FamGuyToday by Aunty Fox

in the Sunday paper, about the 'current occupant'. Told of W's travel schedule for the next few months. He is headed out to all points of the globe. As the author points out, he is as unpopular overseas, as he is here, BUT, the Repubs don't want his embarrassing presence around for the election. Tough problem for world leaders as they try to dodge HIM, yet stay semi-friendly to the U.S. Also, a good article about how he has, with his 'No Child Left Behind' program, TOTALLY screwed up the education process by dumbing down the entire system, and forcing educators to spend an inordinate amount of time and money to continually test, in order to recieve funding. This may be this idiot's most enduring legacy, nearly equal to bankrupting the country, with his "oops, bad information" war. Throw in his 'Big Oil' incentives for his buddies, which have caused energy prices to triple, and the changes in the mortgage lending policies, which have caused ...

After a slow start, recovering from my neighbor's Friday night b-day party, I met Scott, Dave and Jeremy on the first tee, here at Eagle Trace, on a BEAUTIFUL spring morning, for a round of golf. On #14, here at Eagle, I shot an eagle. A 3, on a 500+ yard par 5. Only my 2nd one ever. And my first was with Scott's dad, about 20 years ago. Kinda strange, with all the golf I play. Then, Carol and I went shopping at the new Safeway grand opening and won an I-pod! As I said, a good day, and glad I got out, 'cause this morning we woke up to snow, and spring is on hold for awhile...

who haven't heard, I am really looking forward to my new job. Yeah, a real job. Well, not like a totally normal job, but I am gonna be a bartender. THE bartender, at the Broomfield Events Center, where Ted and Kari had their reception and where I have been helping in the remodeling process, the last few weeks. My buddy Scott Harper is getting a liquor license. It is a 2-3 month process, but it looks like it is gonna happen, and when it does, I am the guy. I am actually gonna go to bartenders' school and learn the fine points, of pouring drinks for weddings and other special events. Am really looking forward to it. Getting paid to talk with people while they are having fun. I was made for this. Seems too good to be true, but, like I said, I think it's gonna happen. Can't think of a better way to slip into retirement. Will keep you informed...

there should be nothing easier for the Democrats, than to beat the Repubs. BUT, Hillary and Barack are pummeling each other, much to McSames satisfaction. Puhlease... think about us. We can't survive 4 more years of Republican warmongering. (Is that a word?). Anyway, work it out, and let's move on to the important stuff. No more Republican war machine....

on my wiine revue. Itz reely reely gooooddd...

I will try to pass on the name, when I find a truly good value in wine. There is good wine and inexpensve wine. Rarely the twain shall meet. BUT, I have found another. I have nearly always been pleasantly surprised by Chilean Cabernet, and this is a real winner, if you like a Cabernet/Merlot blend, which I do, and so does the wine critic below... The best-selling wines from Chile are the Frontera varietal wines from Concha y Toro available in 750ml, 1.5L and 187mL sizes. The combination of quality and value is unmatched by any wine sold in the U.S. (I agree) CABERNET SAUVIGNON / MERLOT Region: Central Valley, Chile Grape Variety: 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot Production Technique: Traditional fermentation of the grapes on the skins before blending is then followed by four months of aging in oak barrels before bottling. Description: Color: Brilliant ruby-red.Bouquet: Fruity, chocolate, red plums and vanilla. (EXCELLENT bouquet) Taste: Soft tannins, medium body, harmonic and s...

at Easter brunch. Was visiting Colorado with my nephew Jordan. Two adult, college graduates on a ski vacation, BUT, because her folks are hard core Southern Baptists, she had to lie to them and say she was with a girlfriend. Am so glad the relationship I have with my kids is much more honest. I like you alot girl, and not just because you are a GOOD skier. Hope to see you again...

when W called the Chinese, and chastised them about Tibet. I wonder if they burst out laughing, when the guy who invaded Iraq on "oops, bad information", killing and wounding hundreds of thousands, displacing millions, wrecking their economy, and claiming torture is OK, (but ONLY if traditional methods don't work), warned them about human rights violations. What a hypocrytical idiot...

CNN political analysts, say that Hillary Clinton can NOT win the Democratic nomination. When you add up the numbers, Obama, barring a catastrophic plunge, has the nomination wrapped up. SOOO, Hillary, it is time to put your ego aside, and quit helping the Repubs by tearing the Dems apart. IF you really care, what's best for the country, which is dumping the Repub administration, PLEASE, get with the program, and admit reality. Obama won. Deal with it...

The President's Puzzle Dick Cheney walks into the Oval Office and sees The President whooping and hollering. "What's the matter, Mr. President?" The Vice President inquired. "Nothing at all, boss. I just done finished a jigsaw puzzle in record time!" The President beamed. "How long did it take you?" "Well, the box said '3 to 5 Years' but I did it in a month!" Old joke, but just seems like it could be true...You can just see the big ol' smile on his face. Sorta like when he reads a whole paragraph of one of his prepared speeches, and doesn't screw it up. Doesn't happen often, but when it does, he is SO happy.

is a real drag. Even though, 'there's alot of it going around', I really don't like it. Went skiing with Carol, Nate, Jordan and Anna yesterday. 'Twas a beautiful day on the slopes, and got in quite a few runs. As we were leaving the lodge for the last run, we found out Anna's skis were gone. Probably just a mistake with look-alike rentals, but I stood around for over an hour, got pretty stiff, then fought my way to the bottom, thru some real slushy snow. Bottom line, by the time I got home I was hurting. I don't think the hot tub was ever as inviting as last night (and this morning). Also, found out my toe was throbbing because it was infected. Not good in a tight ski boot. Anyway, feel like an old man today, and don't like it, but s'pose I need to get used to it.

this idiot 'accidentally' tells the truth. Not often, though....

knows she shouldn't be up there. BUT, when I won't let her outside to terrorize the neighborhood mousies, she jumps up on the shelf, even though I made it REAL hard for her to get up there, just to piss me off. And it works. She knows she's gonna get in trouble, but it's her way of letting me know who's boss.

at the Boulder Broker. Met with the kids, their spouses, Ted's folks, Emily Claire, visiting from London, and Jordan and Anna, on a ski trip from Indiana. Tons of food and drink, and a wonderful time was had by all. Didn't realize 'til we left, but we were there for over 2 1/2 hours. A nice, long leisurely feast. I shouldn't have to eat for days, but I probably will....

That the family of each soldier killed in Iraq gets a check for $500,000? It used to be $12,000, in 2004. That enlistment bonuses of $40,000 keep 'boots on the ground'? Now, 5 years after 'shock and awe', George's War costs over $5000/second, $411,ooo,ooo/day, and over 12 billion/month. The average family of four's share is $330/month, for a total of over $50,000? And this doesn't count a LOT of off the book, and indirect costs. W does have a plan. And that is to hand it off to the next president. If that's McCain, (or McSame), he says we can be there for another 100 years. Gotta love them Republicans. So, as you see our economy spiral out of control, with unsustainable debt, be sure to thank the Bush administration, for the gift that just keeps on giving. That is, if you are in weapons manufacture, big oil, or prosthetics sales. If not, just bite the bullet, and think what might have been, if daddy Bush's supreme court, and Jeb Bush's Flori...

Click here: eBay Motors: Smart : SMART (item 250227214457 end time Mar-25-08 15:25:13 PDT) Last May, I was surfin', and saw a chance to put down $100, to get on the waiting list to buy a "Smart Car', made by Mercedes, when they became available in the U.S. While we were in Italy, we saw some of these, thought they were cute, and found they were the 'hottest' car available at the time. Anyway, I got on the list, kinda forgot about it, BUT, last week, got an e-mail, asking how I wanted to equip my 'Smart Car' .http://www.smart.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/mpc-en-content-Site/en_EN/-/EUR/Smart_CC-LoadConfig?hashCode=config-EN-DFD529FE-7D1A-4AAE-BEEC-3FE9E2DA9D02. SOOO, I ordered it to my specs, and today, spoke with the local dealer. They are totally sold out with a long wating list, and people are paying a premium to avoid a 2 year wait. This car on E-Bay, with 6 days to go, has bids over $2000 higher than I have a contract for. Too early to be for sure...

This is cool. Just pick a year, and the juke box has the top songs, plus a lot of other neat stuff.. http://www.tropicalglen.com/ Hint; Pick a year, start a song, then minimize screen, and hit 'forward arrow' to play top songs of the year, in order. (Hmmm, some years don't have a forward arrow, don't know why)

today. Not sure if anyone else would like it as much, BUT, 'Across the Universe', a movie based on Beatle's songs, was simply amazing..... To see these people sing, (not so) classic Beatle songs, was a real treat. It would be a really fun game, to see who could recognize the song titles, first, as they went thru the movie. We had Jude, Prudence, Lucy (in the sky), Maxwell, with his hammer. etc. If you are of my generation ( OLD), I think you will really enjoy it.

in different areas, here's another 'rocking chair memory'. First of all, not all RCM's are good, BUT I will never forget this one. I was probably 15 years old, and one winter morning, very early, my dad and brother and I, went duck hunting. We had a duck blind, on the Platte River, near our home, in Kearney, Nebr. WAY before sunrise, on a cold winter morning, we were carrying duck decoys, guns, etc, to our blind on an island on the river. It was 'lovely weather for ducks', which was another way of saying, it was really nasty for humans. Cold, windy and snowing. Perfect weather to bring the ducks in, BUT, not the best way to stay warm. Anyway, we walked the 3/4 mile thru the fields, the woods, and the shallow channels, to our island, with the blind. On the downstream side, there was a ledge of ice, where I was placing decoys, in the pre-dawn blizzard. As I put out the last 'deek', the ice broke and I fell into the swiftly flowing water. My hip waders quic...

with one of my favorite wines, "Luna de Luna". These Italian wine blends are the best value out there, in my humble opinion. As you may or may not know, they have distinctive painted bottles, with different colors, for different blends. I won't get into the 'white wine' blends, although they are good, but, for me, the reds are far superior. After consulting my 'resident expert' daughter, who has spent WAY too much time in Italy the last few years, we narrowed it down to the red, (her favorite), orange, (mi fav), and purple, (Ted's fav) bottle colors. I religiously tried them all, with different foods and situations over the last few weeks. AND, "winner winner, chicken dinner", the winner is....... Luna de Luna .... RED bottle. The cabernet/merlot mix. Yum, yum. Mellow Italian red, with a hint of blackberry and plum. TOO GOOD.. Anyway, am willing to do more taste tests if someone wants to challenge me. Am here for you.....

a good rock'n'roll concert story. 'Twas in Texas, in the mid 70's, and we were doing an outdoor concert. Can't remember exactly where. But, among other bands, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Bros were playing. As we sat around drinking beer, while ZZ Top was playing, Ronny Van Zandt said to Dicky Betts, something like, " Sure nice to have you boys open for us" Betts said something like, "F#*k you, you are opening for us" Within a minute or so, they were up and swingin' at each other. Didn't last long. Dicky Betts got his butt kicked, and the Allman Bros opened for Skynyrd. Ahhh, the good ol' days...

was this week, and we got to experience both sides of the coin. The Broomfield boys got put out of the semi-finals, in a very disappointing loss, after an excellent season. The girls, however, won the championship, in a well played game at the CU Event Center, last night. The REALLY good news is, with Autumn, Anna, Shandra and #23, they have nearly the entire team back next year. I think their 2nd string is the second best team in the state. Gonna miss watching 'em. Missed out on some great skiing, new powder at Winter Park and Steamboat, with the boys, cause I stayed home to see the games, and meet my buddy Jim Dodds who was in town. Hope to get up to the hills next week. Best time of the year for the best skiing in the world. In the meantime, we're having the kids over for ribeyes on Sunday night, to celebrate Laura's birthday. Life is good...

for awhile, because I have posted enough anti-Bush stuff, which IS my main passion lately. Because of this idiot's ineptitude, in SO many areas, we are entering a 'perfect storm', for the economy. Just this last week, oil went over $110/barrel, the dollar reached new lows against other world currencies, gold went over $1000/ounce and there was a 'run' on Bear Stearns, one of the largest financial instituions in the country. If not for Fed intervention, and J.P Morgan stepping in, they would have 'folded' within the day. Just my humble opinion, but, with the unfolding housing/mortgage/credit situation, I think we are in for some real, near term, trouble, and this is just the beginning. As for putting my $$ where my mouth is, and staying with my policy of financial disclosure, I am continuing to sell out of the stock market and getting further into the precious metals market. Earlier, it was gold mining stock and now it is physical silver. Specifically, I have...

in the paper today. Is the war in Iraq costing 2 trillion or 3 trillion dollars? Sources differ, BUT, still, totally incomprehensible numbers. (Just to put it into perspective, after 2 years of hurricanes, wiping out New Orleans, and a large part of Florida, and everything in between, the damages approached $500 billion.) AND, even at this level, they aren't taking into account the price of oil, which will KILL our economy, at this rate, of over $100/barrel, PLUS, the damage to world opinion, the long term effects of taking care of 'veterans', the cost of re-equipping our military, etc. THANKS, GEORGE. You attacked the 'oil basket' of the world, and SURPRISE, the price of oil went from 28 to over 100 $$$ per barrel. Who woulda guessed, your oil friends would profit from your policies??? PLUS, your new rules in the mortgage/lending business, which allowed people to buy houses with NOTHING down, so your buddies in the banking business could reap HUGE profits. And th...

Because I'm sorta stuck in an Anti-Bush rant.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D99NHb6B03s Can you imagine all those rapper stars with these things? Of course, they'd have to have theirs with 'da bling! Can't be standard, gawd no! And of course, Britney's gotta have one in her car. Paris with her pooch totin' one on the red carpet at some fete. The boys in 'da hood will have a field day on their daily drive bys. P Diddy will wear his on a chain around his neck. You suppose there will be special pockets made in jeans for these things? Trailer trash folks will have 'em camouflaged. Jeff Foxworthy will have to come up with some fresh Redneck stuff. Think George W. will get one, each for the twins? Don't forget Dickie boy for those spur of the moment huntin' trips. Of course Ma Babs will have hers with pearls. Think it will affect the Royals? I can imagine Charles and Camilia on their fox hunt...........ah yes, and Prince Philip, too, must include the...

has the gov't mandating a significant % of fuel MUST be ethanol, from corn. Never mind that it takes more gasoline to produce it than it yields. Never mind the huge amount of water that it takes from an already arid climate. Never mind that it wouldn't be feasible at all without the $1.25/gal subsidy WE pay. Never mind that it is 10% less efficient than gasoline and it can't be transported in existing pipelines. Never mind that stuff. What pisses me off is that because of the mandates and subsidies, for the 'artificial' cure, of course, farmers are flocking to this bonanza because it pays so well. BUT, it is at the expense of all other food crops. The price of wheat has gone from $3.50/bushel to over $18. Soybeans have more than quadrupled. Hops, the essential ingredient in beer, are up over 500%. In fact, ALL food crops, other than corn, have been relegated to 'the back of the bus', because corn has the artificial gov't subsidies attached. Great, for hi...

to get people's minds off Iraq, with a 'crashing' economy. BRILLIANT, George, BRILLIANT!!

The gaps coincide with critical periods like the run-up to the Iraq war — and the rollout of specious intelligence — as well as the period when the White House was leaking the identity of the former C.I.A. operative Valerie Plame Wilson. Also missing are communications from Karl Rove. The investigator called the missing time frames, "highly suspicious". DUH....

The aide, Tim Goeglein, had worked for Mr. Bush since 2001, as a liaison to social and religious conservatives, an important component of the president’s political base. Mr. Goeglein was influential in decisions on a range of questions important to that constituency, including stem cell research, abortion and faith-based initiatives. The story here is not that he plagiarized nearly HALF of his articles, BUT that Bush had, on his staff, a PAID laison, with our money, a hack who helped make national policy, by pandering to Bush's special base. The right-wing. religious conservatives. Those 'special' people who gave us George Bush, Act I and Act II. Thanks a bunch..... And, Faith Based Initiatives. That's when Bush hands out hundreds of millions of our dollars to churches who support his policies, to spend as they see fit. TRUE. Support Iraq from the pulpit, get big $$$$. Oppose it, have your non-profit status jerked. TRUE! Believe it or not...

"You can almost draw it out in a diagram. With home prices going down, consumers cut back on spending. If consumers cut back on spending, the economy weakens further. If the economy weakens further, fewer people are able to afford mortgages so home foreclosures increase, and home prices go down" BERNARD BAUMOHL, a managing director at the Economic Outlook Group in Princeton, N.J. Duh, who could have seen this coming???