There is a radio contest about it. Officially the way we classify a recession in this country is “2 quarters of negative growth.” This is a bunch of mumbo jumbo for the fact that the economy is shrinking. Well being from the Detroit area, we have experienced “negative growth” for a couple of years now, but I truly knew we were in a recession when I was listening to a radio station the other day and they were talking about winning money off the “Recession Wheel.&...

I hate sodium, which for all us unedumacated folk is salt. I have been trying to eat better over the past few months, and have been generally succeeding, except for one problem: sodium. It seems that contrary to popular belief, our economy does not run on oil, but in fact on sodium. Everything has sodium. The crazy thing is that even the reduced sodium stuff still has waaaay to much sodium. The standard stuff is just off the charts. A healthy amount of sodium is 2400mg per day. To give you a...

I like snow. It has amazing properties: solid but squishy, easily moldable, and it is cold. Being born and raised in the Detroit area, I am pretty familiar with the stuff. When you grow up around here, you love the stuff. It has the magical ability to cancel school; which, when you are a kid, is something that even your parents cannot do. It is also the thing that all winter fun is based around. You build snow forts, and you attack and tear down snow forts. Snowballs are constructed...

Synergy - A mutually advantageous conjunction or compatibility of distinct business participants or elements (as resources or efforts). That is synergy defined by my good friends over at Merriam-Webster . Normally I would give them the benefit of the doubt, but this time I have to call them out. Synergy, is not as defined above, instead it is really a corporate BS word. Basically, if you are ever in a meeting, and someone starts spouting on about synergy, it is ok to start napping or ch...

I know that the only baseball story that anyone out there seems to care about right now is the Roger Clemens thing. But, I, being a proud Detroiter, am more entranced by the amazing team that has been put together for my watching pleasure this year.  Letme go back a few years though, back when the Tigers were the worst teamin baseball. I was still a loyal fan, and went to 5 or 6 games a year,and even watched them on TV, as Bobby Higginson struck out and NateCornejo racked up a huge E...

I just wanted to give everyone out there a link to fantastic site that is keeping a real time count of the superdelegates on the democratic side. These guys are doing a phenomenal job, and if you are a political junkie like me, this is better then a Starbuck's coffee at 5am. It is called Democratic Convention Watch . Check it out and let me know what you think. Notice the serious trend toward Obama in the past few weeks.

Has anyone else out there noticed that a nation and the way in which is functions, and the will of it's people often come across in its classical music? When I hear a piece of classical music written by a Russian composer, it always makes me think the composers main message was "there is no bread," or "were all going to die." As opposed to an American piece where you can often feel the hope and optimism. In the Russian music, matter how triumphant many parts of the piece are, the main message...

Ok, it is officially time for me to rant. Sometimes on this blog I have pointed out useless products... take for example my blog on <a href="http://americanlife80.blogspot.com/2007/11/another-senseless-product-odor-alert.html">Odor Alert Cat Litter</a>. I have something similar to rant about today: automatic faucets and paper towel dispensers. Does this not seem a little over the top? Half the time you walk over to a sink and start doing the karate chop dance to try and get the da...

Ok, it is officially time for me to rant. Sometimes on this blog I have pointed out useless products... take for example my blog on <a href="http://americanlife80.blogspot.com/2007/11/another-senseless-product-odor-alert.html">Odor Alert Cat Litter</a>. I have something similar to rant about today: automatic faucets and paper towel dispensers. Does this not seem a little over the top? Half the time you walk over to a sink and start doing the karate chop dance to try and get the da...

There are many simple pleasures in life. Some things I would include in that category are: the sublime moment when you climb into bed and let your mind completely wander for the first time all day, the smell of garlic and onions browning in olive oil, and a slurpee on a really hot day. Above all of these I would put a random day off. I am not talking about a vacation day. That would imply that you are taking the day off for some express reason. I am talking about a day off just to use up a d...

I was watching the Potomac Primaries this Tuesday, and both Barack Obama and John McCain swept all the contests. If you want my opinion, John McCain needs to work on his rally set up, because after the contests, both he and Obama had a victory rally. Let me give you a photographic representation of both their rallies: 1st John McCain: 2nd: Barack Obama: Now of course this is a gross graphic misrepresentation, except for the Obama rally because that is a real picture of ...

I love my wife deeply, madly and so thoroughly it sometimes makes me hurt. My love for her permeates the very core of who I am, and I cannot imagine existence without her. Hugging her is often the very best part of my day. I say all these things not to brag or self promote, but rather to point out that this is my way of life. Loving my wife is part of the fabric of who I am. I do not need a day to remind me, prod me, or goat me into saying or thinking that I love her. That would be false, mom...

I just wanted to throw up some cool pictures that I took in 2007. These are a small sampling of pics that I took, but I would consider them some of my best. Please click on the pic for a better version.

I just wanted to write a quick comment on the proposed stimulus package that the Congress and the President have come to agree on. The just of it seems to be a $300-$600 check per person, with an income cap. There are also going to be measures that allow businesses to write off depreciation faster then normal. I think the fact that we are resorting to this kind of thing is despicable. Of course everyone loves getting a check in the mail. I mean who would not want $600 to go blow on a PS3 ...

I wanted to write a note about why I think we need a new primary system and what I think would be a good idea. Now I know that this has absolutely no bearing on reality and is not about to spur a national discussion, but I am willing to give it a go anyway. The primary system as set up now completely stinks. I don't feel that I need to elaborate on this, as it has been talked about many many times. Two or three states get to have all the say in who becomes the candidates for their respect...