Decorators; Please Invent Something To Replace Pillows

Our bed is covered with pillows as are the chairs in our sitting area. Each morning the bed gets made and the pillows replaced. In the evening the process is reversed. Downstairs we have pillows everywhere. It looks nice. But we stack them on side chairs because we need to sit, read, and watch television. When we know someone is visiting, we have to put them back on display. We've been doing this for years.

It's time to invent some other type of decoration for furniture. I can stand it no longer. My wife has her decorator coming to the house in a couple of days to work on a project and I intend to ask if pillows are on their way to extinction. I hope so.

Vote Them All Out

The Orlando Sentinel, not usually known as a bastion of hard reporting, actually had an interesting article this morning. Unfortunately it made me sick. Our legislators, once again, were proving to be unworthy of our trust. Their disdain for their constituents is getting old. They all, even the good ones because you often can't tell who is really wearing the white hat, need to be voted out again and again until new public servants understand they work for us.

The latest charade is the State of Florida telling us they have reduced staff and have not replaced open positions. 5500 positions have been open for more than one month. That sounds like it could be cutting to the bone, which is what the legislature said when it found it necessary to raise selected taxes and fees over the past year. Now it is reported that state law KEEPS FUNDING those positions until they are eliminated! The money can be used for pay increases or to fund other expenses. The head count may be down, but the costs continue. Government has no respect for those that provide them with the money they waste. Maybe they are correct. If we remain stupid and let the pillaging continue, maybe we don't deserve any respect.

Let's prove them wrong and start voting them all out. Again and again.

The Martians Will Never Attack Us

I have a golfing buddy that is fond of saying the Martians will never attack because they're afraid of us. When they look down and see how we behave, they shake their heads and decide to stay far away as we are too scary.

What kind of creatures determine that tobacco is harmful, then taxes it to death, but still subsidizes tobacco farming? What specie would allow an elected official, a public servant, like Nancy Pelosi, to have a huge aircraft for personal commuting? The list can go on forever.

Spock was logical. I'm sure Martians would be logical.We are so illogical it is scary. No wonder the Martians will never attack.

No Debt Is Freedom

I have no idea what my credit score might be. 500 or 1000?I'm not even sure of the parameters. Can it get to 1000? It makes no difference as I don't borrow money.

My finances haven't always been so fortunate. As the family was growing we certainly had credit card debt and home mortgages. As a business owner, I was a steady customer of the bank for working capital financing and equipment loans. But, the philosophy has always been pay down debt as fast as possible, don't push the debt envelope.

Institutional credit scoring didn't exist when I was a borrower. Fair Isaac hadn't made their FICO score ubiquitous yet. Creditors looked at all aspects when determining whether to lend money. You either got the money or you didn't. Today consumers are concerned about their number. They should be concerned about their debt! No debt is the ultimate freedom. Forget about tax deductiblity and leveraged return on investment. No debt lets you say "go pound sand" to any decision or answer you don't like. Trust me. Get out of debt and you'll start enjoying life again and you won't have to know your credit score.