Humpday Happenings...

If you're a banker in Scotland...today is a "holiday", which in the UK doesn't mean you're CLOSED..nor is it a PUBLIC holiday...
It's just CALLED a holiday...for holiday's sake, apparently (to harmonize such days, as they put it).
Aren't you STILL GLAD we won the War for Independence?
Here in the Heartland, we're waking up to single digit temps which will eventually give way to highs in the upper 20s.
Thank God for "global warming", hmm?

*** As you may recall, today is the day we usually have our Military Quote of the Week, but in the spirit of something different, let's try a MOTTO OF THE WEEK.
This could be a city, state, or country...could be a military motto, or even a motto that has come down through the years in the public OR private sector.
And although they are in essence QUOTES, they are something that these people believed and practiced.
I think you might find many of them JUST as applicable today as when they were first spoken.
Here we go:
"No amount of ability is of the slightest avail without honor."
So, WHO SAID THAT?
The answer at the top of tomorrow's post.
Meanwhile, back at the cliff-side...
*** First up, and UPDATE to the last HOMICIDE of 2012 (which was NUMBER THIRTY).
Here's the story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130102/LOCAL07/301029975

It appears the INITIAL report of a shooting was premature.
The actual C.O.D. was blunt-force trauma...ergo the man was beaten to death.
J. Robert Shimer, 58, a store employee was the victim.
According to Journal-Gazette records, the number of homicides is higher than usual for the county.
Over the past three decades, the average number has been TWENTY-FIVE, which is the same number I've been predicting for the last several years. The only difference was that in 2012, I stated that reaching THIRTY was not beyond a possibility.
I will say again that we could very well reach THIRTY...or MORE.
*** Next up, we HAVE gone over the "cliff", despite what the lame-stream media says...we didn't avoid a DAMN thing.

We have managed to postpone the inevitable, however.
Our government has once again been presented with a "patient" (that's we, the people) with a gaping chest wound...and our "Fearless Leader" decided the BEST course of action was a lousy BAND-AID...
That's NOT going to last all that long...not with the DEBT CEILING looming...which will no doubt be RAISED further.

At this rate, our dollar won't be worth the 40 cents it's currently worth.
Then, ALL the dominoes will begin to fall.
What continues to amaze me, is that THIS administration has NO f$cking idea on how to MANAGE (our) MONEY.
Hell, WE know what happens when WE don't take care of OUR funds, right?
But the governemnt, those (our) civil SERVANTS have NO clue.

They just keep spending...and they keep printing, and to hell with tomorrow.
Well folks, TOMORROW is always closer than we think, and it DOES arrive with both frequency AND regularity, does it not?
If the average taxpayer can manage a budget AND income, what the hell is wrong with a government that cannot?
We can't go out and get every damn thing WE want...we usually have to SAVE to get it...or sometimes do WITHOUT.
And many times, we find those things that we THOUGHT we wanted...we really didn't.
So, we spent our money WISELY...and CAUTIOUSLY, and even SAVE for that proverbial rainy day.
We are the ant, and the government is the grasshopper...it's that simple.
Would we be so fortunate that our government would LEARN from it's people...for a change.
*** New Year's Day at our "Fortress" went well, as New Years go...
(even though I didn't see any of the Mummers parade from Philly - no station carried a national broadcast...damn!)
I opened up our matching Walther PPK BB pistols, took them downstairs to our "range" and gave 'em both a TEST DRIVE.

Needless to say, I was NOT disappointed.
Both operated as designed, shot well for short, fixed iron sights (once you compensate after a few rounds), and hit where they were aimed.
Not too shabby at all.
They're not AS powerful as the other pistols I have (the PPK has a muzzle velocity of close to 300 FPS, while the XBG and M&P have muzzle velocities OVER 400 FPS), and you can tell the difference.
The COOL thing about the PPK is that they have a "blowback" feature...looks damn realistic. And along with a manual safety, they also have a de-cock feature, which means no accidental discharge.
 (I hate when that happens, especially with PHASERS...lol)

Later in the day, the lovely Mrs. Bobby G. went out and cooked...aka stopped over to China Buffet for take out.
And the food is really fantastic...and they give you SO damn much for the price.
We got shrimp-fried rice (for Wifey) along with crab Rangoon, some egg rolls, and pork lo-mein for me.
Suffice it to say that we'll be having leftovers for DAYS...which breaks down to UNDER $3 a meal...now THAT is frugal (and well-fed)!

And we also got us a new 2013 CALENDAR...which was free!
The calendar has some really cool PANDAS on the scroll (I love the artwork), and that means that THIS year is...the year of the SNAKE...!?!
--To borrow from Momma Fargo:
((...sound of a stylus skating across a record...))
"WTF???"
I though it was a year of the BEAR...didn't see ANY snakes on the calendar.
In fact, the Chinese zodiac HAS NO BEAR in it's animal signs...
Go figure.
Still, they ARE pretty damn cute.
*** Lastly today, all too often we chase after the brass ring on the carousel, and many times we extend our reach too far...with the predictable results.
We fall off the horse.
(our government is chronically guilty of that)
Perhaps we're all not meant to HAVE that brass ring...and that doesn't mean we're not WORTHY of having it.
It means we need to reach closer to home to find our OWN "prize", as it were.

We look at a far distance, see something, and decide we want it, when all we REALLY have to do is look immediately around us and find what we were actually searching for all along.
Becoming content with what you HAVE is many times worth more than being desirous of the unobtainable.
And with such contentment will come a sense of accomplishment...that you did something worthwhile.
Life does not have to be one grandiose thing after another.
It's all about ALL those little things...things we take for granted that accumulate over time and demonstrate to us how MUCH we actually receive.
In that, we should show the gratitude that is deserved.

And therein lies the lesson for today.

Be well, make a difference to someone, and...

Stay SAFE out there, America.