Jealousy, Stop It!

On Jealousy, 
I would be a liar if I said I was never jealous. not the type where I am jealous of someone stealing a spouse or girl friend. The type where you see someone who seems to have it all. Money,Fame,Power. And you think Oh how I wish I was there. How nice it would be to never have to worry about money, or to be able to do what you want and when. Go where you choose any time you feel like it. But then I read about those who do have it all. And they wind up in the slammer with a dead wife like OJ Simpson, or they take their own life Like Robbin Williams. Perhaps they become drug addicts. Some lock themselves away in compounds which seem like wonderful places, but become a form of prison which they are afraid to leave, because of the press, or have such notoriety that everyone knows who they are. Constantly being asked for an autograph. Though it's a nice place it still becomes a prison. They start to feel like they cannot go anywhere anonymously and just be part of the crowd. It can be hard to accept ones lot in life. To be considered mediocre. Just another person in a sea of people. But I have learned that though I might not be famous or loved by millions lol that I can be happy. I can wake up and make choices which reflect my desires and goals. That each day though sometimes a bit dreary, I have the ability to still choose. Sometimes that choice is something silly, stay in bed half the day. Or spend 12 hours at a keyboard lol. Other times I am up before dawn out the door and off to see something i have never seen before. So I think to myself when I have these jealous feelings, your being a stupid old man Gary. Instead of being grateful for what you do have, your wallowing in a form of self pity which serves no purpose. You have been given gifts others do not have. Some are actually jealous of you for what you do have. Clarity of self perception. That would seem to be the ticket. Be grateful for what you do have, and happy with that. Shut out the very human but self destructive feelings of why don't I have what they do. The reality is that sometimes I am probably better off. That my faults are what they are. That who I am is ok and that my life though not grand is still something special. That God made me to fill a spot in the grand scheme of things which suits his purpose. That it is ok to be who and what i am. And then give thanks for that. Because I could be living in an alley somewhere, cold and freezing. Crying out at night Why Me?.
So i give thanks, today. it is ok to just be-Gary

Solar Really Is The Way Of The Future,

Roughly 100 years ago the automobile was invented. The first one was funky with not much more power than a good bicycle. But over time it was refined, re engineered and became the modern miracle we know today which drives our economy. Horse use became history. But initally there was big resistance to this new fangled idea. Everyone who used horses would laugh and say that thing will never replace a good horse. Within a really short period of time though, stables and the local stable boys were out of business. Reality?- they found other work. Some probably became auto mechanics. Today the world is at a cross roads. this marvelous technological invention is polluting the atmosphere so badly that scientists tell us the world as we know it could end. The use of coal and oil for power is ruining the environment.
   15 years ago i had bought a set of used solar panels. Used because new they were very expensive and truthfully not very efficient. They served me fairly well though and supplied me with about 1/2 of my daily power needs. Recently since I decided to live a more frugal lifestyle i decided to re invest in some new solar panels. They cost me about  $600 after taxes for 2 fairly large panels. The Shocker?, these two units which cost about 1/2 of a decent gasoline powered generator are giving me sometimes more power than I use in a day. Obviusly it has helped to use more efficient light bulbs and I went to a laptop instead of a desktop. Cailifornia has gone ahead and started using it's deserts and available rooftops to install solar panels and wind generators. They are beginning to show up everywhere. The republicans and conservatives who keep battling to keep this from happening remind me of the stable boys who didn't want the automobile. They are trying to protect industries which will and should become like the horse of old. GONE. Technological advancement is pointless unless you use it.
  And listen up coal and oil states-YOU WILL FIND ANOTHER WAY TO MAKE MONEY!. People always do. And you will be helping to protect the planet far into the future.

  At what I paid for these 2 panels-if I used a gasoline engine, EVEN AT $2 a gallon THE PANELS PAY FOR THEMSELVES IN 3 MONTHS. Thats right 3 months.
At an estimated lifespan of 30 years that means I will have FREE POWER for longer than I will live. NO JOKE OR BS HERE. They are far more efficient even on cloudy days than they ever where. Good enough to be used even in cloudy states. This is from someone who OWNS SOME. Not a salesman, no need to make this up. Perhaps the only thing I really agreed with where Obama is concerned. If you own a home you can get tax credits to install them. A simple devise now called an inverter takes there 12 volt ouput and turns it into the 120 to drive your home. And any excess is put back into the power grid.

 it is time to join the 21rst century if you haven't yet. If for any reason other than the above, to help save our planet for future generations!-Gary

Yes It's Christmas :)

One of my hardest times of the year is coming. And that is Christmas. Not because I I do not find it a joyous occasion. But because It always makes me so very sad knowing how many are suffering in very real ways everyday. So many will not know the love of God or have a simple holiday meal. They will be sleeping in alleys, making due in the frigid cold. Some will have no blanket. Some no food at all. To them the idea of a savior or the promise of eternal salvation will mean little. Their only concern will be trying to stay alive just one more day.
So every Christmas I try to find someone to help in some way. Some years I have walked down the streets and given people money. Not lots, I don't have that. Usually it,s a $5 bill so that they can get a cup of coffee and sandwich. I don't care if they spend it on booze, or even a hit of dope if thats what they need to get through another day. Sometimes it's a small package left at a door with an annoumous wish. Or a toy for a child I know will not get one. There lives perhaps are self induced. Some wind up there through no fault of there own. It doesn't matter. Some say to me your not helping them Gary your just provocating there own problems. i smile and say perhaps. But I know what it feels like to have nothing. i know what it,s like to be at a point in life where no one seems to care. One day isn't going to change anything for them, except perhaps to realize that God cares. They will never know my name or who I am. It isn't about the desire for gratitude or even to make me feel better. It is about the celebration of the birth of the son of God. And that they are loved. Even if if they do not know it. It is a small gesture, one I hope will have a postive effect. If not thats ok, because it's Christmas. Every year I make a plea, a plea that in your joy that you would help someone in need. Find someone who goes without, take some time and perhaps a little money and help them. $5 to the guy trying to bum money on the freeway. A small gift to a needy family. That is Gods way, and the way Christ would have us be. I hope you will  -Gary

Live Like A Spartan, America Home Of The Brave

I collected some stats below to help make this point: Man has been killing Man since the dawn of time. Freedom and Liberty is wonderful, but liberty involves risk. The risk that one day you might lose it. Freedom and liberty mean facing risk. The risk that you might die, from a gun, a foreign enemy, an angry neighbor, or even a loose tiger. You are 100 times more likely to be killed in a car crash than from a gun,terrorist, or foreign enemy. In the 50's we had Mccarthyism you low life demon style commi scum. Today communism is almost dead. There never was even a war. But people were persecuted and even imprisoned over an idea. EVERY time there is a threat someone wants to protect you. They want to take away your guns,your knives,your right to travel freely,your right to privacy. Pretty soon there will no longer be any freedom. Because no one can really protect you. More people die in car crashes than any other reason in America, from guns to disease. Do we ban cars?
Of course not. Do we ban rocks? no. Should we ban the internet no.
We have to accept the fact that people die everyday for MANY reasons. And no government has ever stopped that. No government can protect you from that.

If you really want to be free
You must accept the FACT that someone might kill you.
But to ensure real liberty, your government must also understand.

There are risks, no one can protect you from everything, and taking things away lessons your liberty, doesn't really ensure or guarantee anything.

We can help lesson risk, with judicious and cautious approach.
But to eliminate it no, not unless you want to live in a cage.

And then one day you'll die anyway.

Face life fearlessly, be a Spartan, and if your day does come, at least you lived and died like an American. Home of the brave and the free.

Records indicate that there has been a total of 3,613,732 motor vehicle deaths in the United States from 1899 to 2013.

This statistic shows the death rate for homicide in the U.S. from 1950 to 2013. In 1950, there were 5.1 deaths by homicide per 100,000 resident population in the United States.

American deaths in terrorism vs. gun violence in one graph ... we found that from 2001 to 2013, 406,496 people died by firearms on U.S. soil.

On Being A Grand Parent

When I Was A Boy,
A kind and white haired man would take my hand. we would go fishing, take boat rides, talk for hours, argue about the finer points of life. If I was in trouble he was there to help. If I needed he gave. There was never equivocation he just loved me. As his first grandson I enjoyed a certain privilege. I knew it smile emoticon but he never ever made an issue out of anything. Almost 20 years later I miss him immensely. I still see his face, his way and kind manner towards me. Today I do not get the chance to be this person for someone else. It is sometimes sad to me. It is a wonderful thing to be someone so special in someone else's life. If your lucky enough to be a grand parent who sees's their grandchild, you've been given a privilege.
Cherish It heart emoticon