Thank You

With all the hyper-marketing to buy stuff surrounding them these days, holidays in the USA seem to have simply lost the essence of their meaning. To many, Easter means candy and gifts, Christmas means food and gifts, and Thanksgiving means food, football, and Black Friday. Today I'm going to do my best to spend the day looking at the many amazing people who have been provided all around me to help me become a better person and to just plain enrich my life. So if you are reading this, chances are you are one of those folks and I'm just plain thankful for you.

My Favorite Veteran

[caption id="attachment_182" align="alignleft" width="209" caption="Captain Charles E. Kendall"][/caption]

Today is Veterans Day and we all have much and many for which to be thankful. Though my dad never went to war, he supported the war and defense efforts of our country for over 27 years in the United States Air Force. I truly appreciate those who put their lives on the line with bullets and rockets flying all around them. But today I want to also remember that behind them are guys like my dad who work their tails off helping to make sure there are fewer bullets and rockets flying around for those on the front lines to dodge. Thanks Col. Charles E. Kendall (US Air Force Retired)!

[caption id="attachment_185" align="aligncenter" width="150" caption="Mom pinning Colonel eagles at promotion"][/caption]

Bailout My *ss

(Ma, don't panic over the title... it was the only appropriate comment I could find for the title)

So, I've put off writing about this for a while. But felt like writing about it today. In September 2007 we "purchased" a home in Henderson CO via an owner finance deal (that's the simplified version of the whole deal) where the owner held a mortgage from CitiMortgage (a subsidiary of Citi which has seen at least $25billion of our tax dollars) and was supposed to pass our payments through to the Citi loan for two years until our self employed status allowed us to refinance with a conventional mortgage. In September of 2008 we became aware the owner had not been passing our monthly payments back through to the CitiMortgage loan and Citi was proceeding with foreclosure on that loan. Essentially that meant we were screwed and would lose all we had invested in the owner finance deal. At the time the house we had "purchased" for $275k was valued at around $242k and the outstanding on the original owner's Citi loan was right at $242k (our outstanding was $235k).

All that to get to this beef. On June 15, 2009 the property was sold by the the clerk's office at Adam's County for $263k to a single bidder. Who was that bidder that paid $21k over what the home was valued and the same amount over what the original owner owed to CitiMortgage? Yep, you guessed it... a Citi subsidiary. So the huge and failing mortgage company you and I are paying taxes to cover a $25billion plus bailout to, paid $21k more for a house than the value of the home, not to mention $21k more than the orginal loan that they were foreclosing on.

So there's another reason for the bailout to have a bad taste in your mouth.

Simply Marvelous - Flute Meets Beatboxing!

This is simply amazing. I love how folks are mashing up what they do into new forms of stuff!

[youtube width="600" height="360"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF2hzA5RNwg[/youtube]

Great stuff happens in crowded places too these days!

Seems that all the news these days about things happening in public places like plane and train terminals is negative. This video is simply a feel-good (obviously staged) event that makes me smile when I see it. We need more great stuff happening, and promoted, in big places where people gather rather than all the stuff we tend to see on the news these days. So, here's my part to promote it!

[youtube width="600" height="360"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq6b9bMBXpg[/youtube]

Suck on this for healthy teeth

I think several folks when I had told them I heard this in a science/health related news story thought I was nuts. But now I see this article so I have some proof my madness is at least founded!

We are entering a whole new era in dentistry. One in which we'll be able to eat candy to prevent cavities. Specifically, we'll be able to suck on a licorice lollipop....

So one day soon we'll be able to prevent cavities with lollipops. Maybe next we'll have plaque scraping treats and edibles that floss for us. Though it is still a thing of the present, this gives me hope that a trip to the dentist will one day be a thing of the past.

http://www.slashfood.com/2008/02/09/suck-on-this-for-healthy-teeth/

Love this dog!

He's a regular at Boulder tech events. Words are simply not enough. (For those who didn't believe me)