“My Motivation is Personal”

Family…….

My motivation is now personal, infinite, for my sanity

Burning, raging, passionate, all for my family.

My motivation is you, when seeing me you close the door.

My motivation is me, seeing you like I never have before.

Anger, painful, vengeful, yeah I can go there.

My motivation is simple, what’s fair is fair.

My motivation is the earth, the oceans and the trees.

Watching a life die, weapon of a choice: a knee.

My motivation is the Universe, the stars, the sun.

Saying you grabbed a taser, knowing it was a gun.

My motivation is winning, losing, the challenge.

Restless, irritable, irrational, and maybe out of balance.

Helpless, hopeless, limited, praying that I’m wrong.

My motivation is motion, happening, strong.

The heart, the energy, the power the rage.

I finished all of your chapters, you still on my first page.

Hedonistic, confident, extravagant, decadent.

My motivation is necessary, while yours is barely relevant.

You are full of weakness, cowardice, emptiness, you know I’m right.

My motivation is my revenge, your sorry ass started this fight.

My motivation is breathing, and living, and life.

With sounds, with music, with fellowship and the Light.

My motivation is God, Spirit and free

My motivation is personal, ’cause you messed with my family.

“An Eventful Weekend”

Man. Where do I begin. You know what, I’ll do something that is uncharacteristic of me. I’ll start at the end and work my way back to how this weekend started.

I am currently waiting for the plumber to complete repair of my home’s water main valve that started leaking on Saturday. The plumber had trouble locating the outside water meter because it is located  nearer to my neighbor and buried under debris left by tree removal. The original estimate is increasing exponentially as I wait. He arrived at 10am. It is now 1:40pm. Meanwhile we have an  electrician scheduled to arrive by 2pm to install lights….. cost to be determined.

On Saturday I repaired a leaky bathtub faucet due to the cartridge needing replacement. I did the work myself to save money. Had to do the repair twice as the first cartridge’s rubber seal came apart…….Little did I know what lurked for today. It is Monday by the way.

And now to the beginning. My weekend got off to a promising start. I finally found time to inspect my old Husqvarna 150BT leaf-blower to see why it stopped working. Stripped it down the the cylinder. Everything looked good. May be just a clogged fuel line. To be safe I ordered the fuel line and carburateur and hope to install them next weekend. As of now there is no more work scheduled and I hope to keep it that way. And so does my bank account.

“New Beginnings”

Husqvarna 580BTS

Well, it was a good run. My Husqvarna 150BT finally “retired” after fourteen years of dedicated lawn service. I am grateful for its dedication and loyalty as it was my second piece of outdoor equipment after purchasing my then new home. Thank you old friend. So….

To new beginnings. Pictured above is my new leaf blower, the Husqvarna 580BTS. Wasn’t expecting to put out the money but I’m already reaping the benefits. This model has more power and helps me finish my yard in half the time. At my age anything that adds time to my life is worth it’s weight in gold baby.

So far so good. Hopefully it will last as long as the 150BT.

“A Godless People”

In Money We Trust

Money. For the love of it. The song says, “Some people would steal from their mother or rob their own brother”. Sad but true.

In a country as wealthy as America with enough riches for any and all who seek, why anyone would feel the need to take from another is disheartening. Nonetheless, thievery in all facets of society is commonplace in our country. 

Which brings me to this point: America is not a God-fearing country. American citizens in general lack a true spiritual connection to a Higher calling. And among those of us who claim to be true believers too many of us “talk the talk” but fail to consistently “walk the walk” myself included.  Collectively we have made our country fertile ground for Godless people. Hence the state of the United States.

Let me ask this: do you believe that any of our elected or appointed officials even consider Godliness as they govern? Based on their actions spirituality doesn’t even appear to a part of their subconscious. I do realize that money rules in a capitalistic society, but does that fact alone justify a lack of spiritual accountability to ourselves? It should not.

Based on his politcal and public ACTIONS you could say that Donald Trump is a Godless  person who worships money over God and chooses wealth over humanity. Where there is any part of humanity that is good, Donald Trump intentionally chooses the lesser alternative. He thrives on tapping into the lowest common denominator of our human intelligence, our human emotions and our human tolerance while unsuccessfully trying to convince us that we are as soulless as he is. That is not Godly. But put a dollar bill in front of him and he is all-to-willing to worship and sell out. I am of the belief that Donald Trump would do ANYTHING for money if no one was watching…….

Those who were appointed by Trump and/or those who blindly and willingly accept his lies, divisiveness and shameful attacks on anyone who thinks independently of him need to question their own lack of spirituality.

For us citizens, we need to make certain that we do not become desensitized to our own humanity. Our actions should affirm our spiritual walk more so than any self-proclaimed religious beliefs that we ascribe to.

I get it. This is America and we all need money to survive. But just because our leadership chooses to be Godless People doesn’t mean that we all have to.

“Not Again”

They Had To Do It

Timing can be a funny thing. In life, love, relationships and money the timing of events can change the course of history, could affect wealth or happiness, ultimately could change your life.

I bet any one of us could look at an event from our respective pasts and recall how the timing of a situation altered some aspect of our lives. For sure I can.

Shortly after I bought my first house my wife was expecting our first child. As these two budget-altering events would happen within six months of each other my bank account decided to curb my leisure spending. Basically no more toys.  I initially agreed with my bank account.

October 1999. Go to settlement. Money. Move into house. Money.  New furniture. Money. Everything else. More money. Baby is due on Christmas Day. ALL OF THE MONEY! So now comes November 1999. My coworker shows me a brochure of a new digital recorder that did  not exist until after I bought the house. Guess when it would be available to purchase? Yep. December. Guess how much it cost? MO’ MONEY, MO’ MONEY MO’ MONEY!  But I HAD to have it. I bought it just after Thanksgiving and sneaked it into my basement until I could find a way to explain to my very pregnant and not-able-to-understand wife. Timing.

It happened again. I have been blessed with the opportunity to buy my sons new cars. I know, I know but buying them their first cars was part of the plan to Jumpstart their financial planning. The cars came with financial goals and expectations. So, I promised myself a new motorcycle once the cars were paid for. Guess what? Three months before the last car was paid off a new bike came out. Timing. Well, the car was paid off in April 2023 and the new bike was, um, “delivered” in May 2023. I was good. Until…..

Timing. I made a promise to myself. No new motorcycles until I complete a long awaited personal goal. That damn Timing. You see the picture above? It’s a new bike that will be available in March 2026. I may not reach my personal goal until December 2026. I like this new bike. A lot. I CANNOT BUY A NEW BIKE UNTIL I REACH MY PERSONAL GOAL.

Timing. My marriage (and thankfully my bank account) survived the previous undisclosed purchases. But you know what they say about the third time……..Well, guess I’ll take my time and wait ’til December 2026.

“Constitutional Amendment Needed”

Full disclaimer: I do not know every word or detail of the U.S. Constitution. In fact it has been some time since I’ve read any part of the document. But…..nonetheless…..we need a Constitutional Amendment.

It is my understanding that a sitting President cannot be sued or be subjected to legal action while in office, right? Well then, why does a sitting President have the ability to sue or take legal action while in office? Seems to me that a person with immunity to the judicial system should not be able to use said judicial system to leverage the law in his or her favor whether Democrat or Republican. Is it me or…….just saying.

This needs to change.

“The Most Important House In America”

I am a person who has a positive outlook on life. With so much negative news and uncertainty in society these days it may seem that there is not much positivity to go around. Not true.

Despite what you may see, hear or read via television, social media or radio (do people still listen to the radio….?), THERE IS ALWAYS MORE GOOD THAN BAD IN THE WORLD. ALWAYS! Good news isn’t good for ratings though…..  But don’t ever forget that there are more good than bad people and more good than bad deeds.

I am not a fan of the current administration as you may well know. The appointed Cabinet members have proven to be mostly unworthy. That being said, I’d like share this message: What YOU do in YOUR  “house” is far more important than what happens in the White House, the House of Representatives, the State House or the penthouse for that matter.

Instead of wasting energy worrying about things I cannot control I make choices to help me be a better father, husband, son, brother, nephew and son-in-law. Hopefully this makes my “house” better for my family.

Speaking of houses, we all are part of our respective neighborhoods. Being good neighbors makes our neighborhoods better. We can be accountable TO each other  without having to be accountable FOR one another. Think about it. We have far more in common with those in our  communities than we do with those in Congress or the White House in spite of our Democratic or Republican differences. They know and believe this and that is why they govern in the manner in which they do.

As for the current leadership, the  main reason why I disapprove of them is more so for their “practices” than their “policies”.  This administration not only chooses money OVER people, it chooses money INSTEAD of people. Very dangerous for a country that is built upon the principles of capitalism and Social Security and which relies on them simultaneously. How does the people’s vote truly represent the people if money ultimately decides their freedom? Choose wisely……

Let’s start by being better people. Let us also be better members of our communities. And let’s make the most important “houses” in America better. Our houses.