And now that it's off my mind

I came out of 40 days of Lent with an issue I had to write about, despite wanting to continue to have a civil discourse. For those of you that don't know, I made a Lenten pledge not to engage in the politics of ad hominem attacks. I kept that pledge (except for a questionable comment) and felt it was something I would continue. When the president released his long form birth certificate, I was compelled to write about it. In all honesty, I didn't know what to expect; uncharted waters perhaps. Except for links to a couple of fact check sites, I pretty much ignored the topic in the birther threads because I was convinced it was just another conspiracy theory. When the president released the birth certificate, I became convinced that it was an obvious distraction to the White House, so it was worth discussing.

Yesterday, I heard Canadian Jonathan Kay, the author of "Among the Truthers" A Journey though Americans growing conspiracies underground; describe the “Birthers” mindset. He said when a normal person is told that their believes are wrong, it would cause them to go back and rechecked their believes. He convinced me, when he compared it to religion. In my old workplace, there were a lot of people who said negative things about my religion and religion per say, and so I had to go back to validate their statements but all I could say was " I still have faith." ....He also said " all the evidence in the world will not change their mind because they will find something else to cling to."Thor found a YouTube of a couple of people trying to prove that the birth certificate was a fake. In fact there were a couple of morons on the Fox Business Channel, trying to say that the birth certificate was Photoshoped because of the green outer edge. ....Mr. Kay said with the advent of the Internet, the conspirators no longer view television news and just keep in social contact with people who share their views.

The local forum's thread on the birther issue quickly became a dumping ground for all things negative about President Bush and Obama.... My blog became so bad that GOP_ LoveChild, said "I sure hope the folks with Caterpillar, we buffaloed into moving here don’t read this thread."... I did get to clear up some issues with some a couple posters, so it was worth my time and effort.

I'm pretty sure the regulars got tired of the "birther" issue because it dominated the threads but the other regulars will be all rested up, come Monday, then they can dominate the threads. It all works out.

Another sign I’m getting old

I pulled up the USATODAY app my iPad this morning, only to find a story about the last typewriter factory selling off their last batch of 500 typewriters. These days their only customers seem to be our prison system. China, Japan, and Indonesia will continue to supply the prisons. The first commercial typewriter was built in 1867 and has served us in one way or another for all these years. Godrej and Boyce, an Indian company that makes the Godrej Prima, stop production in 2009 and won't make any more after it sells the final 500. Until 2009, the company produced as many as 12,000 typewriters a year compared to 50,000 in the 1990s.

I remember my parents renting an old typewriter for my sister. I also remember hearing the sounds of that typewriter as she pounded away while never looking at the machine. She did the same thing with an adding machine as part of her secretarial course. I never mastered the typewriter. It would take me forever (not to mention paper & carbon wasted) to type out one page. I ended paying someone to type my term papers and resumes. I'm not really that sorry about its demise because it was inevitable, but I imagine many households and businesses still have a typewriter, somewhere. The typewriter will find company where old office machines go to die, meeting the dot matrix printers, single function fax machines, and programmable calculators.

Besides the normal ache and pains, night driving, reading the obituary (first thing in the morning) and watching commercials to see if the medicine I'm on has been banned, the constant changing of the way we do things reminds me why my wife now calls me "old man."

Enough already with the Birther issue

I don't blame the media for covering the Birther issue because it’s front and center, now that now that Donald trump has revived the issue. I'm not even surprised that most Victorians don't believe that president Obama was born in the United States, or they don't know. I believe there's a lot of mischief in the local polls. Some don't like the president's policies, and others don't like the person, so why not say it's because he wasn't born in this country. Then again,nationally 51% of republicans don't believe Obama was born in the USA, and about 24% are not sure.What's up with that?There was a time I thought the GOP had some smart people.I was going to post this blog in our local paper's forum, but I thought better of it, because posters like Thor would fill it with nonsense, encouraging others to do the same. I can just imagine all the documented proof from the Freerepublic.com and WorldNetDaily and other right-wing smear sites.

Can you be a reasonable person still have doubts? I don't think so, because anyone can obtain the "index data" of those born in Hawaii between 1960 and 1964. I understand that on page 1,218, there is a computer generated listing of a boy named Barack Hussein Obama II. There is a sign in sheet at the Hawaii vital records office that only the Associated Press and one other person have asked to see that information this month. About 25 people have seen the information since March 2010. In fact, the office has said no one identifying themselves as working for Donald Trump has come forward. Dr. Chiyome Fukino, the state's former health director has looked at the official long form birth records and confirmed that the document includes additional information like the hospital and delivery doctor. The documents belong to the state and they can't be released to anyone, including the president of the United States. Obama could inspect his birth records but the originals are never released. There is microfilm at the Hawaii State library that shows on August 14, 1961 the birth announcement in the Honolulu State bulletin that a son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Barack H. Obama, on August 4, 1961. The president was born on August 4^th, but it is customary that birth announcements are usually a week late.

I could never get into a debate with the Birther because my questions would never be answered. I would start off by asking if Obama's mom was an American citizen. My follow-up question would be " is the state of Hawaii, the Honolulu Advertiser and the Kapi'solani Medical Center for Women and Children (where Obama was born) in on the fraudulent scheme? If they are, for what purpose? I would never get answers for those questions, but they would expect me to believe that Mrs. Obama was sneeked into Hawaii from Kenya to have her baby because she knew her son would eventually be the president of United States. I wonder if the Birthers have asked for passport information during the week of August 4th of 1961. So far, the game has been played on their side of the court with questions of long- form, short form and a quote out of context from the constitution. The country was lured to sleep by the conspirators calling themselves "Birthers" but the right wing followers of Donald Trump think he brought some legitimacy to the issue. It's the same issue but this time it was brought forward by a different wacko.

Houston Chronicle Sunday April, 24, 2011 page a7 “Some Obama records easy to access" by Mark Niesse

A scanning/reflecting Good Friday

I have to admit; I'm an old hoarder but I just can't throw away old mementos like the old father's day cards, or tickets from an old 2005 Cub/Astro game in Chicago, but nevertheless, every Good Friday, I sit down with my trusty hand scanner to go through the receipts,documents,other stuff that I no longer need and scan them just in case....True, they have been stored on the many computers I have owned throughout the years without being looked at, but if I ever need to know all the details of an oil change in 2005; I have it...:-)

My VuPoint Magic Wand is a handy thing to have because it's portable, and it fits in my iPad case......I have scanned some family pictures my older sister had, newspaper clippings of my grandchildren's achievements and things I will take with me just in case we have to evacuate Victoria due to a hurricane....It's was sad seeing people looking through the  debris for something to salvage after those tornadoes hit the mid-west last week...They didn't get prior warning but they said they miss those precious pictures .I have all my documents on a couple of computers and a large capacity flash drive....I 'm ready for an insurance agent that needs proof....I think that I will scan my birth certificate because you never know in this republican state.

My wife and I will have the same old argument of when Lent ends...I start my heathen ways on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter, but she says we are supposed to wait until Easter Sunday.....Some have even said the 40 days after Ash Wednesday ends on Holy Thursday.....If there is a Day of Reckoning, some of us will have to do some heavy calculating.I know ,does it really matter?..I'm proud to say I managed to keep my Lenten sacrifices of being civil on the forum, and staying away from sweets...I feel much better, since I'm no longer engaging in the left/right nonsense.

I'll continue to write my opinioned blogs, but I'll only engage with those that want to have a civil discussion. It really doesn't do any good to debate some of the harden characters in our forum, because all they want to do is play" gotcha" or come back with hyperbole and sarcasm. I’ve already given it a 5 year feeling out period...For example,I posted "We should have listened to Jimmy Carter and every president since, about switching to alternative fuels but the big oil and dirty coal lobbyist greased the palms of many politicians to prevent that from happening." It took off from there to natural gas and other things but all I meant was that Carter had solar panels installed on the White House as an example for us to get off fossil fuels. President George W. Bush (an oilman) was quoted as saying "We are addicted to oil." I'm thinking of using Blogspot for posting my political views and using the Advocate for community topics of interest...It probably won't work out that way because I'll run out of community topics to write about. Perhaps I'll do as Rebecca suggested,use Blogspot exclusively for venting, especially when posters on the VicAd switch topics because they don't any one to notice that the teachings of Ayn Rand may be tied to today's republican policies.

I’ve noticed that not too many people contradict the views of personal blogs or leave derogatory comments. Is it because they think it will get deleted or do they feel they will get more bang for their buck on a highly visible forum? I’ve haven’t received that many in the last six months.

 Happy Easter to you and your loved ones.

The Donald–unhinged

This one time pro-choice, universal health care loving, showman once suggested that we impose a one time 14.25% on the rich to lower the deficit. He even contributed to Hillary Clinton's campaign and lavished praise on Barack Obama. Recently, he did a complete  180°, and now he gets mad at the media if they call him out on it.......... Welcome to politics 101, Donald.

Anyone who knows a thing of two about Roe vs. Wade knows that the final decision was based on the following: "The Court decided that a right to PRIVACY under the due process clause in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution extends to a woman's decision to have an abortion, but that right must be balanced against the state's two legitimate interests for regulating abortions: protecting prenatal life and protecting the mother's health. Saying that these state interests become stronger over the course of a pregnancy, the Court resolved this balancing test by tying state regulation of abortion to the mother's current trimester of pregnancy."...Read this transcript of the interview with NBC's Savannah Guthrie where the Donald does a classic Palinesque.

Guthrie: Is there a right to privacy in the constitution?
Trump: (staring absently) ….I guess there is…I guess there is…. (This is a man who claims to be pro-life).
There is a pregnant pause as he stares at Guthrie.
Guthrie: So—
Trump: Why do you— why just out of curiosity, why do you ask that question?
Guthrie: Well, I’m just wondering how that squares with your pro-life views?
Trump: (pausing) Well, umm, it’s a pretty strange way of getting to pro-life…I mean; it’s a very unique way of asking about pro-life… Why are you, what does that have to do with privacy? How you are…how are you equating pro-life with privacy? (this is a man who has called Barack Obama stupid).
Guthrie: (staring at Trump with a look of “Oh my, oh my”) Well, you know about the Roe V. Wade decision? 
Trump:  Yes, sure—Look, I’m for pro-life—I’m pro-life. I’ve said it. I’m very strong there and I’m strong on pro-life….

He got a little testy with George Stephanopoulos when he asked him ""You said that you sent investigators to Hawaii and you said quote, 'They cannot believe what they're finding.' What have they found?"..No answer from Trump.

Then Trump did an interview with my favorite investigative reporter, Michael Isikoff who found that Trump hotels and casinos in Atlantic City have filed for bankruptcy protection three times. While Trump blamed market forces, he has long been the chairman of the board for the casino businesses.
In his defense, Trump said he "didn't run the company." Isikoff then asked why he was paid $2 million per year to chair the board of that business. Trump replied: "Excuse me. Because I'm a genius, okay."...Isikoff also found out "that there have been many high profile bankruptcy filings, bad real estate deals, and a trail of ongoing lawsuits accusing him of bad business practices."

"Another questionable move was "Trump University," an online, for-profit business education firm. The attorney general in Texas ordered him to stop using the word "university" in its title. Trump said his company was unaware of restrictions on the use of that word."

.Today Donal Trump is the GOP frontrunner but that will change with the more interviews he gives or does the GOP like tough, crazy, and stupid?Move over Tea Party make room for the Donald.

Let’s start without them

I don't even attempt to argue with the global warming deniers anymore, because it's a waste of energy. The Republican Party is trying limiting the powers of the EPA by stripping it of its ability to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. They are also gutting the State Department's climate aid programs and slashing funds for energy and climate research across the federal government. It's time to start Green programs that don't need Federal grants.

A good place to start is with our energy wasting buildings. Our skyscrapers are among the worst culprits in urban areas when it comes to energy consumption and carbon emissions with their outdated heating, cooling, and lighting systems. The other morning I heard Rick Fedrizzi, CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council, said he has certified more than 1000 retrofits of existing buildings around the globe since 2002. About 5,234 retrofits are in the works saving 200 million metric tons of carbon.

The biggest success story so far is the Empire State building which is undergoing a $13 million retrofit, which will pay for itself in three years in reduced annual energy consumption. They will reduce their energy costs by 38%; and part of their costs was reduced with a $2 million dollar grant from New York State. Instead of replacing the 6,514 windows, they cleaned them and insulated them in place. And Instead of paying $2500 each, to replace them; the latter solution only cost $700 per window. Some people called for installing solar cells or even a windmill but that didn't make economic sense.

The lobbyists for dirty coal and big oil are not the only bottlenecks keeping us from switching to alternative fuels…… Right now about 60% of the cost of investing in alternative fuels goes overseas, because that's where the solar panels, wind turbines, etc. are being made. Retrofitting keeps the jobs right here in the good old USA.

Is it really about Huckleberry Finn?

Huckleberry Finn is a literary masterpiece that we all read as children; I wouldn't want a word changed. You don't change history; you accept the era, morals, and people of that time….And you post that story at your own peril in Victoria,unless your goal is  to liven up the forum.
I'm not surprised that some posters in the forum are using this issue to support generational racism because the book is not about Chris Rock or the hip- hop generation using the N- word in their daily vocabulary. Parkpork, waywardwind and top sarge are not the people I would choose to explain the reason we should leave Huckleberry Finn, as is because they took it to a level that has nothing to do with the novel.

Parkpork seems to think that we shouldn't walk on eggshells or no one should be offended if the N- word is used in their presence because compared to words we accept; it should be totally acceptable. If you don't believe that you're one of the stupidest creatures on earth. Others chimed in with other racial slurs that are taken for granted but think we take extra precaution to avoid using the N-word. Didn't parkpork tell Bigj that Mexican Americans didn't contribute anything to the advancement of the United States? As expected, waywardwind praised the writing of parkpork and said “I sincerely hope the censors at the advocate did not delete your thoughtful accurate and humorous post. You have said what, I believe, most of us think, and said it in a way that should make anyone understand how ridiculous it is to change Twain's work." The post wasn't accurate because it was just what parkpork assumed to be accurate, it could be described as thoughtful but I fail to see any humor in the post. The poster that goes by the name of waywardwind once stated that we should have our military placed on the southern border to shoot anything that moves northward. He later rescinded because he thought some wildlife might be caught in the crossfire. I did not read the ramblings of topsarge but I suspect he took it up a notch. All the others will come out of the wood work....Bottom line ,some posters don’t have any credibility when it comes to the issue of race.

A black college professor named David Bradley, told 60 Minutes it's not an honor to replace the N- word with the word slave. In fact slave might be worse. We can make it all about political- correctness and blame that, or we can accept Huckleberry Finn in the original form, and feel proud that we have evolved from that. I don't think that we should use the article to try to justify generational racism or condemn those that use the N-word daily amongst friends or to sell music. That's another subject altogether.

I'm glad I have this blog to post my opinions without having to chastise others for their remarks. I still believe there are two sides to every subject and the first two posters in the thread proved that, by presenting a good case for" Huckleberry Finn" to remain untouched.

Online integrity

It's getting a little testy on our online forum because the moderators are finally starting to enforce some rules and the usual suspects are squawking. Some are asking for a free in -for -all format and others are whining about equality. Still another poster day goes by the name of justamom would benefit by reading the constitution.... The Victoria Advocate online forum is not censoring anyone, nor can they infringe on anyone's first amendment rights of free speech. It's not rocket science; the Advocate staff is just reemphasizing the rules for posting. The implicated individuals are in denial; they know exactly what they're doing, but they want to do more of it and want others to agree with them. The waywardwind continues to make a plea for the return of Kenneth Schustereit, but he doesn't have the foggiest idea, what transpired to get Kenneth banned. Was it multiple warnings or a disagreement that couldn't be reconciled?

I have mixed feelings concerning Lamppost's latest blog. On one hand, it would certainly get my ire to get emails like the ones he has posted. I have never have received an unflattering e-mail but a lot of my online friends have. I know two females that got threatening e-mails because they took a liberal side. Those emails worked because they left the forum but the individual that wrote those emails is still posting today. That's the reason I have mixed feelings. About three years ago, I threatened to expose the blogger who wrote those threatening emails by submitting the evidence online. For some reason, he took a long leave of absence, so I forgot about it. There is a cabal that not only wants their opinion to be seen and heard, but like online evangelists, they want to convert everyone to their line of thinking. I would like to think that I would never divulge an e-mail that was sent to me in confidence but according to Lamppost, he didn't solicit nor was he expecting an email from Dale Zuck. If that is the case; he is under no obligation to keep an e-mail secret; especially if it's an ongoing feud. I know for a fact that the Ron Paulites (don't tax me bro) types are anti- taxes zealots who will demagogue anyone and anything, if they think it will raise their property taxes by $1.25. People like that can't wait to get into office, so they cut anything that might raise their property taxes. They are driven by ideology and their wallets. Don't take my word for it, compile a list of their comments, and I bet at least 90% of their posts have to do with taxes.

Am I being hypocritical for complaining about personal information being revealed online? I complained about a login script that was doctored without the express permission from the Victoria Advocate. Lamppost's blog did divulge the contents of two e-mails but evidently it was within the rules because he had done that before. Perhaps we're taking a kinder and gentler approach now, where questionable blogs and comments will be deleted...I guess it's about keeping a free flowing respectful environment.

I've had a couple of blogs that were directed at me, but I considered the source, so I never retaliated. I used to write a contradicting blog because I didn't want unsubstantiated material to stand for a fact. I also remember the "mosque at ground zero" blog I wrote last year where another blog with the exact opposite view was placed above mine. Then there what I call the "AM radio blogs."..It’s a place where those interested in participating, can have their ideological food fights until heart content.Then again, some die the lonely death of dismissal.

Am I being a hypocrite again?Is there verifiable proof that the Advocate treats one group or an individual better or worse than others?I haven't seen it.... Is there another way at looking at the whole situation? Of course there is, so why don’t you tell where I’m wrong.

I can’t believe the locals said that

I don't know what to think about some of the comments that are being made in our local forum; particularly on the firing of the two firefighters for sexual harassment.  I have to put the “birther” thread in a section all its own because our last count we had about seven genuine “birthers.” they can continue convincing each other that president Obama was not born in this country ; they are harmless.  I just can't believe they don’t know that Kyle is jerking their chain with the Trump blog. Thor and topsarge are actually trying to challenge…Even after Edith Ann and Rebecca called it funny.

I knew waywardwind was a diehard Ron Paul libertarian but his comments in the sexual harassment thread amazed me. He said “Since all it takes is one offended person, why don't we fire that one? Morale would improve, and there'd only be one vacant post instead of two…As if that wasn’t enough he went onto to say “Lamppost...”I wouldn't be bashing the city for not firing the guys. I'd be bashing the thin-skinned fool who went to the lawyer AND I'd be bashing the lawyer for taking the case to seek half of whatever take he could extort out of the city. “ He is consistent, he doesn't like authority,rules, or lawyers.  I can understand how some wives are being defensive because they know of the difficulties of being a fireman but that's not what the thread is about.  As president Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon found out; no one is above the law.  Public and private employees have to obey the rules or suffer the consequences. There are always extenuating circumstances but that's why most companies have some sort of investigation of the facts and look at personnel records before they make a final judgment.  I found myself agreeing with Lamppost, even though he once said that he never agrees with me because he's a conservative.  He may be, but I've seen some posts of his that would make a liberal proud…:-)


A real nice poster that goes by the name of jbj is just itching to have a talk radio like discussion with me but I won't let him.  It's pretty comical to see try to use the same tricks politicians use to prove a point. i.e He dismissed the Wall Street/NBC poll I posted because he said it was a bias NBC poll. He conveniently disregarded the Wall Street Journal part of it. The republican politicians were trying to say that we're only in this mess because the democrats failed to pass a budget when they had both houses. The politicians know that they were part of a problem because of all the filibusters but they know their constituents have already  forgotten. I don't know if he is naive or only optimistic because he thinks our government is of,for, and of the people.  In a classic civics textbook definition I would agree, but until we get  a serious campaign finance reform bill passed; it will be about the special interest and the big money they provide.

Have a good weekend

It’s not censorship

I'm glad to see the Victoria Advocate  is finally stepping up and taking charge.  They are the proprietors and it's about time they show it.  I'm forever grateful for the opportunity to post my views online but if credible posters continue to leave; what good is it?

Some posters think they have a first amendment right to post anything they like.  The first amendment applies to the government not infringing on your rights. Private individuals or businesses don't necessarily have to apply that standard.  Others think they're being censored; perhaps they are, but that's something that should be discussed with the moderator, via email.  I've seen a few posters dare the moderator to delete their comments.  Sometimes they are left intact, but it shouldn't surprise the poster if it is deleted because they expected it.  There will always be people that take it to the water's edge because it's in their nature, but they're fully aware of what they're doing.  Others need to show a tough persona to make up for their lack of knowledge.  Point is,we all have different personalities, and we will all occasionally make a mistake but I'm sure we all have a courteous gene and we should all make more use of it.

I thought Gabe Semenza submitted an interesting blog called " Plans for a Victoria River Walk?" It looked like he put a lot of work into it, got 224 views, but it didn't seem to be appreciated  by the comments it received.  I know there  are some well placed anger against our city and county officials but will the constant negativity discourage well intended blogs?  I've always wondered why creditable posters  are always leaving.  I know there are several reasons but how many are being discouraged by all the negativity?  I've seen other public forums where anything goes, but that doesn't mean Victoria has to follow suit.  For all the years that I've been involved; I've read a lot of intelligent posts, so I know the talent pool is out there.  I would like for them to come back, so we could all benefit.  It's good to see SatansLittleBuddy and Zorro are  making their way back.

A doctor on retainer?

I read an interesting article in yesterday's Houston Chronicle, about some doctors in the Houston-area who charge their patients an annual fee of $1500-$1800 a year for customized services.  At that rate the doctors would receive about $750,000 a year plus what insurance paid for services.  This would allow the doctor have a customer base of about 500, instead of the usual one every 15 minutes for 8 hours.  This would allow the doctor to make house calls and get to know his patients on a personal level.  The lower case load allows the doctor to focus on wellness from weight management to depression.

Would you know it; United Healthcare and Cigna has threaten to throw them out of the network because they disapprove of their so- called " concierge medicine" model.  Other insurers like Aetna and  Blue Cross Blue Shield are OK with "concierge medicine" as long as the insurers and and doctors know that the retainer fee is not reimbursable.

Jennifer Ahrens, the Texas Dept of insurance's senior associate commissioner for life health and life licensing programs said the doctors who enter into these discounted-fee contracts can only charge payments related co-payments are co-insurance and no additional fees.  They are afraid that the doctors want to stop dealing with the insurance companies entirely making patients pay upfront for every visit....  What do you want to bet that the big insurance companies will try to lobby the Texas legislators to make  " concierge medicine" illegal?

I can see where it would benefit me and my wife but probably not a young healthy individual or couple.

On a personal note ;it seems like the forum is becoming stale,boring and a dumping ground for  bitching,complaining and whining...Maybe it's just me wanting something that might not be achievable ..Like a give and take discussion...Maybe I'm part of the problem..:-)

How the iPad changed my life

I wouldn't try to get away with sending an E-anniversary card or flowers but the iPad has changed the way I do things. The memory fades as you get older, so just about every serial number, the doctor's appointments, blood tests, medications, birthdays, addresses, passwords, and probably of a lot of other things that don't need to be documented are on this iPad. That information and about 50 applications make this device something I can’t afford to lose.

It seems like there's not a day or least a week that goes by that I don't find a new use for the iPad. Yesterday was major league baseball's opening day so I downloaded an app called “At Bat11” which allows me to watch a live ball game; it's too bad that I can’t watch the Astros because I live in their market area. I've had a free ABC player app where I can watch ABC shows a day after their broadcast. Then there's CNN, CBS, NPR, Newsweek and Time for all the news I can stand. As if that's not enough, I have the Sirus Internet radio app which gives me about 170 different channels I can listen to.

The iPad fits my over obsession for information, personality. I have a know-it-all relative who likes to dominate our holiday reunions by being an authority on every subject. Last year, my devious sister hinted that I should bring along my iPad to our next get -together. As a relative started telling my cousin that avocados were unhealthy; I pulled out my iPad and went straight to Google and read aloud “Avocados provide nearly 20 essential nutrients, including fiber, potassium, Vitamin E, B-vitamins and folic acid,” he left the room for a little while to get a beer, but when he got back, he wasn’t as loud, and he chose his words carefully while taking a peek, to see if I was Goggling. I later told my wife that I was wrong for doing that because being a know-it-all is part of my relative’s personality, and I like him as is.

They are some negatives like downloading intrusive applications like Pageonce which I did. I just entered one credit card and bank information and a week later I got an e-mail telling me about a purchase I had just made and asking me for more info, so I just deleted the app. I've had my heart beating 10 times the normal amount heart a few times because I thought I had lost the unit. One time after riding my bike, I locked it up in the garage but I left the iPad outside the garage and forgetting it as I went into the house for the night. Luckily, I don't go over an hour without using my iPad. I couldn't find it so the heart started pounding but after retracing my steps, I found where I had left it, realizing that it might have stayed outside for the night. I'm sure some neighborhood kids probably would have rung my doorbell with iPad in hand…

I wish that the iPad would have been invented a long time ago, because there is an app that can in keep up with the whereabouts of your teenagers. But then again, we didn’t have cell phones back then and I'm not so sure I would have liked the feedback.

When the kids call, I always overhear my wife tell them “you know your dad; he never gets off that iPad you had to give him for father's day.”…. I think she is getting a little bit tired of hearing “there’s an app for that.”