These are tough economic times.  What we should do about it is debatable, but who we should blame is not.  We all blame the rich.  Even the rich blame themselves.  After all, it was their unmitigated greed that brought the world to the brink of total economic collapse. 

It’s not their greed, however, that’s got everybody so upset.  Oh, we may say it is.  But in a capitalistic world economy, everybody is greedy.  It’s just that the rich have taken it too far.  It’s like a professional wrestler bringing a handgun into the ring.  That’s too far.  Beating your opponent over the head with a folding chair... well, that’s acceptable.  But the gun?  Geese!  What’s wrong with you?

But what it truly comes down to... the real reason why all of us who aren’t rich really can’t stand all of those who are, is luck.  They got it.  We don’t.  In the Pick 5 of life, they got them all.  And in order.  Whether it was luck of birth or luck of geography, they got it.  They’re the talentless hacks that got the 20 million dollar record deal because they just happened to walk into the studio at a quarter ‘till nine.  The baseball player who can’t hit an inside fast ball to save his life.  Why is he even at the plate at all?  Luck.  They drew the inside straight.  They found the 50 caret diamond at the tourist trap in Arkansas.  Their first ride in a car was inside a Rolls-Royce.  And we hate them for it.  Damn them!  Damn they all!  Because they’re not us.

Using one of those hands-free phones you stick in your ear when you drive is pointless if you’re going to be talking with your hands... both hands.

The copy machine yesterday at work was telling me, “Please Wait, Adjustments in Progress.”  Either that, or it was a message from God.

Many of us who like to drink... a lot... often worry if we might be turning into raging alcoholics.  Being a functional alcoholic, that’s one thing.  So, just out of curiosity...  I checked to see what the warning signs of becoming an alcoholic might be.  Isn’t the Internet great?  And as I was checking, it came to me:  How Never to be an Alcoholic, but Still Drink as Much as You Want To.

1.  Do you lose time from work because of drinking?  That’s easy.  Go to work drunk.  Or even better:  Retire so you can drink full-time.

2.  Is your home life unhappy because of drinking?  Be a happy drunk.  Or better yet, stay drunk so you can’t tell.  If you’re drunk enough, your spouse can leave and you’ll never know it.  And if she or he were so unhappy that they left, then your home life will become happier.  You can’t lose.

3.  Are you shy around others when you drink?  Isn’t that why most of us drink?  So we won’t be?  I mean, would you have asked that woman to go home with you if you weren’t drunk?  Especially since your wife is waiting for you at home?  (see Number 2)

4.  Is drinking affecting your reputation.  If you have the reputation of being a drunk, then the only way that drinking can affect your reputation is if you quit.

5.  Have you ever felt remorse after drinking?  See Numbers 2 & 3 above.  Other than that, not really.

6.  Do you have financial difficulties because of drinking?  How can you possibly tell.  I mean, who doesn’t have financial difficulties anyway?

7.  When you drink, do you turn to lower companions and inferior environments?  In other words, How low can you go?  The trick here is to go as low as possible to begin with, and then the only direction is up.  Besides, if you turn to people with more money than you, maybe they’ll buy.  (see Number 7)

8.  Are you careless of you family’s welfare when you drink?  Are you careless of your family’s welfare when you don’t drink?  Hell, get rid of you family, then you have nothing to worry about.  (see Numbers 2, 3, & 7)

9.  Does you ambition decrease when you drink?  Hell, my ambition has been decreasing since high school.  But then again, I’ve been drinking since high school.  Hmmm...  Of course, the easy solution is to set your only goal in life to being a drunk.  Then your ambition actually increases when you drink.

10.  Do you drink at a definite time?  I used to wait until 5:00, or at least 4:20, but that was an obvious mistake.  Now I drink whenever.  It’s never too early to slam a shot of tequila.

11.  Do you want to drink in the morning?  I mean, really, when does it technically become morning?  After all, aren’t time zones artificial markers anyway?  And then add in daylight savings time.  And on top of that, we set our time on the relative position of a star moving through a field of moving stars.  Really, how anybody can look at a clock and tell you they know what time it is, is truly beyond me. 

12.  Do you have difficulty sleeping when you drink?  I have difficulty sleeping when I don’t.  I have difficulty sleeping period.  I think it’s called old age.  So don’t even try.

13.  Does your efficiency decrease when you drink?  Be an efficient drunk.  Don’t spill your beer.  My solution?  A frosted tippy cup.

14.  Does you drinking jeopardize your job or business?  Make it your business to drink.  Problem solved.

15.  Do you drink to escape your worries or troubles?  Well, yes.  Don’t we all?  But what if my biggest worry is becoming an alcoholic?  Then shouldn’t I face my problems head on?

16.  Do you drink alone?  This is easy.  Always drink with other people, whether or not they’re drinking, and whether or not they even know you.  A bar is a good place, but there are plenty of other places you can go to drink:  church, PTA meetings, Cub Scouts meetings, AA meetings, work... it doesn’t matter, so long as you’re not alone.

17.  When you drink, do you ever have complete loss of memory?  I have complete loss of memory when I don’t drink.  But the solution is simple.  Video.

18.  Have you ever been treated by a physician for drinking?  Don’t go to the doctor.  Ever.

19.  Do you drink to build self-confidence?  See number 7 above.  Actually, I need self-confidence to drink.  There’s a subtle difference there, but it works.

20.  Have you ever been institutionalized or hospitalized because of drinking?  Good Lord, no.  Of course, you could have yourself institutionalized and then drink once you get there, but that seems a bit over the top.

Thirty-three years I’ve had this route.  It’s not so bad having to deliver mail in the mall.  When it’s nasty out it’s a nice break.  And you really don’t pay attention anymore to how silly you look in the post office shorts.  Besides, if you go through the mall early in the afternoon, most people you see are working, too.  They understand.  At least I never had to wear a pirate hat.  And besides, my routes a lot bigger than this mall.  And over all, there’s really not a whole lot to complain about, even after thirty-three years.  Except...  No.  What is really the worst... if worst is the right word.  What I’ve liked the least... disliked the most?  Well, it’s that my own house is on my mail route.  I deliver my own mail.  There’s no wondering what’s in the mailbox.  There’s no being surprised by a letter from your sister.  There’s not even the annoying discovery of sale flyers and other mass mailings.  You already know.  And, you know, when you go down those streets, especially those streets where... well, you know, where it’s mostly older folks.  When you put their mail in the box, the old folks all are coming out before you’re even at the next house.  That’s what they do.  That’s what they look forward to.  The mailman.  And, yeah, that’s a bit pathetic.  But you see, the thing is, I retire next month... and I don’t even have that to look forward to.

for Linda

And never mind the federal law about no living president appearing on currency.  Of course... it would be a way to cut down on Secret Service costs...

And suppose they change the reverse for every president.  What would the reverse be for Washington?  A cherry tree, perhaps?  What about Jefferson?  I’m thinking his extended family.  Lincoln has to be a log cabin.  But Clinton?  My imagination goes...

How about the mottos?  Kennedy would have to be, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”  FDR:  “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”  Nixon would have to be, “I’m not a crook.”  Clinton,  “Define ‘Is’.”  Dubya, “Mission Accomplished.”

Boy, we could really have some fun with this.