tao1776

I'm tired. Stressed. Angry. The dog's on the couch licking his rectum. I'm feeling like if I owned a gun, I'd splatter his hide all over the wall. My blood sugar is running high from the agitation. Not to mention the lack of exercise that descends with each winter's lack of light. My head is spinning. Blame. Guilt? My oldest daughter bought a car that I saw in the paper. I didn't have time to look at it with her. I had her ask her brother to go with her. He never got out of the car. He's not to blame. Doesn't know much about cars. Not sure if I'm to blame for that or not. She bought the car. Two days later the brake line sprung a leak. Closer inspection reveal the need for all new lines. KA-Ching! Then her engine blows a head gasket. Replacement should include not only the gasket, but the timing chain and the water pump since you're in there. It is a sweet looking (if that's possible) 1995 Neon. It will need at least a $1,000 to repair everyt...

What a treat. To come home from having to work on a Sunday. The Lady, my two daughters and my tiny dancer, the dingo, my goofy goober, all assembled for a treat of hot mango salsa with chicken divan as the main course. To look at my granddaughter is to create an instant smile. What a treat!

The "Big Dipper," or the "Starry Plough," can be seen throughout the world and has often been used to find the guiding North Star. But seen from another perspective, the seven brightest stars of the constellation Ursa Major would not look like a dipper or a plough or a cleaver, as the alignment that we have come to know would no longer exist. Consequently, it could be said that it already doesn't exist, except within our minds and from the perspective of the planet earth only. If we were able to look at lives's troubles from a heightened perspective, ever and ever pulling back, having the ability to turn them upside down and sideways, perhaps we would come to realize how much is a reaction of our minds or the perspective of a very narrow view. We have an eighty plus year old gentlemen that comes into the store regularly. He is always cheerful, a great conversationalist and speaks ill of no one. His wife has Alzheimer's, he is his son's caretaker aft...

As the candidates begin to emerge from their holes in preparation for the upcoming "Election" I have become sick to my soul by the whole affair. We have become complacent and dull witted. We don't know what to do. Welcome to the machine. Nothing about this is new of course. It's just that with years of practice, I think that they've finally gotten it right. On both sides of the aisle. I would like to encourage you dear readers to read one of my favorite blogs on the subject. Like a piece of meat too big to chew, it can be deliciously enjoyed and eventually swallowed having me return again and again for more...... http://agnosticgnostic.blogspot.com/

Yeah, yeah, I know. Hallmark day. Just a bunch of crap to make us spend money that we don't have. But that's one man's opinion. Could it be that some dolts NEED specially marked holidays to have them stop and acknowledge their honeys? For me, its different. You see, this week, (2/17) the Lady and me got married. TWENTY-NINE YEARS AGO. That's right. You heard it right. And most of my good buds have been married for as long or longer than we. We think the same thoughts at the same time. We are comfortable and have fun together. As I write, we are for the second time in our years together, in deep financial straights. Hand to mouth. A struggle to eat, to heat, to keep our heads above water. And you know what? I'm as happy as a murder of crows. The Lady and I met at bible study. A few years later, we found ourselves living in the same house. I paid her little notice. She will tell you that she knew we would get married after one our first meetings some years earlier. ...

The multiplicity of available forums such as blogger, wordpress, my space and etc...allow us the ability to share something of our experience. And I like that:>) On some subjects we will agree while on others we may see things differently. And that's okay. So, here I go again... I recently read a brilliant and well written post on a Buddhist blog that mapped out the reasons why it is that Buddhists do not believe in a supreme being and that the concept of a creator God is antithetical to Buddhist thought. The post also cites that the Buddha listed belief in a supreme creator as one of the wrong views in the Brahmajala Sutta, Digha 1. This neatly packaged "Buddhist belief" feels like too big a piece of gristle in my mouth. Chewing it creates a rather fatty taste in my mouth and to spit it out feels rude. I have come to a place where I am sensitive or aware of beliefs, labels and such. At several points in my life I could say that I am a Christian, a Taoist, a Buddhist, ...

This is the coldest week of the season with wind chill temps going to 15 below. My greatest fear coming into the winter was this kind of cold. As is the case with many people throughout the country, I ran out of heating oil a few weeks ago. In order to have at least hot water, I have been filling a diesel can every few days. Can't have oil delivered as I'm still whittling away at the last fill in late October. We have done exceeding well with the above normal temperatures. I do have a wood stove and the wood pile is about a week and a half away from being gone too. One of the benefits of not earning enough money to keep your bills current or not having enough to put into savings is how I'm taxed throughout the year. Taxes took away about 14% from our gross wages. The tax refund will give me back about 10.2%. I'm banking on the money being direct deposited before the proverbial K-rap hits the fan... Kinda fun watching it all play out. How I react. The amount of or the la...

The Great Way is not difficult for those not attached to preferences.When neither love nor hate arises, all is clear and undisguised. Separate by the smallest amount, however,and you are as far from it as heaven is from earth. If you wish to know the truth,then hold to no opinions for or against anything. To set up what you like against what you dislike is the disease of the mind. When the fundamental nature of things is not recognized the mind's essential peace is disturbed to no avail. The Way is perfect as vast space is perfect,where nothing is lacking and nothing is in excess. Indeed, it is due to our grasping and rejecting that we do not know the true nature of things. Live neither in the entanglements of outer things, nor in ideas or feelings of emptiness. Be serene and at one with things and erroneous views will disappear by themselves. When you try to stop activity to achieve quietude, your very effort fills you with activity. As long as you remain attached to one extreme o...

I am amazed at the amount of cars that some people have owned. I've met a few guys under thirty years old that have owned more cars than I have owned in my thirty five years of driving. My first car was a 1966 Pontiac Lemans, 4 door, 326 auto, all black with little chrome. I could turn off my lights and enter the drive-in through the exit and watch movies for free. I could drive into the woods and do the same to elude the police. I have had that car airborne and also submerged into water several feet deep. It is still talked about when I meet dudes from my youth. My second was a 1969 Chevy Impala...also quite memorable Third, a 1967 VW Square Back with a flat top engine with dual carbs. Made in Germany for the German roads and brought back by a US serviceman, there wasn't anything else like it on the road. Go where a rabbit couldn't go. With 15 inch Michelin tires, it would hold the road as well as a Porsche. Forth, a late 70's Subaru. Lots O' Fun! Fift...