The Revenge of the Swampcoolas
February 27, 2008
I don’t know any of these guys, but I like their style. A friend in Utah, Sarah, is friends with them. I think they have an Alabama connection. Will someone let me know if this is true? You can watch part II of this video by going here.
One of our intramural teams in college, ‘Waffle House D’, played a team like this. We beat them 52-3. I kind of felt bad for them. Daylyn, Huffy, remember that?
Sir Charles for Governor in 2014…
February 21, 2008
Yesterday on CNN Charles Barkley announced that he will run for governor of Alabama in 2014. He bought a home here in 2007 and will need seven years to establish residency again.
Barkley has never had a problem speaking his mind, which I do like about him. Problem is he’s a lunatick. He said last night that he’s for gay marriage and for a woman’s right to choose. Can you imagine a person running for governor in Alabama having a chance with those strong beliefs? Of couse, things may change even more by 2014, but I still think he’ll have a hard sell as our state’s governor. Even though the world is becoming more lax with any standards, the south will still be considered ‘conservative’ then (seven years is not long).
In fact, he said conservatives are hypocritical Christians. When Blitzer probed and asked if he wanted to group all Christians that way, he said “Sure, I don’t work for them”, or something to that effect. Well, if he wants to be governor, he will work for the people.
Would any of my readers (since there are so many of you…) actually vote for Charles for Governor? If so, please explain why. You’re going to have to dig hard for this one.
The Best Team Nicknames
February 19, 2008
A friend sent me this interesting article from ESPN about college basketball mascots. It’s a very interesting read, especially for sports fans. We all want cool and tough mascots, but some on the list are the opposite of tough. How about some of these:
Banana Slugs
Cobbers
Trolls
Ladies and Gents
Stormy Petrels
Student Princes
The list goes on, but these are some of my favorites–especially Banana Slugs. Would you be intimidated if you were playing the Student Princes?
Click the link below for the complete article and to see where these colleges are actually located. As for me, I’m perfectly happy with ‘Crimson Tide’. http://sports.espn.go.com/travel/news/story?id=3224604
North River Tennis Tournament
February 17, 2008
Yesterday, Stephanie and I played in a mixed doubles tennis tournament at North River Yacht Club. We’ve played together for about 2 1/2 years and we have a good time on the court. We communicate well and she’s got a strong stroke and has developed an effective lob. We lost our first match in a tie-breaker, then won the rest to win the ‘consolation round’. That doesn’t make me feel much better, but at least we only lost once. We had good and bad moments on the court, but really didn’t look like we’ve played together for as long as we have. Guess we got a little rusty. Overall, it was a great tournament and it felt good to play after a small break this winter.
The Forester Lodge
February 16, 2008
If you are looking for a vacation in the northeast, I recommend my family’s lodge, The Forester Lodge. I’m just kidding. I don’t know if these folks are kin to me, but I would love to visit sometime. The surroundings look attractive. I’d also like to try some of that syrup on my mom’s pacakes. Tell them I sent you and maybe they’ll do something special for you and your family… After all, most Foresters use two ‘R’s in their name. It’s odd to see someone spell it the way I do. Any long, lost relatives out there?
Cut Throat Business World
February 14, 2008
You may remember a few posts back where I said how much I love my job. I still love it, but my good friend Patrick (aka P-diddy), who got me hired there, got laid off yesterday. That was a shock. It shouldn’t have been though. Many businesses are struggling to make a profit and are concentrating on being as lean as possible. When execs (and in some cases pencil-pushers only) see those high salaries, that’s where they like to hit.
Instantly I wondered where I stood since I just started. I was told that I have nothing to worry about. I’ll just keep doing my job and hope for the best. This is why I must find alternate sources of making money and why I want to get into real estate. I don’t want to rely on someone else to decide if I get a paycheck or not. And I definitely don’t want to be surprised. I was laid off back in October and it was a shock. I had feelings that it might happen, but the timing was still sudden. Fortunately I got a nice severence package, so I was fine. And I’ve been blessed with good employment since.
I’m seeing and hearing of many companies laying off, not filling positions, and even filing bankruptcy. My last company (where I worked for 2 months) just filed for bankruptcy. Glad I’m out of there.
I have no problems with people making a lot of money–this is America and we all have that chance. I have a desire to generate an extreme amount of money. My problem is when the people who make the decisions to cut back are so far removed from the plant level that they have no idea what is really going on. All they see are numbers. I know numbers don’t lie, but I think there’s a little more to it than that. I’m not saying this happened yesterday, but I know it does happen at many places.
It’s a tough world out there, but I’m glad to be a part of it. Only now I don’t have anyone to carpool with each day.
Military Life
February 10, 2008
My younger brother Mark is in the Air Force Combat Controller pipeline. He spent the weekend in Tuscaloosa living normally, but all the while knowing he had to go back to living in a ’shack’ at Ft. Benning, getting up at 4:30 and having people yell at him, and make him do push-ups, and run all day. I admire what he does, but I don’t envy any of that lifestyle. He is a college graduate, so he could have gone in as an officer, but chose to enlist and go through basic training with all the younger punks. And boy did he enjoy that…
At least now that he’s in his specialized training he is treated better, but it’s kind of hard for him to come home and enjoy what he used to do, like sleep in, kill people on X-box, hang out with friends, eat mom’s good food, etc. When I hear what he goes through, has gone through, and will go through, I’m really thankful for what I have.
Dream Job
February 8, 2008
Do you experience the feeling of going to work each day at a job that you enjoy and actually like the people you work with? I can honestly say that I do. It certainly makes for a higher quality of life too. To say I have the dream job is a far stretch, but I still love what I do. Here is a link to my company. However, once I start working only for myself, and the hours I want to work will I be completely satisfied professionally. This will be one of the advantages of doing real estate–and I’ll track all that activity here. At least I’m not getting up now before it’s daylight outside.
My brother Mark is home this weekend from his training at Ft. Benning, GA. He is in the Combat Controller training pipeline in the Air Force. For those of you who don’t know what Combat Controllers do, they are special operators sent to kill bad people. I am thankful for them and all the servicemen of our country. I think I’ll put a profile of him up later this weekend.
Is now the time to refinance??
February 3, 2008
With the interest rate having its largest cut in about 24 years–down to 3 1/2 percent, many are considering refinancing or borrowing money. I myself have considered refinancing, but have concluded that the interest rate at the banks isn’t low enough to make it worthwhile. I’m thinking I need at least a full percent drop from my bank to cover closing costs and to make it a financial win for me. What say you?
Do any of you want to share what you consider when refinancing? or how else you invest your money when the interest rates are low? If we’re lucky, Alabama Investor may shed some light on this.
What about your current investments? I know I lost a lot of money in the stock market about two weeks ago. What’s the best methods to recovery? Mine is simple–stay put.
More Bama basketball
February 2, 2008
This is my nephew, Nick, with Richard Hendrix after we beat LSU. Thanks to my good friend, let’s just call her Becky, we had a great view of the game with floor seats.
Our events this weekend consisted of eating at Red Robin, playing Wii, and NCAA Football 2008. We also ate ribs at Dreamland, and took some pictures on campus at Bear Bryant’s statue. We partied it up in T-town!
