A new low! Stealing from a 70 year old!

A friend of mine received a call that she had won the "Publisher's Clearinghouse" Millions. At first, that sounds very exciting. A check was in the mail. Then something happened to the check. Then there was a fee, paid through Western Union, that would free up the check. It has escalated from there. Once the fee was paid the "package" was to be FedEx'ed the next day. Of course. Nothing arrives and there is some other hurdle. It has gone on for weeks.

These crooks are organized. They have people who are pretending to be an international banker from New York City, a Custom's person at the Dallas airport, a Publisher's clearinghouse rep, and another character that calls to provide prize updates. Places like Puerto Rico, Costa Rico, New York City, Dallas, Texas, and Memphis, Tennessee are involved in this intrigue. If this wasn't so hurtful to my friend the creativity shown by the crooks would make a great movie.

What bothers me is that there are a lot of public company names being used in the scam. When each has been contacted they have been polite but haven't helped much. The authorities that have been contacted all think the process is a scam. But, they can't help. Each suggesting we talk to another. My frustration is this can't be the only person in the U.S. facing this dilemma. When you call "Publisher's Clearinghouse" they have two phone options for if you have received a communication or believe you are being scammed! Obviously, not an isolated event.

After escalating from dollars to get the gift it appeared to have stopped. Then a the crooks are back. These folks are calling promising something that isn't coming. Then they propose a solution to get the money paid in back to my friend. But it requires another activity to enrich them.

Suggestions on how to get these people stopped? I would like to personally find the scum bags that are taking advantage of my friend in her 70's.

Have the politicians forgotten who they work for?

Maybe it is time for all elected officials to do a little review of their job description. Or, maybe it is time for us, you know, the We, in We the People, in the Constitution, to do the review. Apparently, the 535 people who sit in Congress, both houses, have forgotten who they represent! In my world that word "represent" means who they work for....their boss. Most of us, regular people, have a boss.

It appears that once the election is over the people elected from other areas of the country, committee chairs, and a members of their political groups, Speakers, Whips, majority and minor leaders, the activity groups, become more important than their boss! The people they represent! Hello, remember us!

I was taught a simple lesson in school. School work first. Extracurricular activities follow. Any others out there in electronic world heard the same message? Last Monday night I received a refresher in the message at my daughter's freshmen orientation for High School. So, the message must be time tested and practiced.

Watching the responses from the "elected" representatives at the Federal level as they listen to the VoX Populi ask them tough questions is astounding to me. Obviously, the people who work for us haven't faced a status report, an evaluation, or had a face to face with the boss, on their progress in a while. They seem surprised that as the economic conditions in the rest of the country have changed that we the People are expecting better service from those who represent us!. In regular people terms; we are expecting more for less not less for the future. Maybe they need to hear from VoX Boss! (Okay, not a real Latin term, meaning voice of the boss!)

I'm seeing the real surprise in their faces, both on television and in person, as the Members of Congress are being asked about their spending, their attendance, their knowledge of the facts, and why they voted in a manner that didn't represent the boss. My fellow Americans, maybe it is time we start paying greater attention to what the custodian's of our funds are doing when the go to work. I sure plan to let my two senators, representative, and President know that, We the people, are on the job. I'm also looking into the state, county and local officials to see what they have been up to.

Hey, hear me out! The frustration I am feeling is that I haven't been watching my employees as closely as I should have. Shame on me! Just giving my employees fair warning that the boss and his buddies are now comparing notes on their work performance.

In this call to action what should you do? Find out the names of the people who work for you at the federal, state, county and municipal level. See how they are doing. In person. Not through the news filters, or the notes they send us, or based on any special interest group report card. It is time for We the people to get our employees working for us.

I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Catching up with friends

Over the past four days I have had the chance to catch up with my friends, not just a call or an email. Or the wave on the past each other highway or at a child's sporting events. This was honest to goodness sit down and spend awhile.

Explored my sisters business. Watered plants and learned that she has over 80 different kinds of Japanese Maple Trees. Also, learned a valuable lesson about chameleons. (Later post with pictures)

We spent real time with friends and family. Loved it!
Can't wait for the day to get started so we can do some more.

Yep, My son is playing football.

My son is playing football. I'm excited for him.

Starting with a discussion last Monday at the local pool the young man shared his desire to play. This was news. He hadn't expressed any interest. then bingo.

So, this past week has been a flurry of activity to make it happen. All of this fell on dear old Mom to get things together. Jen was buying cleats, football pants and a chin strap.

I'm a little jealous. H, received a new helmet, the kind with the vents cut in the crown of the helmet and real padding inside. This would have prevented a few headaches in high school and college. He looks great in his football gear.

He appears to be either headed for the position of running back or cornerback. When chased he covers some ground quickly.

Will keep you posted on the progress of the Red team.

On the Way to Boy Scout Camp

A couple of weeks ago H and I were traveling from Washington DC to Chicago then to Kansas City. Our flights, on Southwest Airlines, were to take H to Boy Scout camp. He had been with his Mom and sisters visiting the relatives all over the Northeastern United States.

H called it having "Man Time" since it was just the two of us. There have been a couple of times in the past two months were it was guy time. We both had a lot of fun. As we landed in Chicago the pilot allowed H to look into the cockpit since H had showed interest. The crew were very gracious to the curious traveler.

Once at Midway airport we were able to find a Ben & Jerry's and the Blues Brothers. There was a picture moment for sure. There was also a stop for the "Man food", some chicken nuggets for the conoseur of everything chicken.The picture above is where H stayed at the Frank Childress Scout Ranch in Diamond, Missouri. His Webelos pack spent the week earning badges. We had a couple of more days of man time on and off. H camped and I went home and to work. Visits for a couple evenings allowed us to catch up on the day's activities.

Chance to Win a Jersey or a Cadillac

Here are the code words needed for the Versus.com Cadillac Ride of your Life Sweepstakes.
All you need to do is add in your email address and then add the code word for a chance to win. I kept a number of these on a piece of paper throughout the tour. The others I have researched.

If you win a jersey or a Cadillac please enjoy

They are in alphabetical order

ascent
Astana
attack
bicycling
bobke
breakaway
Cadillac
cervelo
champagne
chasers
climb
cts
descent
disc wheel
domestique
feed zone
France
garminslipstream
gears
gradient
greenjersey
hammering
hydration
Monaco
paris
peloton
performance
podium
polkadotjersey
pursuit
rpm performance
saxobank
spokes
sprint
teamtimetrial
throttle
versus
versus
whitejersey
yellowjersey

I appreciate the the people at Versus that provided the coverage to the Tour of Lance, oh! sorry, Tour de France. This was been a great tour. They go to Paris tomorrow to wrap up this years event.

It began in Monaco, through Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Andorra, and all over France. I enjoyed seeing the Alps, the Pyrenees Moutains, the Mediterrean, rivers, valleys, fields, over all of the parts of France and its neighboring countries.

The athletes, like Hincappie, Contador, Schleck's, Armstrong, Karpettis, Wiggins, Martin, Kloden, and Lipheimer. What these men to day in day out on a bicycle is amazing.

Can't wait till next year.

Watching Wipe out on Television

If you haven't see the show on television called Wipeout you are missing a humorous session. Can you believe people would do this? There are a number of very strange obstacles that dish out some serious physical punishment. as the contestants go against the clock for money.

My kids can't help but chuckle as they watch the contestants to take the abuse that the designers of the game show dish out. It is tough to watch some spots.

Granted this isn't a mentally challenging 30 minutes of television. It is funny to hear the Monday morning quarterbacking that goes on with the suggestions to the people who are actually on the gameshow.

Spending "Man Time"

This past Monday I had the opportunity to bring my son along on a business trip. Nothing fancy, a couple of hours trip, in a rental car, to see two of my employer’s locations. We had a great time. H, called it "Man Time." Just us guys.

Don't get us wrong. The two of us males love the females in our homestead. But every now and then we need to step out of the estrogen ocean onto a testosterone island.

We rode along together, talking, eating, making jokes, practicing our Scout knowledge and just being guys. Topics ranged from his camp physical that day, potentially a whole other post, to the rental car, to cool discovery topics. We discussed how my dad had taken me along on trips when I was H's age. (I can see the look in his eye when he thinks about me being a kid!) It makes me smile.

We had a great time. H still doesn't understand what we did when we didn't bring along, IPod’s, Nintendo’s, power connections, etc. to make trips entertaining. That look I discussed comes back!

The rental car I mentioned came into the trip when I developed car trouble on the ride home from work earlier in the afternoon. I commute about 65 miles to work each way so car trouble takes on a life of its own. Anyway, I dropped my car at the shop to be worked on and called the company that picks you up to deliver a car. You have to be standing there at the auto shop when the thing pulls up. One of the mechanics laughs out loud and says, "What is that?" Instantly, I knew that would have to be the car I was going to be using until my car was repaired.

Some more background. On the way to the shop, H hears me making the rental car reservation. "Hey, dad, will we get a cool car for the trip? How about an Expedition, or a Red Mustang, you know something cool." At nine cool is important. I'm thinking about price and functionality. With only 45 minutes until all of the rental car places in town close, I'm not being too picky.

Picture this rental car. Red, four doors, and very small. It was a Chevy Aveo! The car came with crank windows and only plunger door locks! It did have the new car smell. My son had never ridden in a car with crank windows. So we didn't look so manly in the four cylinder, Flintstone mobile. But, hey! After some giggling and hand adjusting the side mirrors, we were off on our guy time adventure. Ah, answer to H's earlier question, very low cool factor.

While at the work site, H, met the other adults there. I was being the proud dad, when he extended his hand to say hello and greet them. Nice going! H met a man that was from New Zealand. There was a discussion about the accent. H also hung out with a guy I work with who talked with him, gave piggy back rides, and called him H. There was a lot of knuckle pounding going on that evening.

The trip home at 2:00 a.m. was a good bit quieter than the ride over. He hung tough keeping me company as long as he could.

This was a great trip. I'm looking forward to the next time we get to spend some "Man time" together.

Memorial Day Weekend

My thanks to all who have served our country in any capacity, either in a foreign or domestic posting. The service may have been on the land, in the air, at sea, or in a neighborhood. I would especially remember and thank those who have given their all in service to the country.

I have seen the headstones in Arlington National Cemetery, the Post Cemetery @ West Point, New York, the battlefields at Gettysburg, fields in Asia, Europe, and countless other places around the globe where Americans of every, race, creed, color, religion, and ethnic background are together in their final resting place. The places read like history lessons of military battles, events, or accidents, and tragedies where the individual was a participant performing service for our nation.

Please remember that the ultimate purpose of the weekend. To set aside a day out of the year for the nation to remember, reflect and honor those who have served. Take time as you go about your day to honor and remember those who have given so much, paying the ultimate price. Remember those who have fallen and the families and children that are without that member of their family. Remember, these people who gave so that we can have the freedom, liberty and independence each and every day.

All the best on this Memorial Day weekend.

Penguins Win Again, Lead the Conference Finals 3-0

It appears that the Pittsburgh Penguins will be playing Tuesday, May 26 to reach the Stanley Cup Finals. Currently the Penguins lead the Eastern Conference Finals 3 games to none over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Sid “no longer the kid” Crosby and his Penguin teammates have been on a roll since about midway through the last series with the Washington Capitals. As the league leader in playoff scoring, 14 goals and 12 assists, he continues to push the puck against the Canes. Other members of the Penguins team have stepped up their game to put on a display of hockey skills so far not matched by their opponents.

Marc-Andre Fleury, in goal for the Pens, has been keeping the Canes off the scoreboard. Fleury, who struggled a bit against Washington, has seen the defense in front of him rise to the challenge.

Tuesday night should be interesting. Go Pens!