The Girls Next Door

The reality show that follows the lives of Hugh Hefner and his 3 girlfriends. Anyone who has seen this show can attest to the fact that it’s a little addicting. Jake watches it on a regular basis, despite his preference for brunettes. I watch it when nothing else is on. Plus it provides a little inner satisfaction to see how utterly dumb these beautiful silicone-enhanced woman are.

I find it odd that Holly, the “main” girlfriend, could be genuinely attracted to Hef. Im about her age, and I doubt I could find any 80 something year old man attractive. In fact, the thought repulses me. She always talks about how she wants to have kids with him, and that her clock is ticking. Ummm….. if she thinks her clock is ticking… So Im thinking that she might want to try convincing him to drop the other 2 girlfriends before they begin the baby making process. I find it difficult to comprehend why she would want an 82 year old man to be the father to her children. Obviously he isn’t going to be able to play the role father to the kid. In fact, it is more likely that she may be bottle feeding both, the baby and the father, at the same time. Even if she just wants to ensure herself a guaranteed income for life, its not fair to use a child as the means for that.

The other two, Bridgette and Kendra, are even more absurd So you already know that you are #2 and #3. Obviously there is no long term potential in that relationship (although, long term with an 82 year old is highly relative). Hef was recently quoted:

"To be perfectly frank, I have unexpectedly fallen in love," Hefner said of his ongoing relationship with the three women. "It is the relationship with Holly that will probably last forever. The others will last for as long as they want it to last before going on with their careers and lives."

Talk about being low on the totem pole! Obviously its the fame and fortune (who wouldn’t want to have free room and board at the playboy mansion, along with all the celebrity perks that come along with it) that they are after, but 2 of the 3 are getting up there in age, and their looks aren’t going to be around for much longer. Then what? Kendra is still quite young, but her brain capabilities are are slim to none. When her looks go, she will definately be left with nothing but silicone.

I wonder what the rules are in that relationship? Is it monogamous (maybe that’s the wrong word given that there are 3 girlfriends). Then again, maybe Holly is the only one subjected to the sexual relationship. Or maybe the entire thing is a scam and its strictly for show. In one episode, Hefs secretary ASKS him if its ok that the girls come over to her house to play cards. Does he dictate what the girls can and cant do and where they can and cant go? I wonder what the contract they had to sign in order to become a “girlfriend” says and how hard the lawyers drafting it laughed before they came up with such a preposterous legal document.

Stupid Lazy Teachers

Last night I was watching some Garth Brooks fundraising concert for the CA firefighters (this was due to the devastation caused by the recent S. Cal fires). While it was a worthy cause, it got me to thinking about how much recognition firefighters and police officers get, while other equal (or more important) jobs get little recognition and sometimes even criticism.

One example of this is teachers. Teachers get a bad rap and have the reputation of being overpaid, underworked, lazy and unproductive. Many people are under the impression that teachers only work 9 months of the year, and during those nine months they only work 6 hours a day. Public perception is that most people go into this field because it’s an easy way to make a living, which makes most teachers horrible at their job. Therefore, their below average salaries should be more than enough to compensation.

In reality, I think most teachers are pretty good at what they do. I have subbed in everything from kindergarten to 12th grade, and from my experience, most teachers have a lot of enthusiasm and passion for what they do. It takes a lot to be “ON” all day. Its not the kind of job that you can just space out for 10 min while your boss is out of the room. Even after the kids leave, there is still a few hours worth of work left to complete. Teachers spend a significant amount of time with our kids, yet nobody really gives them credit for the impact that they make – maybe because people tend to be short-sighted and don’t see the long term effects.

In 2002, Jake and I took a trip to NYC. I was actually quite disappointed in the people of NYC, especially the police officers. While I appreciate that they put their lives on the line everyday, I’d have to say they were rude and unhelpful – which was quite a surprise to me given the events of 9/11. We asked one officer outside a subway for directions and he acted annoyed that he had to take a minute out of his smoke break to give directions to tourists. He got even more of an attitude when we didn’t understand him to do his THICK Brooklyn accent. Truth be told, I haven’t had a lot of encounters with police officers, but from what I have seen, they operate under an “Im almighty because I am a cop” perception. They have an important job, but they get fairly compensated – despite needing little to no education.

Back to the benefit concert. The impression it left me with is that firefighters and fire departments were grossly underfunded. They didn’t get paid enough for what they do, and fire departments didn’t get enough funding to provide effective services. Now, I have only known a few firefighters, but they didn’t seem to have any money worries. They “work” long days, but much of that time is just spent at the station where they sleep, watch tv, play video games, etc.. They get paid massive overtime for this. Occasionally they get a call, and this is when they might be putting their life on the line. Again, they get paid handsomely for their work, get plenty of recognition, yet that career path has very low requirements to get in. The requirements are primarily physical and with a little bit of effort, almost anyone could become a firefighter.

While I am not saying that cops and firefighters deserve no credit, we seem to hold them on a pedestal, all the while criticizing and passing judgment on other jobs. I’d like to come across just one article that criticizes cops and firefighters for wanting better benefits or more money, but I won’t because that wouldn’t be socially acceptable. Yet, its commonplace to condemn teachers – whether it’s their unions, their desire for fair pay, or their distaste of those great No Child Left Behind laws.

dollars and "sense"

This morning I read an article about the federal governments’ new stimulus plan to revive the economy – not that we’re in a recession or anything…. As I understand it, everyone who earns an income would qualify for at least $300. Families with children would receive an additional $300 per child up to $1200. So if this plan goes through, our family would be entitled to a whopping $1200 check. I started thinking what I would use it for and this is what I came up with:

1.A few months worth of Sierra Pacific power bills. Since they hiked up our rates by 20%, winter heating bills in Reno have been causing minor heart attacks around town every time a customer opens their bill.

2. Filling up with $3.00 gas – and thinking that it’s cheap!

3. $4 gallons of milk. Believe it or not, it is possible to find WINE that is about the same price as milk. Granted, its not very good wine, but even bad wine is less disgusting than milk.

4. $200/night Vegas hotel room (Whatever happened to cheap food and rooms in Vegas??? Those must’ve gone extinct since the last time I was there).

5. Health insurance premiums. Ok, so we’re lucky enough to not have high insurance costs, but the average family in the US in now paying upwards of $12,000/year in health insurance premiums. If Jake didn’t work for the state, we’d be in big doo doo.


The irony is that we would probably end up spending it on our trip to Costa Rica (yes, I have Jake almost convinced). So, unless you count the airplane fare as part of the U.S. economy, then most of our “rebate” would be stimulating the Costa Rican economy.

The more things change, the more they remain... insane.

Its kind of funny how people just sort of fall into a rut – whether it’s the clothes they wear, the schedules they follow or the food they eat. Change is something most people run from. So why is it that all these politicians are running on the platform that we need change? Not that I disagree with it, but from my perceptions, change is something people fear, not something people want.

I, on the other hand, need change. I don’t enjoy routines and tend to get bored from the same ol’ thing. I don’t easily get addicted to things because I grow tired of them before I get to the point where I’m addicted. In some ways, I think my life would be a lot easier if I was content with routine, but I think the dissatisfaction and boredom I get enables me to expand my horizons and experience new things. I noticed the other day that my wardrobe was basically turning into two things; jeans and cute black shirts. So I went out and specifically looked for everyday pants that I could wear that were not jeans along with brightly colored shirts. I was worried that this new wardrobe modification would put me out of my comfort zone, but instead it turned out to be a nice expansion to my very plain closet selection.

I am totally on board with these people who are chanting for change in this country. I think we are all hoping for fresh insights, ideas and direction in the way the country is run. For someone like me, it is a pledge that I welcome with open arms. What I cannot comprehend, is how normal people can be so inspired by this message, when even the slightest modifications in their own daily lives are cause for great concern. I have a feeling that there might be a different sentiment this time next year, when all these changes start taking effect (assuming a democrat wins).

The Fam

Thats Jake and I. No, I do not have a star growing out of the top of my head. Thats the top of the Christmas tree :o)

Heres Jacob. Thats his "I didnt sneak any candy, so please don't take my video games away" look.

Megan and I. I'm trying to bond more with her more. She is a smart little girl, but almost too smart for her own good sometimes. She is also hard headed like her mom and quite a bit sneaky too.

Does it get any cuter than this? Lexi not only looks sweet and innocent, but she is one of the sweetest kids youll ever meet. She is a prime example of what youd imagine a cute little 3 year old being like.

Voters: Gimme an Atheist, not a Muslim

With the presidential election coming up this year, there has been a lot of news coverage regarding religion in politics. Romney and his Mormon faith, being at the center of it all. Apparently the religious right doesn’t perceive him as a Christian; therefore his electability comes into question with a huge base of the Republican Party. They conducted a study that showed how likely voters would be to elect a Catholic, Jew, Mormon, etc. Not surprisingly, an atheist candidate would be the among the least likely to get voter support. More surprising was that even less people would vote for a Muslim. Cause' we all know that believing in nothing is way better than believing in something other than our own God, right?

A while ago, I happen to catch a debate on CNN (or maybe it was Fox News?) between a male religious figure and a middle aged, female atheist. This was a while ago, so I don’t remember the details, but basically it came down to the Christian representative blaming Atheists for the problems of the world. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. I don’t consider myself an Atheist, probably more of an Agnostic, although I would like to feel that I am an honest, respectable person. I know many other people that are downright Atheists and a few of those are the most honest people I have ever known. On the other hand, I have known many “Christians” who lived far from perfect lives.

I once was chastised by a co-worker for not raising my children with a good Christian upbringing. In the time I worked with him, he stole tips, drove home drunk with his 15 year old daughter in the back sleeping, and hit on me constantly, all, while claiming to love his overweight wife. On another occasion, I was at playgroup and a couple of the moms in the group were discussing religion. One mom (a very holier-than-thou type) proclaimed that she didn’t care what religion someone was as long as they believed in god. She would not want her kids exposed to such a horrible thing. Needless to say, I stayed out of the conversation for fear that my kids would suffer due to their parents’ ghastly beliefs.

So that leads me to ask; is the Bible really necessary to decipher wrong from right? My philosophy is to take the Bible (or the equivalent) out of the equation and instead ask the question, “will it hurt anyone, either physically or emotionally?”

Obviously, Murder, cheating on a spouse, theft, and lying would be considered wrong in my book. Then there are things like gay marriage. For religious folks, that’s one of the worst things in the book. I figure that it’s not hurting anyone, in fact, it’s helping society as a whole, producing a stable family unit. Then there are other things, like sex, that really are more personal decisions that have less to do with whether its wrong or right, but more to do with complicated variables that determine whether or not a person is making the right choice at the right time. For example, it would be wrong for a 16 year old regardless of the circumstances. The same cannot be said for a 30 year old.

In any case, I just find it a little unsettling about how people judge based on what they believe rather than how they live their everyday lives. Maybe people really do need religion to keep them on the right track. Ironically, the minute, insignificant differences that each religion has to distinguish each one from the other, is also the cause for much of the hostility in the world today. So is it really that bad if a person believes in doing good for humanity rather than religion?