Crabby Old Bastard

Does unpardonable sin exist ?  Is there a behavior or attitude so malevolent that those who acquire it can never return to being a good person? IMHO unpardonable sin does exist, and is simply the inability or refusal to acknowledge that there is an existence beyond our own feeble lives .  We are part of a greater whole; the universe does not revolve around us .  We are finite, created beings, and to function harmoniously must seek help and guidance outside ourselves.  If we do this, then we can live at peace with ourselves and others. Conversely, if we rebel and attempt to make the universe a slave to our will, misery and disaster will inevitably result.  The futile attempt to "set ourselves first" gives rise to a desire for power , a never satiated lust that drives those who suffer from it to seek more and more and more of the same, until the inevitable arrival of death. As Mao and Stalin amply demonstrate, Lord Acton was absolutely correct: fixating on pow...

Maybe Dave Ramsey is correct?  Maybe the intelligent thing for us all to do is to cut up those credit cards, and never, ever open up another credit account? Credit cards have two horrifically malodorous traits: 1) they entice you to spend more money than you would if you used cash, and, 2) despite all the hoopla banks emit claiming that " they're on you're side " should a dispute with your card arise, when all is said and done banks are still banks , and will screw you over for a penny in a heartbeat. The first problem, the tendency to overspend when using credit cards, has been wonderfully explained by Mr. Ramsey in his books and videos .  I know from personal experience that I spend WAY MORE when I simply whip out the plastic than when I have to painstakingly pry cash from my wallet.  I may claim that using the credit card is more convenient, but truth be told I am just being lazy and irresponsible, because if I had to make my purchase using cash, I would realiz...

Although I don't pay much attention to the "news" anymore, and thus tend to be mostly out-of-touch regarding the latest "important events" , I did happen to notice some webpage headlines describing a big, destructive riot in Chicago just a few days ago. Good grief, people; when is this madness going to end? We live in the southeastern part of the USA, in central Georgia to be specific, and while things have been mostly quiet and peaceful here, (due, I would suspect, to a significant portion of the population carrying firearms), Atlanta is just 80 miles or so up the road.  As you may or may not know, Atlanta had some violence due to a man being shot and killed after he fired a taser at a policeman's head, (a fine example of suicide by cop , IMHO).  The idiotic mayor and equally idiotic DA responded by pouring some symbolic gasoline on the fires, so now peace is being maintained in that city by the presence of federal troops.  ( Some things never change , e...

As hot, Coronavirus infected July wound to a close, and the kids got more and more miserable being stuck inside with " nothing to do ", in desperation we decided to take another little vacation, this time to Hilton Head, SC. We left Monday morning, July 27th, and made good time to the island.  Our hotel room was pretty nice, especially for a last minute, discount deal. Dodong in our hotel room Exterior of the hotel The first thing we did was go to the beach .   After a long, long day at the beach The next day we were all still tired from the long day at the beach, so we spent most of the day shopping at the outlet malls near the island. The boys having breakfast at Panera Lola wasn't taking any chances with the virus! In the evening, Old Grump treated Sweetie to a nice dinner at Hudson's , which serves fresh seafood practically straight from the fishing boat. This was our last summer "fling".  Just yesterday, on the last day of July, the boys returned to sc...