Wednesday, December 31, 2008

The year is almost at an end

Here's hoping that all of you have a good new year's day, and that 2009 is a good year for you.

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I'll be glad when my shoulder gets better; hopefully I'll be able to get back to the gym on Friday or Monday, as long as I don't do much upper body stuff. At least my wife got over her dental problems before Christmas.
Christmas turned out well; nobody is rich, but we all did right by one another with stuff that counts. We also got a lot more snow the day after Christmas, but that is normal this time of year.

A shot of the house from the mailbox.




View to the west from the mailbox.



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Too bad the Middle East couldn't calm down for a while, but I don't think that will ever happen. I'm afraid I don't have much sympathy for Gaza; they keep lobbing bombs at Israel and then piss and moan when Israel tosses some back. Seems like too much of that part of the world will always be back in the dark ages; a bunch of ignorant barbarian tribes starting skirmishes with other tribes. If it weren't for oil in that area, they would still be living in tents and living like their ancestors did hundreds of years ago, in the days of Hārūn al-Rashīd when their culture and technology peaked and then ground to a halt. Time to join the modern world, guys.

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Tonight we're getting together with some friends from my wife's church, with everyone bringing food and drink. I'm not a member of her church (I'm not a member of any religion), but that doesn't really matter much to me or them; just some good friends getting together to welcome in the new year. I'll try to watch what I eat, since I haven't been getting as much exercise as usual since my shoulder started acting up, and I don't need to put on any more pounds. I may tip a few beers, but that's about it. I don't mind getting a mild buzz, but I don't care much for getting drunk; it makes you act like a fool, and you feel like hell the next day.

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So what will the new year bring? I think the economy will get worse before it gets better. We didn't get into this mess overnight, and we won't get out by someone waving a magic wand.
Politics should be interesting (and not necessarily in a good way). I'm not a fan of socialism or Big Brother, and I think both will be increasing their foothold over the next few years. I get nervous any time the President and the Congress are in the same party; that party tends to get arrogant and bossy, no matter which party they are. I'd rather see it spread out more even, so that they all have to get together and work something out before passing another law or tax. From what I can see at this point, "Hope and Change" is just another meaningless slogan; what we will probably get is more of the same stuff we have had for the past few years until people get pissed off and dump the current batch out. Politics, like a lot of other things, tends to run in cycles; it tends to alternate between Bullshit and More Bullshit.

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As usual, a lot of old stuff. Looks like this list has a lot of blues and older rock, with a smattering of country and classical.

"Hello Walls" by Willie Nelson
"Goin' Down Slow" by Howlin' Wolf
"Cat's in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin
"Baby Don't Do Me Wrong" by John Lee Hooker
"Beyond the Sea" by Bobby Darin
"Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" by Waylon Jennings
"Air on the G string" by Bach and his time
"This Ain't the Summer of Love" by Blue Öyster Cult
"Maybellene" by Chuck Berry
"Crown of Creation" by Jefferson Airplane

When I pick out a playlist for the day, I tend to go down a list of stuff and just pick what I seem to be in the mood for until I get a couple dozen and then scramble them; it can sometimes change later in the day, that's when I sort through and pick out a new list. I guess the list sort of reflects my mood at the time, but I'll be damned if I can figure it out what it is today from my list.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank You very much for visiting my new blog. I love to see all that snow. We had a little a couple of weeks ago, which is very rair for Houston.

terri said...

The snow is beautiful. Course I always think that when I look out my windows too. Then when I have to drive in the stuff is when I start cursing it.

Hope 2009 treats you well.

Buckaroo Banzai said...

Happy New Year, Bob, to you and yours!

Thud said...

Happy New Year Bob...and try not to mind too much that I hope for lots of snow when I'm out in Utah in Feb.

the pistolero said...

I haven't heard the original cut of "Maybellene" in a very long time, but I really like the George Jones-Johnny Paycheck version.

Kenny said...

BobG

I wish you and yours only the best in 2009.

MauserMedic said...

Snow. Ick.

Anonymous said...

How come I cant get any snow over here? Send some my way!

Happy 2009!

The Local Malcontent said...

Here's hoping that your shoulder is already mended and feeling fine when you read this, Bob!
That's a good playlist you've cited, man- but your line that I just love is "Politics, like a lot of other things, tends to run in cycles; it tends to alternate between Bullshit and More Bullshit."

YEAH!