A Warning Relevant for Present Days…

As I have been continuing to read Sowell’s “A Conflict of Visions” I have been coming across all sorts of great quotes from the great minds of the past.  Some I am familiar with and others I had not seen before.  Here is a great one from Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations:

The statesman who should attempt to direct private people in what manner they ought to employ their capitals would not only load himself with most unnecessary attention but assume an authority which could safely be trusted to no council and senate whatever, and which would nowhere be so dangerous as in the hands of man who have folly and presumption enough to fancy himself fit to exercise it.

This seems so relevant today as we are seeing a government expand further than it ever has before, way outside of the boundaries established by its own constitution.

An Excerpt from Federalist #51

While reading Thomas Sowell’s “A Conflict of Visions” the other day I came across a quote from the Federalist Papers.  While the quote was limited I decided to dig it up and read more of it.  So simple and brilliant:

But the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department, consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others. The provision for defense must in this, as in all other cases, be made commensurate to the danger of attack. Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place. It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.

Afternoon Run Recap…

So, yesterday after work I went for a run when I got home.  It was the planned 1.5 miles.  Going for a walk/jog/run like that can really reveal to yourself just how out of shape you are.  About .25 miles in I was out of breath and struggling…  Somehow I managed to finish the entire 1.5 miles, and my recorded time was 18:34.  This comes out to a 12:22 mile…  I’ve heard that an 8 minute mile is what to aim for, so I’ve got some work to do.

I wonder though, if I go running today, being the very next day, can I expect better results or should I expect worse?  We will see what happens…

In other news, Joe and Shawna are in town.  Shawna is Kelli’s sister and Joe is Shawna’s fiance’.  We went and visited them over at Kelli’s parents house lat night and it was pretty fun.  We got to talk about what Joe is up to, and their wedding plans, and looked at pictures.  We will probably be seeing them a good amount over the next few days until they are gone again.

Jogging and General Fitness…

Well, I suppose it is a little late to be getting an early start on my Summer body…  But, I must maintain the philosophy that in body fitness it is all spilled milk.  Meaning, you can’t let anything discourage you.  If you start working out for a week or two and then for some reason forget to keep it up, well that doesn’t entirely negate what you did do the first couple of weeks.  Don’t let the fact that you stopped get you down and hinder you from starting up again.  Start up again and forget about it.

The same idea follows with starting too late.  I meant to start earlier in the season to build up my fitness but kept on pushing it off.  No matter, I will start today.

Once, I was in a discussion with a friend of mine concerning eating healthy and he imparted some words of wisdom.  The problem I was having was that I was letting the fact that I ate the worst kinds of junk food keep me from working out and running.  He told me that you have to not worry about it and start running.  Your body will then make you want to eat better since you are doing all of this work.  It sounds right to me.  I’ve never had the chance to fully test that out but I think I just might get that opportunity.

You see, lately my eating habits have been very bad.  I have been eating fast food almost every day and all kinds of soda-pops.  So, I will run today and my body will hate me for the abuse that I am giving it.  But, hopefully that will help kickstart better eating habits.

All this to say, when I get home today I am going to change in to some jogging clothes and run/jog/walk a mile and half.  Last time I got the fitness bug I did a 2.2 mile course, and guess what? I only did it once.  So I am hoping by starting out a little bit smaller it won’t be as intimidating.  So, I’ll give it a run and I’ll time it.  I’ll be keeping track of it in a google spreadsheet and we’ll see what comes of this…

Weekend Recap…

Friday night after work Kelli and I hung our for a little bit, worked around the house, and then went to Friday’s on Glenway with Janet.  It was a nice time as we ate and conversed about this and that.  The conversation turned to current issues which was fine with me, I could talk about most of these things for a very long time.  The problem with having conversations on certain issues is when people don’t even act like they’re listening to the other person.  Fortunately, we did not have that problem and it was kept civil. Hehe.

I guess current issues and politics were on everyone’s mind because later on at Arlin’s the conversations continued.  Also, I ran in to old friends of mine, John and Megan.  It was nice to see them and catch up on old times.

Saturday, Kelli and I headed down to Sherri’s house.  Sherri is the mom that Kelli babysits for every once in a while and Kelli had a gift for her son Jimmy.  After that, we stopped at Devou Park for a minute to check the view, and then went down to Sawyer Point where we walked across to Newport on the Levee for a little bit.  It was nice out, and they had plenty of “street entertainers”.  A nice time.

Then Saturday night, after we visited at Kelli’s Grandpa’s, we were thinking about meeting up with Rachel and Janet but we just could not come up to a consensus on where to meet.  They were pretty set on going to the Italian Fest (Where Kelli and I had already gond earlier in the day) and I wasn’t really interested in that.  So Kelli and I stayed home and watched “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”  I thought it was a great movie but the funny thing was Kelli crying her eyes out.  She was literally wailing and crying.  haha.

Then on Sunday we went over to Rachel’s parents’ house for Rachel’s graduation party.  Sunday, weatherwise was great until about 3:00 when the party started.  That’s when it began to pour down rain.  So, most of the party was spend on their covered back porch.  It was still a nice time, though a little crowded.

So now, here I am, on Monday and back to work.

Edisto Island, SC…

Just thought I’d get some pictures up.  About a year ago Kelli and I were able to secure a time-share condo down in Edisto Island, SC for a great bargain price.  Since my sister Jill and her husband Phil live somewhat close by they were able to come up for the first couple of days.

We had a great time down there and by clicking on the above picture you can take a look at the album.  I think the most enjoyable thing about staying there was that our condo was right on the beach.  This was the first time I had ever stayed so close to a beach and didn’t have to drive to get to there.  It is much more enjoyable being able to walk right out and back in, rather than changing in a public place or the car.  The scenery was awesome and walking around Charleston, though it was extremely hot, was very enjoyable.

Importing of Blogs…

Throughout the years of being on the Internet I have started a couple of different blogs.  Some of them have dissappeared completely while others just sat in limbo.  Fortunately, WordPress has made it somewhat easy to import these and I have now combined my other blogs (one from blogger.com and the other from livejournal.com) with this one on WordPress.  So now, all of them are present here in the archives.  Most of these older posts are from 2006 and 2007.

Along with importing these old posts, I also came across a few private ones from the livejournal account from 2006, back when Kelli and I were dating and starting to get serious.  Man o man, what a trip down memory lane!

Flood Lights, Conclusion…

Well, by happenstance Kenny was able to come over yesterday and finish up the flood lights installation.  We were worried with the intermittent rain throughout the day but just as we started the sky began to clear.

We had estimated that it would take us about an hour to finish up but it ended up being about an hour and forty-five minutes.  No biggy, we weren’t in a huge hurry or anything.  They went up without a hitch and the job looks nice and professional.

And then of course, I couldn’t go on and on about these lights without showing the end result:

So all in all, it was a great success.  Now, we just need to schedule a night for all-night corn-hole… badminton… out door texas hold’em…

Flood Lights, Continued…

Yesterday, Kenny (Kelli’s brother) was able to come over after work and get started on installing these flood lights.  While we weren’t able to finish everything, we were able to get the hardest parts taken care of; fishing the wire upstairs.

See, this project would have been a lot easier if we just installed the lights outside of the kitchen, where the switch is.  But, I don’t want the lights so low.  Basically, they would blind you every time you tried to look toward the house.  Instead, I want the lights as high up as I can get them.  So we are going to put them at the top of the second floor.  Hopefully if all goes well, it’ll be as bright as a baseball field. haha.

So with the hardest part out of the way, we’ve only got about an hours worth of work left.  Hopefully in the next couple of days we should be able to get around to that and be done.  Then it’s all-night cornhole.

Keeper of Dreams…

Every couple of weeks or so, I make it a point to visit one of Cincinnati’s Half-Price Books.  Sometimes I just happen to be in the same area or decide to make a special trip there.  Unfortunately the West Side of Cincinnati, Western Hills area, is not blessed with its own Half-Price Books (or any other decent book store).

Lately I have been reading a lot of non-fiction and biographies but have been thinking about reading some fiction again.  So, on my most recent trip, to the Colerain store, I picked up “Keeper of Dreams” by Orson Scott Card.  For those of you who don’t know, I used to be a major fan of OSC.  I mean, I’m still a fan but for a while there I was actively seeking to purchase every original first run edition of anything that had his name on it.  I’ve got a nice collection that may or may not be worth something some day sitting in my office but I have slowed down on looking for some of the rarer items.

Another reason I am not quite as big of a fan as I used to be is because OSC’s writing has changed.  I have pretty much read all his older stuff, which is his best stuff.  His newer writing just misses the mark.  Perhaps I’ll get back in to his newer stuff when I’m in the mood.  But with “Keeper of Dreams” I am able to jump back in to OSC’s writing with minimal investment.  Like a prior publication, “Maps in a Mirror” it is a compilation of short stories.  Therefore, you can pick it up, read a nice short story, read Card’s thoughts on the story and put the book down.

The only thing is that I have hardly been able to put the book down.  Most of the stories have been very entertaining.  Interestingly, the one story that struck me the most as a great piece, “Geriatric Ward” ends up being something he had written very early in his career.  For those of us who treasure his early writing this is a real treat.

Anyway, I’d recommend this book to anyone looking for great reads with minimal investment.