34

That number has been in my head since Saturday. It has become a number that represents not just a goal, but a new quest. One that will challenge and push me in ways that I'm not even sure i can handle.

34 is the number of dollars that Deb Welsh said that she spent on power last month. I didn't even know that was possible. We were talking about her life and her life without turning her air on and she commented that without it she had transformed the amount she spent on power and the how she had adjusted to summer heat last year.

I thought about it, and even admired her a bit, but i didn't think much about it until Sunday afternoon when I sat down to pay my bills for the month and I wrote a check to Alabama Power for $142.14. That number sounds completely ridiculous when you set it next to 34.. watch 34/142.14. See how huge that number looks?

The problem that I have with Deb is that if I talk to her for too long, she starts making sense. The other problem that i have is that I'm starting to think that she is right. It is ridiculous for me to spend that percentage of my disposable income on air conditioning. So, I have decided to at least try to move toward Deb's 34. Sunday night I moved my thermostat to 85 and ducktaped the control. I know that is a long way from turning it all the way off but the goal for this month is to get the power bill to $75. When we get to that point we will look at how much I have adjusted or how miserable I am and decide where to go from there.

Camp Sumatanga

I don't think that I have anything to add anything to what Lauren Roden wrote about Sumatanga. I also, dont think I could write it better. So I'm just going to post her thoughts. From Lauren Elizabeth Roden Love is a place, part II... As most of you have heard, our beloved Sumatanga is in need. I don't know about you, but I cannot fathom my life without camp and frankly, I'm not even interested in entertaining that possibility. So, what do we do? From what I understand, camp needs a couple of things to move it toward sustainability. 1. They need people to use their facilities. Schedule your next family/college/high school reunion at camp. Send your kid to camp..send your kid's kid to camp... send your neighbor's kid to camp. 2. They need donations- monetary and in-kind gifts. On their website, they have a list of needed items and potential volunteer projects. If you're looking for a small service project for your kids... have them come out to camp for a day help out. 3. They need you to get the word out... Camp is probably one of our most underused resources in the NAC. I know that everyone is watching their money right now, but this strikes me as one of those times where it is important to consider the intangible value that a healthy Sumatanga brings to the NAC (and the world- as cheesy as that sounds). I have met people from all over the country who have heard of Sumatanga and who know how special it is. Just think about the people you know who are a product of the camping programs at Sumatanga (which is only a small facet of the ministry that camp does). Think about how your life was transformed by your experiences there. Try to put a price on it... As the wise poet Wendell Berry said: So, friends, every day do something that won't compute. Love the Lord. Love the world. Work for nothing. Take all that you have and be poor. Love someone who does not deserve it. Ask the questions that have no answers. Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias. Say that your main crop is the forest that you did not plant, that you will not live to harvest. Practice Resurrection.

My Long Coming Rant on our Current Government Situation

To say that I am frustrated with government right now would be a gross understatement. Whether it is the idiocy of the Jefferson County Commission, whether it is the inability of that Alabama Department of Corrections to hold prisoners, or whether it is the Congressional Leadership's inability to understand the realities of economics and this world, I am blown away.

We are continually told by the Obama government right now that we are in the worst financial shape this country has seen in a century. Since the economic stimulus bill that spent $787 BILLION we have lost 1.6 million jobs around America while the Obama White House crows that the money has helped save or created 150,000 jobs. I know that this is insensitive to write, but I would rather have my $787 billion back and let go of the 150,000 jobs. (787,000,000,000 divided by 150,000 = $5,246,666.66 PER JOB.)

For years I have had my liberal friends tell me how ridiculous it is to believe in the theory of trickle down economics. They have talked about the Reagan administration and the first Bush administration lining the pockets of Big Business on the backs of the poor. My question today is, "Why are you not screaming about us handing out $787,000,000,000 to businesses with almost no results?" The answer is simple: Barack Obama is writing the checks. If the name Bush, or Reagan were on the bottoms of these checks we would be inundated with article after article and story after story about the Auto Bailout being about nothing other than trying to make sure that we consumed plenty of oil so that Bush's oil friends could get rich.... where are these stories? Why is no one asking why this money has had little or no effect on the economy?

Also, have you read that Congress is this week working on a bill that will tax health care incentives? Yes, the money will go to continue our ramp up toward socialized medicine. Nomatter whether you are for or against this, lets take a moment to think this out.... We are in the midst of the worst economic downturn in history (a line from Obama himself). We are spending $787,000,000,000 so that we can save jobs, take some burden off struggling businesses and get the economy on its feed. And in the middle of this we are going to put ANOTHER tax on these businesses and add ANOTHER cost to each employee that they have? How does this make sense? How does it make sense to make each employee more expensive? Can anyone else guess where this is headed? More layoffs? So you might ask, why would Congress to this? The answer is easy: THEY DO NOT CARE. They really don't. They are so focused in on making sure that they can pass through their agenda that they are willing to cripple the economy of the country to get there. If the majority of Americans wanted a socialized health care system and if we can find a way to pay for it, then lets do it.

But if we can't pay the bills already and we are in a state of economic panic, how does it make sense to be expanding the financial obligations of the government?

I hate to point to Jefferson Co., Alabama as an example of ANYTHING, but they are going through the same thing that the Federal Government is. They have overextended themselves with promises and services and now that revenue has decreased they are having to find a way to simply survive. They are not trying to expand their services. Quite the opposite. They are looking at every single department that they are running and they are cutting everything that is "non-essential". Why is the federal government not doing the same thing? Why are we not seeing Social Security offices being consolidated to save administrative costs? Why are we not seeing programs that, while worthy, are luxury things not being cut?

DEA, FBI, AFT- cut it in half. Drug enforcement and law enforcement is important, but at times like these you have to get rid of the fat and run on what is only completely necessary.

Post Office - Each town in America no longer needs a stand alone Post Office. Lets consolidate some of them, make the routes more efficient, and don't deliver the mail on Saturday.

National Parks - cut the funding. Protect the land, get rid of the crap.

NO MORE PORK - No more funding for local projects. No subsidies for the World Ketchup Museum. No more town parks or federal grant money for local non-essential building projects.

Each level of administration should cut staffing. Each Senator and Representative can drop 1 or 2 aides. Each Cabinet position can cut staffing by 10%. I know these seem like trivial cuts, but when you multiply this over the enormity of the federal government it adds up.

Why is this not being done? Because Congress can't run the risk of you realizing that you don't really need all these things. If we were to do well without all of those things we might actually demand smaller government.

Want to get upset about your personal tax rate? Go to your boss and have them quit withholding things from your check. You save it all in an account and April 15th of next year write one check for your taxes. All of a sudden it is going to hurt to realize that you made $50,000 and Congress took $18,000 of it. You don't care right now because it doesn't hurt. You don't miss it because you never had it. If tax day was about you having to write the whole thing you would have a stroke and their would be rebellion in the streets.

Please do not read this as a total and complete assault on Barack Obama or the Democratic party alone. I don't believe for a minute that the Republican's or John McCain would have done much of anything different. They would have used the same playbook and gotten the same results. I am not against the government helping people, but we can only do those things when we have the money to do it. This idea that we will just keep spending and hope for the best is idiocy. Anyone who has ever balanced their checkbook knows that at some point you have to make some decisions about what is the most important. Sometimes that means cutting things out of your budget that were worthwhile, and even important. But you have to first keep the lights on and keep the house paid for. When things get better we will start adding in the other stuff again .

The Field of Dreams

The second stop on our Midwestern Adventure was just as cool as the first. We didnt' spend as much time there. Mainly because it is a place where you come, you take it in an you experience it, and then you leave. There was a calming feeling on that field and there was a respect that everyone showed, but it remained unspoken.

I couldn't believe on the ride to Dyersville that I never saw a single sign or mention of the Field of Dreams. I kept waiting for billboards or at least little arrows that had been attached to telephone polls, but there was nothing. It almost got to the point that you started to question whether or not you were going in the right direction. You are going down a very narrow, cheaply paved country road until you are right on it, then you see the first mention of the place, right next to the long driveway. 

It is incredible to believe that the people who own this spot that attracts 65,000 visitors a year have resisted the urge to make this a tourist trap. They have gone out of their way to let the field be what it is. There isn't an attempt to "recreate the magic" or try to pull you in to stopping and wasting a bunch of money. The owner, who lives in the house and keeps the grounds said that he only wants people who really wanted to be here to come. He doesn't want someone to see a sign and make a quick stop through. He wants people to come because they made the decision to be there. There is something rare in that philosophy (and there is a sermon in there).

I can't explain the feeling that you have as you walk around that feel. It isn't dissimilar to the feeling you have walking into the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris or walking into a sanctuary of your youth. There is history there. There is an unspoken respect that transcends any rules that could be posted. 

Late May is not the best time to go if you are wanting the full experience. The corn had only been in the ground for a few weeks so it hadn't grown more than 6 or 8 inches above the ground.  I would have like to walk out of the corn, and I might if I ever return. 

Walking around the field was an interesting experience for me. I can't remember the last time that I actually walked on a baseball field. I'm sure that it was sometime in high school or early in college.

As I walked through the outfield and around the bases I found that my memories were not of Braves games that I had seen, or Barons games that I grew up with. My memories weren't of ghosts that I saw play on this field or of the legends that they represented. My memories were of the fields of the Hoover Baseball park. I thought back to the 1994 Edition of the 9 and 10 year old Dodgers. I thought about the coaches who had picked me to be on their team and had been patient with me when they realized they had wasted a pick. I thought about my mom and dad and the countless hours that we had spent at ballparks. I thought a moment about my first pouch of Big League Chew and the little tickets we got after the game that entitled us to a coke and hot dog from the concession stand. 

Overall, it was a great stop. A place that I will remember fondly, and a place I will return one day with a son. 

SPAM and The Great Midwestern Adventure

I don't know why it has taken me so long to pause and tell you about the greatest adventure of my life so far. It was an adventure that took me and the regionally famous Jeff Moore through 7 states and laid us at the doorstep of two American treasures. Many of you followed our adventure on both Facebook and Twitter. For 16 hours you guessed, pondered, and pontificated on where we could possibly be heading to. Many of you profiled me as th fat guy and automatically assumed I had to be going to Chicago for pizza. You were wrong (but only because I hadn't thought of it at that point). Many of you thought we were heading to St. Louis for Barbecue or the Budweiser plant. Again, wrong, but both were quality guesses. I think my favorite guess was from Scott Coats who at one point was convinced that I was headed to Hannibal, Missouri to visit the birthplace of Mark Twain. Again, great guess, and a worthy destination, but in the end we were only passing through Hannibal.

Our travels took us to Austin, Minnesota. Austin is the home of a corporation that has single handedly fed millions and millions of American at home and abroad. More than feeding people, it has also provided America with one of the most recognizable products in the history of our beloved Democracy. Austin is the home of the Hormel Corporation which took potted meat to a whole new level when it debuted SPAM to the American public in the 1930's.

Jeff and I made it our quest to visit the home of SPAM and tour the SPAM Museum.

SPAM might be just a joke to you, but to the people of Minnesota it is their contribution this great Union we call America.

SPAM has allowed us to fight foreign wars and defeat the likes of Stalin, Hitler, and Hussein. Without SPAM servicemen and women around the world would have been forced to the battlefield without the protein necessary to defend our liberties. 

When we arrived at the Museum, our Tour Guide, Lonny (pictured to the right) couldn't believe that #1, we would drive 1250 miles one way to just see the SPAM Museum. Or #2, we would actually wear that SPAM costume in the museum. Lonny explained to us how many people had been employed by the Hormel Corporation over the years and how the picture shown to the right is a tribute to those people. That large picture is made up of thousands of smaller pictures of Hormel employees that date back almost a century.

I dont' think any of the people really knew what to think as they encountered us on our journey our talked to us. Those who called and who contacted us throught Twitter and Facebook continued over and over to ask one question. "Why SPAM?". Our answer. "Why Not?". Seriously. How many of you continue to go to the same beach every year and stay in the same condo you have always stayed in so that you can go and eat at the same restaurants that you have always eaten in. How many of you can say that you won the SPAM EXAM? Well I can.

That's right. I won the 10 question Trivia contest offered in the museum (as a side note: Jeff won second place). After answering 9 out of 10 questions correctly, I am now a Champion of SPAM EXAM.  

I really wish I had won a shirt or something that would help normal, everyday people on the street recognize my intellect and my expertise on SPAM. 

You laugh? Who would want to know? I can't even begin to tell you how many people have approached me in the last two weeks and started a conversation by saying, "When you went to the SPAM place, did they explain to you _____________?" SPAM is one of those magical things in life that no one wants to admit intrigues them. Why that color? Whats the deal with the jelly stuff on the outside? Is it really safe to eat it raw? How long can it sit on the shelf before it goes bad? There is no longer a need for you to be embrassed. Ask your question. I am here, at your disposal.

Tomorrow, I will recap our second destination. Dyersville, Iowa. The Field of Dreams