political survey

Tonight, while watching the hockey game, the phone rang. The land line, phone. The one that only, Deb's mom, and telemarketers use. As I was getting up anyway, I answered it. And it was a political survey! Yeah! I'm the guy who's going to slant the thing SO Liberal, so I can't wait to answer the questions.

Yeah, I'm a Liberal, yeah, I'm voting against, Matheson, yeah, I'm a Democrat, yada, yada, yada...

For like TEN MINUTES! Then at the end, the usual ending questions: Age, education level, religion.

51, BS, and none. "Do you have a religious preference?" She says.

I tell her, "I'm an atheist. So no, I don't."

"How often do you attend church?"

"No, you didn't hear me. I'm an, atheist. I have NO religion. I don't go to church. Of any kind."

"OK, I'll put, "other"."

"No, you won't! It's not, "other". It's NONE! I don't believe in ANY religion!"

Why is it that with more than 15% of all Americans claiming to be atheists, this is not a choice in a survey? Hell, only 1% claim to be Jews! Only 1% claim to be Mormons! I bet those were choices. Especially in a political survey taken in UTAH!

So a group of people that are 15 times more relevant to politics in the United States than Mormon's, don't even get a, "box" on this survey? That's silly.

OK, religious folks, lets talk. You tend to see everything in relation to YOUR world view. EVERYONE has some sort of religion. Christian, Muslim, Catholic, Jew, Holly Roller, whatever. You HAVE to have one! Here's a little news flash for you. NO, YOU DON'T! I, and a bunch of other, Real Americans, don't believe the bullshit that is religion. We have NONE. We don't buy it! We like science over your, "faith".

And this doesn't mean we want to convert you to our way of thinking. We just want you to quit passing laws that try to make us LIVE by your, silly, religious rules because you think your, "Imaginary Friend In The Sky" wants you to! Cut it out!

I won't pass laws making you shop on Sunday, if you won't pass any that keep me from shopping on Sunday. OK? Sunday is just another day to me. It's not, "special" for any reason.

Keep your religion to yourself. Live your life how you want to. Believe in, God and act accordingly. Good for you. Just quit trying to pass laws that make me behave like you.

The Constitution was NOT divinely inspired, or written. But it is the best way to run a country that's ever been done. Because it protects the minority from the tyranny of the majority. Do you really want the country run by those nut balls with tea bags on their hats?

Well, if you live in Utah, you probably do. But there are a lot more Liberals here then you imagine. And at some point, we will drag you knuckle dragger's into this century.

Jazz Playoffs

This morning, one of the columnists for the, Tribune wrote about all the stuff we have missed while the Jazz were in the playoffs. Most of it was BS. Eight pages of Jazz coverage everyday? Really? You could find that much to write about?

I could see, "Tattoo Magazine" covering this team this much, but eight pages, every day? Really? You treated them like they actually had a chance to beat the, Lakers or EVER have a chance to win an NBA title. I don't watch the NBA, but I know it's fixed. And the winner is...

Always in a big, media market!

The WWE is only SLIGHTLY less controlled than the NBA.

But what the columnist, and I can't remember if it was the guy who's a BYU cheerleader, or the guy who's brother is a shitty college football coach, over looked was the entire NHL playoffs. Which this year, has been particularly interesting.

Knowing that hockey will not get coverage in this town until hockey rinks replace basketball courts in the local church's chapels, I know us fans will be treated like second class citizens. Our needs don't count.

But has anyone in the, alleged, SPORTS department at the, Trib noticed that the Montreal Canadians (it's a town in Canada, guys. And they have more Championships than any other pro franchise. The Yankee's are close, might have caught up. I'm not sure) started as an 8 seed and knocked off, Alex Ovechkin and the, Washington Capitals, who were the, President's Cup winner this year? Oh, the, President's Cup goes to the team with the best regular season record in the NHL. I know you moron's won't know that.

Then, in the second round, knocked off last year's Stanley Cup winner. Bet no one in the Sports department knows it was the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The San Jose Sharks advanced past the second round in the playoffs for the first time in team history. Beat the, Redwings in five games.

And Versus blacked out Utah for the Coyotes home games against the Redwings on Direct TV. No one wrote an article on THAT! WTF? They can black out by zip code. Why did they do it by TIME ZONE?

Now, I'm going to tell you why the Jazz will never, ever, win a Championship, of any kind. When, Larry Miller bought the franchise, he hated hockey. But he had to swallow hard, and pick up the tab on, The Salt Lake Golden Eagles. Which was one of the most successful franchises in the history of minor league hockey.

He built his new arena with no sight lines for hockey. Instead of knowing that the hockey team could bring in revenew on the nights that the basketball team was out of town, he thought they competed for revenew WITH the basketball team. Bullshit. Hockey fans don't want to see sissy boys in their underwear put a ball through a hoop. A trained seal can do that.

Hockey fans want to see guys skate hard, hit hard, and score. And good saves are as cool as good goals.

The only Championships won in the old, Salt Palace were by the, Golden Eagles, and the ABA's, Utah Stars. Which, let's face it, were a minor league team, too.

Then, Miller opened the, Delta Center. The Golden Eagles played there one year, before he sold them. The next year, the, Denver Grizzlies became the Utah Grizzlies when the Quebec Nordiques of the NHL moved to Denver. That year, the Grizz beat the Orlando Solar Bears in the fourth game of a best of seven series to win the International Hockey League Championship. The Turner Cup.

The Grizz then moved to the E Center in Worst Valley City, and hockey in this town has never been the same.

So, LHM is responsible for killing a great hockey team, and the ghost's of those guys will never, ever, let his basketball team win a Championship. For time and all eternity, the Jazz will be an also ran.

You want to break the curse, Jazz fans? Convince Miller's son to tear down the ESA, and he and, Brett Checketts build a new arena on the same spot, which accommodates hockey. In ALL the seats, and, Checketts moves the St. Louis Blues, which he owns, and have always struggled financially, to Salt Lake. And they become The Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the NHL!

This is the only way the Jazz will ever be a champion of anything. They have to break the curse of, "Boycott Miller, The Eagle Killer".

Sick in America.

Thursday night, on the windswept tundra of, Butler Elementary School, my son's soccer team won a game. I took him and one of his teammates out to dinner at, Shuhiro in Midvale, a fabulous, Japanese restaurant, and then came home.

Just as a side note? If you take two 14 year old soccer players out for sushi after they have just played a game, and not eaten since lunch, be prepared to spend a car payment for it. Just a little, "life experience" warning, here. No extra charge.

By the time I got home, I had a right eye full of, "goo". I'll spare you the details. Let's just say I tried to rinse my eye out a couple of times, and figuring it was allergies this time of year, put some allergy eye drops in it, and that didn't work, so went to bed hoping to be better in the morning. It was not.

Having a busy day, I went to a local, "insta-care", and after a quick admission and check over, I was told I had a case of, "Pink Eye", given a prescription for an eye drop, and sent on my way. Told I would feel better in a couple of days, and this was really common, I should use the drops for a full day after I felt I was better. Elapsed time? 20 Minutes.

Saturday night I attended a back yard party for my friends daughter's graduation from the, "U". It was wonderful. Lot's of old friends, wonderful food. But there was a little wind, and my nose started to run, and I figured, again, allergies, so I left early, went home, took a shower, washed my hair, took my allergy pill, and thought that was that.

Next morning, my eye wasn't working, my nose was plugged, and my chest was so full I could hardly breath. And it was, Mother's Day. So I needed to go shopping to cook dinner, take my wife to visit HER mother, and fill the propane tank to cook steaks for my family and my mother. My propane tank was so old, the, U-Haul on State Street wouldn't fill it. Of course they don't sell tanks, so I had to go find someplace that did on a Sunday morning. Finally got all this done, but it didn't leave any time for a return trip to a doctor.

By Sunday night, post dinner, I'm a mess. Can't see, can't breath, can't sleep.

Monday morning, I go see my regular doctor. My blood pressure is high, she informs me. No shit? Would you like to take this opportunity to tell me why my biggest problem is that even though I quit smoking a pack a day of cigarettes 8 years ago, I still smoke two cigars a week? Or could you actually do something to help me see and breath right now?

She determines that I have, an ear infection. And that it's worked it's way into my nasal passages, and probably my bronchial tubes. She gives me a prescription for antibiotics, wonder's aloud why the guy who gave me the eye drops didn't catch this (good question!) and tells me to keep using my allergy pills, and my eye drops.

I'm now out something like $70 in co-pays in three days, and I'm still sick. I go across the hall to get the med's, and when I pick them up, the pharmacist asks if I have any questions about the, "Z Pack" and I tell her, no, I've done this before.

She says, "You're a little old for an ear infection, aren't you?"

"You think that's bad? Last week, I came down with, Pink Eye".

She says, "Oh my God! Do you work in a Day Care Center?"

This is funny to me, because my first job out of college was at, "The Children's Center" in Kearns. A treatment center for kids with emotional problems. I spent 20 years working in the nations prisons and jails and closed cars with guys who had every imaginable disease. Never got TB, never got, "Pink Eye" or, if I remember correctly, an ear infection.

Now, this whole episode was a damned inconvenience to me. Cost me about $100 out of pocket. And tonight, I'm still not better, but as, "The Bottle Rocket's" would say, "Better than broken, but not as good as new". But now, and for at least another year I have health insurance. The good stuff I was promised if I worked 20 years for the State. And that they took away from me the year I was eligible to retire, and only gave me five years of, because it was too expensive for you taxpayers.

What do you do, if you have this set of circumstances, for you or, more likely, one of your children, and you don't have health insurance? You can't go to, "Insta-care" because you have a busy day. Like you have to, I don't know, WORK! And your job doesn't offer sick leave. Or insurance.

At what point, does the suffering of your child with, "Pink Eye" make you decide to take a day off from work, and take them to the Emergency Room? And what happens if that doesn't work, and you have to do it again in a few days.

The last time I was in the ER, when, Deb hurt her back in, Grenada and I took her in the morning after we got home because I was sure she had a slipped disc, we got there at eight in the morning, and came home at nine at night. And we have insurance.

What happens to your family budget if you have to do this, then have to pay the bills, and lose a day's pay? A day's pay at minimum wage, no less?

And, no, you don't have to be an illegal alien to be in this position. I know kids on my son's soccer team, in relatively, affluent, Murray, that are in the same boat. Hard working, regular folks, who can't afford health insurance.

I guess they could take their kids out of soccer, and baseball, and band, etc. and pay their own way, damn it! But is that the best we can do as a society? Or is that the best we WANT to do? I would hope not.

So, the next time someone tells you that a national health care program is socialism, and that the people of, Canada HATE their health care, and that it would bankrupt us, and that Health Insurance Company's really do have our best interest at heart, I hope that you have the guts to tell them, "Bullshit"! Especially if you don't have any insurance.

R.I.P. Redwings

I often get asked how a guy from West Virginia, originally, and who grew up in, Utah is a Detroit Redwings fan? After all, I hadn't even been to the city until about 10 years ago when I flew in there to do an extradition from the northern end of the state.

Well, my, Mother's, Mother was from Canada. So I inherited, "The Hockey Gene". It's a terrible affliction to have in Utah, where we only have two Seasons: Basketball and Road Construction. And the local religious sites have basketball courts inside the chapels, and not, "rinks". So, too much, "Jazz" coverage, not enough, "Griz" if you get my drift.

Anyway, my mom had a cousin, second or third to me, I think, that played for the Wings in the late 70's. Buster Harvey. You can actually look him up on Wickipedia! He died a few years ago of cancer. I never met him, but when you're a kid, that's enough of a connection to make you a fan of his team. And I was in college then, and playing hockey in the amature leagues around here, so was still a kid.

Most of you won't know the history of the NHL, so I'll just tell you that being a, Redwings fan in the 70's and 80's was tough. It's not like kids who, "glom" onto the, Dallas Cowboys because they always win, and are on TV every Sunday. Or guys who don't go to college, but root for, BYU, or Notre Dame just because they go to CHURCH! You had to be dedicated to root for the, Wings then.

One slow day at, Skate And Score, the local hockey shop (the ONLY hockey shop in SLC then) in the early 80's, my friend, Dennis and I came up with a silk screen for a t-shirt. It had the now, proud, "Winged Wheel" insignia of the, Wings with a flat tire, broken spokes, and feathers all over the ground. It read, "Detroit Dead Things".

But as the 90's dawned, there started to be a resurgence in Detroit, and the team got good. By the end of the 90's, the place was known as, "Hockeytown!" So I've ridden the ups and downs of being a, Wings fan.

I've been in a crowd of, Wings fan's that outnumbered the, Coyote's fans in, Phoenix in the 90's. Seen them play in, Anaheim where they played to an overtime tie. Watched them pummel the, Colorado Avalanche in, Denver a few years ago, and last spring, watched them get their heads handed to them 8-1 by the, Columbus Blue Jacket's at home in, "The Joe".

By the way, Columbus fans are so obnoxious, they are just THIS side of being as nasty as, BYU fans! Those people suck. So, show us YOUR Cup, or shut the Fuck up! We have 11 of them. You have, Ohio State, and THEY can't win when it counts, either.

So tonight, my, Wings get beat, 1-2 in San Jose, and lose the series four games to one to the, Sharks. First time the Sharks have ever gotten past the second round of the playoffs. I wish them well. It was a hard fought series.

My wife grew up in, Sunnyvale, California. A suburb of, San Jose. She has never been to a, Sharks game. Does not know where the, "Shark Tank" (HP Arena) is located. Doesn't own a t-shirt for the team. Won't watch hockey. Won't read the articles in the paper, and couldn't name you a single player on the team. While I have lived and died with the, Redwings for 30 years.

But she said to me tonight (emphasis MINE), "I'm glad MY, SHARKIES WON." Sharkie's? Really?

One of us is clearly, unhappy that his favorite, professional sports team lost. And one of us is clearly out of her mind. And this is why people who have been married for 25 years, and appear outwardly happy to their friends and neighbors die in murder/suicides.

I'm just going to keep chanting, "Less than four month's to college football! Less than four month's to college football..."

Drug addict Limbaugh lies again. So what else is new

Rush, I take other people's Viagra and pain pills, Limbaugh actually said on his radio show today that the accused, and probably guilty, Times Square Car Bomber was a, "registered Democrat."

Bullshit. A simple Internet search shows that the guy, who is a naturalized, US Citizen, is not registered to vote at all, in either of the home towns he claims.

But, because, Rush said it, now a lot of people will believe it. It's bullshit, but the dumb out there in, "Glennbeckistan" will believe it.

I don't believe we should censor the media. People have the right to say whatever they want. To give their opinion, and tell us their views. But when you flat out lie, isn't that like yelling, "Fire!" in a theater, when there isn't one? When you lie like, "Faux News", and claim to be telling the truth, isn't that just despicable, and wrong? Shouldn't we put a stop to that? Can't we reinstate the, "Fairness Doctrine" that the, Regan Administration removed from our media that required media to offer both sides of any political argument? With equal time.

Now? It's just who has the most money to tell their side. And business has more money than regular folks. So, that's what you see.

Read a paper. Listen to NPR. Don't listen to, Rush the liar Limbaugh, or, "Faux News". Pay attention to the TRUTH! It's not hard. You just have to read.

Financial, "No-ledge"! I'm, "cyferin", here, Jethro style!

I'm offering financial advice, from a guy who doesn't know, "Jack" about economics, and let's his broker tell him what to do when it comes to the portfolio that lets me do shit like buy a, $43K, "toy", and take my wife and kids to, Boston just to see, Jimmy Buffett and the, Red Sox at, Fenway Park. So take this with a grain of salt. But it worked for me. And it's all about planning ahead. So stay with me. This story takes a while.

Four years ago, I bought an Audi A6 for $53K. It was my retirement gift to myself. And my broker told me that if the Credit Union was offering me the money for their car (the whole thing, for five years, with NO down payment) at 5%, and my money, in stocks, and money market stuff, etc. was earning, 6%, I should take the Credit Union deal, and leave MY money in the account to earn more than I was paying out. Makes sense when your broker tells you this. So I did. I could have paid for the car, but I was coming out ahead, by NOT paying for the car, and paying off a loan. Sounds crazy, but tastes great, trust me.

When I got the pay off on the Audi down to about $14k, I just wrote a check and paid it off. Just before Christmas last year.

Bought the, Camaro about a month and a half ago. Have no other bills but a equity line for building the garage out back, or as, Deb calls it, "The Cigar Room" (guilty as charged) and monthly bills everyone else has for power and water and gas, etc. And, Gus Paulos got me a lone, from MY Credit Union at 4.5%. Awesome! Good rate.

Then, about 3 weeks ago, Mountain America Credit Union, starts advertising car loans, "as low as 3.99%"! Really?

So today, I stopped in at, McDonalds at 5887 South State Street (I know the address, because I worked there in high school) to get myself an unsweetened Ice Tea after having my knee punched full of steroids for a torn meniscus, for $1. It's awesome. And I was right by my Credit Union, and decided to go in and ask some questions.

I told my friend, Sharon, who I've dealt with before, and she's awesome. Always very helpful, and does her job like no one I've ever dealt with, that I had some questions. She knows I ask tough questions, so I think she was nervous. But she did well.

I asked her, "Why, when I bought a car a month ago, and I'm a good customer, for 25 years now, and have a credit rating WAY over 800, I can't get a lower rate?" And to my surprise, she said, "I think we can do that. Let me look." And got on her computer.

To make a long story short, ten minutes later, I had a car loan for over $43K, for five years, at 3.45%. And she couldn't change the length of the loan or the monthly payment, which I didn't give a shit about. She could change the RATE, and over the course of this loan, it will save me, OVER TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS! How awesome is that?

So, the moral of the story is, pay attention to your loan's, any loans, and the rate they are offering you, and when it goes down by at least, one point on your mortgage, or even less on a car loan, re-negotiate!

Years ago, I, "Locked In" on a mortgage rate and a few days later it went down. I called the mortgage company and told the nice lady, that I wanted the new rate. She said, "You can't do that. You will lose your, $500 you paid to lock in." I told her I didn't give a rat's ass about the $500. The new rate would save me over, $40K on the 30 year life of the loan, and she could keep the $500 and have a nice day. I was going to another mortgage company. A half hour later, she called me back, and said they could make an, "exception" for me. Damn right you WILL, not, "could"!

So, the moral of this story is, don't take what they are giving you! Stand up, and demand a better deal. It will save you money in the long run, and that's how you get rich enough to retire early. That and having a rich father, and being an only child, and having the father be a jerk about taking care of himself, and I can't give you ANY advice on THAT! If I did? It might be illegal.

But still, watch out for your penny's, and the dollars will take care of themselves. If you can refinance your mortgage, and it's at a rate more than a total point less than you currently have? It's worth the fees to do it. And now is the time! If it's not more than a point? Don't do it. You should just stay where you are.

I've had to learn some shit since I inherited some money, and retired. I'm just trying to share. No extra charge.

Reckless Kelly, Rocks Salt Lake.

Wow. What a show. Reckless Kelly played a solid hour and a half and the only negative thing to comment on, was that, Deb was disappointed that they didn't play, "Wiggles and Ritalin". They played everything else I came to hear, and finished up with, "Crazy Eddie's Last Lament" after the crowd chanted, "Eddie, Eddie, Eddie..." for a while. They blew the doors off of, Alejandro Escovedo's, "Castanets", claimed, Richard Thompson's, "Vincent Black Lightning 1952" as their own, and nailed all of their own songs without a hitch. The last time I saw a show run this tight, and well done was catching, Little Feat at, The Port O'Call about six years ago.

The opening act, The Barfly Wranglers out of, Heber, of all places, put on a pretty good hour of music. They were entertaining, much better than the average, bar band and the leader pointed to a guy on the stage and said, "Jack Quist's right here." I guess that was an introduction. Jack used to front, Cowjazz, many, many years ago. They were the house band at, Judd's Frontier Saloon, in Midvale. Under the bowling alley, under the legal age, and over the legal limit should have been the motto at that place. Everyone I knew in there had a fake ID from the back of, Rolling Stone Magazine. Good times.

We went with my neighbor, Ryan and his friend, Nora. All the way home, Nora was saying it was the best concert she had ever seen. I don't know if I'd go that far, but it was a pretty good show.