NOTE> I started this post on March 9, 2009, but never finished and posted it. In rereading it today, it still seems applicable. Only differences are that Riley gets his meds four times a day instead of three and there are seven other dogs watching, as of this writing.
If Big Brother is really watching, I'll probably get in trouble for this one, but here goes.
If Big Brother is really watching, I'll probably get in trouble for this one, but here goes.
Having a dog with seizures means that he gets special treatment. He takes medicine three times a day and gets extra low calorie treats since we have to keep his weight under control. Since he thinks he's starving to death all the time, he is subject to get his extra treats (green beans and canned pumpkin) fairly frequently. But, as long as he's full, everyone is happy.
Having six other dogs in the house means a whole lot of eyes staring at you wondering why they aren't getting something also. You can't explain to them that the little piece of hot dog he just got was stuffed with his pills. They don't get it. They run to the bowl to see if there is a green bean or scrap of pumpkin left. Then they stare at you some more.
The more I watch our leaders at work, the more I think of my animals. All these stimulus bills and bail outs. Its almost as if everyone is adding something to the pot because they don't understand why they aren't special too. Why can't they have a billon dollars for their project, so and so in the next state over got some?
Gosh Mom, there's plenty of treats in that jar. Why can't I have one?
Gosh Treasury, you can print all the money you want, why can't I have some?
For some reason a few days ago I was thinking about all the bailouts and the way our tax dollars are being spent like Monopoly money. The people spending it won't be around to pay it back so there aren't any consequences for their decisions. John Houseman and the Smith Barney commercial came to mind - They make money the old-fashioned way. They earn it.
No one is earning it right now. Automakers are asking for millions and billions. Congressmen are asking for millions and billions. And the government just seems to want to keep handing it out. Sure, they talk about conditions and so forth, but they don't do anything about it, really.
Nope, nothing has changed. Our national debt is out of control because of spending and our Congress' inability to work together - as a team. Lots of talk, no action. No one wants to play nicely in the sandbox. It's all do-it-my-way-or-I'll-take-my-toys-and-go-home.
Sad, really. Greatest nation in the world and you'd never know it by looking. More and more people are lining up with their hands out. And why not? The government is not only making it easy to get assistance, they are encouraging it. As Billy and I have discussed more than once lately, the only thing keeping us from doing the same is our personal pride. I'd love to stay home and write all day. I'd have a whole lot less stress and I'd finally get to see what a Saturday in early spring looks like instead of having to work 7 days a week for months on end. An early retirement, if you will.
But we don't. We work, and work hard, for everything we have and everything we still want. We don't live overly extravagantly but we enjoy ourselves and do what we want, when we can afford it. Sometimes that takes planning but we do it.
We earn it.
And we can look at everything we have with pride and satisfaction of knowing that we did it the old-fashioned way.
Nope, nothing has changed. Our national debt is out of control because of spending and our Congress' inability to work together - as a team. Lots of talk, no action. No one wants to play nicely in the sandbox. It's all do-it-my-way-or-I'll-take-my-toys-and-go-home.
Sad, really. Greatest nation in the world and you'd never know it by looking. More and more people are lining up with their hands out. And why not? The government is not only making it easy to get assistance, they are encouraging it. As Billy and I have discussed more than once lately, the only thing keeping us from doing the same is our personal pride. I'd love to stay home and write all day. I'd have a whole lot less stress and I'd finally get to see what a Saturday in early spring looks like instead of having to work 7 days a week for months on end. An early retirement, if you will.
But we don't. We work, and work hard, for everything we have and everything we still want. We don't live overly extravagantly but we enjoy ourselves and do what we want, when we can afford it. Sometimes that takes planning but we do it.
We earn it.
And we can look at everything we have with pride and satisfaction of knowing that we did it the old-fashioned way.
