Thursday, February 7, 2008

Daddy Nurse

Youngest girl is home sick today. Since I am currently working from home, it falls upon me to be the nurse. It hasn’t been too hard on me today. Heck she slept until I woke her to dose her with Tylenol at 11:00. Teenager combined with true sick equals LOTS of sleep.

She rarely gets sick. Alexandra is normally tough as nails. She’s the “enforcer” on her soccer team…the one who decks opposing players who take cheap shots on her team mates. Normally, if she is playing “sick” we know it is really some big social upheaval typically involving a boy, but today was the real thing. The real nurse, the mom, took one look at her this morning and put her back to bed. That was around 5:30. So, Alexandra, aka “Evil Child”, got to stay home and annoy the dad today. Thankfully, she has not lived up to her moniker.

When I woke her, I asked if she’d like some chicken soup. Quick, “yes”. Dad, unlike grandma or mother, does not open an envelope of Lipton or can of Campbell’s. Dad whips up a pot of homemade and she does love homemade. Luckily I keep all the essentials on hand. Whenever a dish requires boiling of meats or veggies, but the liquid is not retained for the recipe, I reserve the stock for later. I have an entire freezer shelf of broths. With such fixin’s readily at hand, I can throw together real homemade quickly…just add the solids. “Evil Child” showed up just as the noodles had become soft enough…her nose knew.

Wee spot of lunch done, she dutifully helped clean up and actually thanked me. It was more like the old days when she was little. It was a relatively pleasant experience. That is, apart from her being sick. I know that when she’s feeling better tomorrow I’ll be back on the bad list, but it’s nice to know that somewhere under that evil teenage exterior that thinks she’s twenty-something, there is the little girl who knows dad is still there to protect her.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Random Thoughts

I thought, somewhat randomly, to title this bit in deference to my teenage daughter. Like many teenagers, she thinks that randomness is somehow a good thing. I guess you could call her an entropyist, or chaosist. Which I suppose pretty much sums up teenagers anyway. I can hear her now. “Oh that is just so random!” Meaning it is good. Well good or not, here are my random thoughts for today.

Taking back America!

What is that all about? Does someone other than Americans control America? What evil entity has seized America against the will of the people requiring some sort of taking back? How the hell did we lose control of America when we have so many guns? For what purpose must we take it back? Is Clinton leading Native-Americans, who really are not native at all but simply the first human residents, in taking America back from everyone else? I find it odd that Native-Americans would turn to a power-mad white woman to do the job, but heck each to his, or her, own. Or is Hillary just talking about the Clinton family taking back their grub steak? I hate election sloganeering…more on that later.

Our time has come!

What? Who are we talking about? As these words were spoken by an African-American man, is it that African-Americans are taking over? Better watch out! Hillary and her gang will target you for taking it all back. Better yet, our time has come for what? A party? Our turn to raid the coffers? Hey, and this is the guy who is against invading an enemy, but in favor of invading an ally. Back in October, Obama declared that in order to defeat al-Qaeda we might have to put troops into Pakistan. So maybe our time has come to start kicking off on allies instead of enemies. Watch out Canada! You are a lot closer to home and your lax attitude toward immigrants is a real pain in our behind. To stem the danger of al-Qaeda guys getting into the US, we may need to put troops in Canada. Think of the savings in transportation costs…a much cheaper war than invading someone far away.

Candidate for change.

They have all used this phrase at one time or another during the campaign. Bunches of supporters behind all the candidates after the Super Tuesday primaries were waving their little change placards. Like gee, no kidding! By definition, after the first Tuesday in November change will be assured no matter who wins…DUH! But if anyone really thinks the dynamics in Washington will truly change much…that somehow lobbyists will lose their influence and a New World Order will arise, they are fooling themselves.

Prove myself worthy.

Huh? Look dude, if you aren’t already worthy then why the heck are you running for the highest office in the first place. You either have the “right stuff” or you don’t. You have a plan, or you don’t. This is sort of like saying, “Trust me, I’ll think of something.”

Election sloganeering.

The problem is that it’s all about sound bites and the sound bites have no bite. There is no substance to what the candidates are saying. For the most part they criticize the current Administration, or each other, without providing any workable alternatives. “Our time has come to take back America and I will prove myself worthy by being a candidate of change!” Sheesh!

In other news.

The proofs for my third book, “Destiny’s Bride” finally arrived. Now begins the final march to getting it out there on the market with the first two books. I will be very busy for the next two weeks validating the final edits. So, the fourth book, “The Horselords’ Dance”, goes back into stasis for that time. I suppose I needed a “break” anyway.