in my fear of being plowed over that I passed the camp, but I don’t want to turn back yet. Again!

So I’m heading south and after a while I’m near where I spotted the deer. And it’s a sad sight. There’s a doe, probably the one I saw before. She’s lying on the side of the road. I see her breathing, but I can tell there is nothing I can do. It had to be a big truck that hit her. There’s no road debris. Just a dying deer and nothing I can do. All that sadness in just the few seconds that I passed her.

Finally, I find the gate. Scoutmaster calls again and helps me reach our campgrounds. I get parked and the Scoutmaster and another dad meet me and help me carry in the gear I’ll need for the night. But the deer remains in the back of my mind. Makes it hard to sleep and I reflect upon her a lot during the week.

Today I return to El Rancho Cima. This is a Boy Scout Camp located just west of San Marcos, Texas. It has been over 30 years since Troop 714 did our fifty mile hike across the Texas Hill Country. I loved the hills then as it reminded me of the mountains that surrounded me in Arizona as a tike.

We had an eventful trip. The guide got stung by a scorpion on the first day. He was a trooper and made it the whole way despite the discomfort he must have experienced. We also met a skunk that day. He was cool and we were respectful, so nobody got sprayed and stinky. I remember it was really hot. By Wednesday we were more than ready to cool off and we got to swim in a local lake. What joy. We swam inside a netted area as skiers sped past towed by motor boats. We also took our first shower in three days and I remember sleeping on top of a picnic table. A skill I would need later when I joined the army and traveled across Germany.

The next day was cool too. After we hiked there was horse back riding. We camped by the horse meadows. They had buckboard wagons and four boys could sleep in one. I remember trying to pet the horses in the adjacent meadow, but they wanted no part of us. On the last day we trekked 15 miles and got to sleep in more wagons. But not until we had a huge campfire that we shared with the scout troops. It’s a memory that I treasure.

I imagine I will arrive pretty late tonight. My day job won’t go away so I cannot start my journey until 5:30. Three and half hours and I’ll be history baby. Down the road to join up with Pack 80.

My son is already there. I hope he is making memories to carry through his life. I hope my presence does not diminish his enjoyment. I’m demanding. Want him to avoid the mistakes I made. But he has to make some mistakes. I’d prefer he made smart boo boos.

Mostly, I think I will try to stay away from him. I’ll be there when he needs the familiar. When he gets home sick. Something I never suffered, hope he’s like me in that regard. Of course, an alcoholic father probably motivated me.

There will be a lot of classes for the both of us. He’s going to be working on achieving his First Class rank. I’ll be attending leadership training classes. I got to give credit to scouting here. They have good leadership training and I find it helps me in business too. My wife noticed when I was Cubmaster that I became a pretty good public speaker. Now if I only had something to say.

When I am not working on leadership I plan on hanging out at the campsite. I have a writing assignment now. Green Ronin has put out a call for publishers to produce some campaigns for there True20 game system. We’re going to try and get this done. I’ll be writing a horror setting to enter into this contest. If we are selected Green Ronin will provide a free license to publish our work under their True20 system. I am going to rock there world. This is going to be so easy. I better not fuck it up.

I’ll be out of blog range until Saturday. Take care.

Simple American
God’s Country, Texas, USA

Woke up this morning and there was absolutely no one in the house but me. I cannot recall this ever happening since I moved into this house. The last time I woke up alone at home was before I had kids. Today they are both at camp. The wife left at five, an hour before the alarm clock went off to kick start my day. She’s on her weekly commute to Detroit.

It’s so quiet.

My daughter did return home for a short while. On Friday my wife and I met with our financial planner. Our son tagged along. Afterwards, we made the slow drive to Conroe. Traffic moved at crawl. I knew this would happen, which is why we left right after our meeting. Finally we arrived at Conroe just before six. There’s an outlet mall at the same exit as the Girl Scout Camp and the boy needed shoes so we took care of that. Another part of my master plan for arriving early. Mwuhaha!

Then he and I went to the Christian Bookstore, while his mother hit a few other shops. He wanted to buy a Bible, “a real Bible” as he coined it. I’m not sure which Bible is the best translation now a days. Plus we’re a bit tight as we have to save our coins for my daughter’s tuition payment in July. I did not get him one. Though in all honesty I don’t think anyone should ever have to pay for a Bible. I put that in the same category as tithing. It’s wrong. Tithing is a system of government taxation presented in the Old Testament for Israel, which is a model for all nations to follow. Instead government cites separation of church and state in this regard, and churches dun their membership. Giving to church should come from the heart, not from an invoice. Got a little off topic. Ooops!

So we went on to camp. It’s a beautiful place with tall pine trees. Got little girls running all over trying to make a connection with their parents. We parked and walked to the main lodge. Got directions leading to the backpackers. Found them, but our daughter was not there. She was in the loo, of course. From the start, I knew this trip would change her. There was an understanding in the back of my mind that this taste of independence and the great outdoors would transform her. It was not changes like her wind burned face and scratches earned on the New Mexico Mountains. This was not the beads she earned for seeing different animals, waking up with frost covering her or peeing in the woods. I lost a part of her. This loss is healthy, part of spreading her wings and a reality that someday I have to give her away. Dang, I’m starting to cry. I’ll get over it.

Her trip was great. The Girl Scouts have some hiking clubs that backpack one weekend every month. Go to some cool places, like Big Bend, Enchanted Rock, and others. Heck I want to join too. lol On this trip she traveled to the top of the second highest peak in New Mexico. The only reason they did not make it to the highest peak was because lightning chased them off the mountain. Go Thor, go! She said they saw this sheet lightning strike and it had 20 lightning streams in it. Yowza! The girls saw a lot of animals. They came across some bear poop. So she can tell you where a bear goes now.

The best thing about having her back was seeing her smile and getting blocked walking around the house for a quick a hug. It was appreciated even more after she took a bath. They missed the Thursday night campsite, which would have let them clean up. They had tornadoes chase them all the way down the Texas panhandle. They saw three funnel clouds. When they finally stopped at a state park it was three in the morning. The trip guide said they managed to violate seven rules at the park. He could have broken them all as far as I cared. The man brought my girl back.

Saturday was a day of cleaning and packing. My poor wife washed clothes all day. I took my son down to the scout house. They packed the troop gear for scout camp. It took them a couple of hours to finish. Then me and the boy went to Gander Mountain. We both needed sock liners. I had to get a hat and a cot. I can never leave that store without dropping at least a hundred bucks. No A/C, no X-Box, no DVDs I’m suffering enough when I go up on Tuesday. I need a couple of amenities. I just hate spending money at this time, with tuition on the horizon.

During supper my son puts a card and something that looks like chocolate wrapped in cellophane on my placemat. Father’s day card. Nice and thoughtful. My tired eyes look over the card and Pop reads like “poop”, but he assures me that he made something out of chocolate. He calls it a tootsie roll and it was pretty good. Later I find out that my son wanted to get everyone up at five, Sunday morning and do this. The girls opted for Saturday and I’m thankful for that.

My son is supposed to have his camping stuff in his backpack always. I believe in having camping gear prepared so that I can load my truck in ten minutes and be on the road. If disaster comes I can move to safety with my family. The longest part of packing should be grabbing clothes. My camp gear is always packed. Always. The only thing my son had in his backpack was his camp mirror. The boy doesn’t even comb his hair. Finally, got him moving but he stops at anything that resembles a distraction. And he cannot find anything. Blames the maid. Blames his mother. So we were packing till midnight. He’s going to camp without a flashlight. Could not find his anywhere in the house. I offered to loan him my old headlight and he refused it. He used to conspire to steal it from me when he was a Cub Scout. Whatever. I got to bed after one.

Six o’clock the alarm goes off. My head hurts. I run to the dryer and pull out some items he needs to take. I roll up his mattress and take it downstairs. I keep waking him up. He tries to rush me by saying he needs to be there at 6:30, but I know better. He should be there at 7. I was at the planning meetings, so I’m not going to get rushed. We load the truck. For the seventh time I tell him to eat breakfast. He finally bags some Frosted Flakes and we leave.

We arrive at 7:03 and we tote his gear over to the rest of the boy’s belongings. Things look to be running smoothly. I wander about and speak to different parents about this and that. Nothing too heady for early Sunday morning. We’ve been there a while, when I walk over to my son and he shows me his uniform. He has the scout rank on his pocket. That was not there when we left this morning. Nice. I though it must be dangling on a button holder. Later when they have troop assembly he is officially awarded the Scout rank. That’s when I learned one of the older boy’s moms sewed the Scout badge on my son’s uniform that morning. I was really touched. It was a truly nice gesture. This lady is quite a scouter and I thanked her. I hope my son follows in her son’s footsteps, as he is an Eagle Scout.

Finally, the troop get into cars and the convoy prepares to leave. I go hang around the door of the van my son is riding in. No good bye. No thanks for bringing me. He’s too focused on Star Wars. One of the boys brought a DVD player for the trip. The boys are boning up for Star Wars trivia. One of the games that will be played in camp this week. They will even offer prizes. And then the van is moving in a procession of several vehicles and trailers. It’s 8:39, and the troop is nine minutes behind schedule. Not too bad. Off to Wimberly, Texas and El Rancho Cima. My son is taking his first trip without a parent or his sister. I wonder if he even notices. He probably did last night, when there was no one there to tuck him in and shake his hand.

Got home and my wife has just finished weeding the flowerbeds. I groan mentally. All I want to do is go back to bed. I luck out. She’s finished. All she needs me to do is nuke some ant beds. I sprinkle some ant stuff on the beds and now I feel dirty. It’s the bug stuff. I won’t go to sleep without a shower and washing my hair. I’m so anal retentive. I get out of the shower and my wife offers breakfast. All I want to do is sleep. And I do.

I crawl into bed at 9:45. Hard to sleep. Sun is shingingbrightly outside. At noon my daughter knocks on the door. I need to go to camp. I’m thinking damn. She needs to be at camp between 2 and 4 and it only takes an hour to drive there. Oh well I’m up. I like driving her to camp. It’s always been good father-daughter bonding time. My wife returns from shopping. She announces that she’s taking my daughter to camp. I need to clean my office, which is on the verge of being declared a natural disaster. Thus, I cannot argue. At least I get a goodbye hug and kiss from the girl.

So I cleaned my office (still not finished), loaded some Spyware killing software, and cleaned my email at my 12 to Midnight addy. I killed around 7 megs of old messages and stuff that should have been erased long ago. Hopefully that will get the web server people off my partner’s back.

My wife and I joined her buddies for dinner. Hit a Chinese Restaurant and it was packed. As usual I’m left at of the majority of the conversation. I’m used to it. Fortunately the food is good and the scenery is nice.

Go home and go to bed. Wake up. It’s so quiet.

Simple American
God’s Country, Texas, USA

One of the things I have been doing in preparation for starting my business is studying Feng Shui. My wife gripes about the mess that is my office and how it creates poor Feng Shui. So I am setting up my guest room to be my company’s office. I doing all kinds of stuff, like taking compass directions so I can position everything in a good Chi flowing manner.

Feng Shui also talks about relations between people. This is based on the Chinese calendar that runs on a twelve year cycle. In this system I am a Dog, loyal and a good support player. They display compatibility on these charts between different animal aspects. This is not good for me and my family. I am incompatible with everyone. My wife is an ox, my daughter is sheep/goat (depends on the calendar) and my son is a rooster. No wonder things get so intense at home.

I looked at how my kids and wife relate. My wife and son are the most auspicious. But every other relationship is not good. Go figure.

When I read more about Ox and Dog I see why I am the way I am and the same goes for my wife. It also explains her position of nagging and why she chooses her point of view. What’s one to do? Incompatible astrology is hardly grounds for divorce. Just have to buckle up and recognize these short comings. Try to not step on her nag buttons too much.

Yeah, right!

Simple American
God’s Country, Texas, USA