I Am Tired

[Judy Harder]

Powerful stuff.  He is, however an ex-state senator  hmmmmmmmm

"I'm 63 and I'm Tired"

by Robert A. Hall   

I'm 63.  Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I've worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven't called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there's no retirement in sight, and I'm tired. Very tired. 

I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth" to people who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it. 

I'm tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to "keep people in their homes."  Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I'm willing to help. But if they bought McMansions at three times the price of our paid-off,  $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the left-wing Congress-critters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them with their own money. 

I'm tired of being told how bad America is by left-wing millionaires like Michael Moore, George Soros and Hollywood entertainers who live in luxury because of the opportunities America offers. In thirty years, if they get their way, the United States will have the economy of Zimbabwe , the freedom of the press of China , the crime and violence of Mexico , the tolerance for Christian people of Iran , and the freedom of speech of Venezuela .


I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family "honor"; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren't "believers"; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for "adultery"; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur'an and Shari'a law tells them to. 

I'm tired of being told that "race doesn't matter" in the post-racial world of Obama, when it's all that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college admission and graduation standards for minorities (harming them the most), government contract set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of violence and fatherless children that hurts minorities more than anyone, and in the appointment of U.S. Senators from Illinois. 

I think it's very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less arrogantly of an all-knowing government. 

I'm tired of a news media that thinks Bush's fundraising and inaugural expenses were obscene, but that think Obama's, at triple the cost, were wonderful;  that thinks Bush exercising daily was a waste of presidential time, but Obama exercising is a great example for the public to control weight and stress; that picked over every line of Bush's military records, but never demanded that Kerry release his; that slammed Palin, with two years as governor, for being too inexperienced for VP, but touted Obama with three years as senator as potentially the best president ever. Wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions or  switching to Fox News?  Get a clue. I didn't vote for Bush in 2000, but  the media and Kerry drove me to his camp in 2004. 

I'm tired of being told that out of "tolerance for other cultures" we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and madrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in America , while no American group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance. 

I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I live in a two-bedroom  apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a  three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore's, and if you're greener than Gore, you're green enough. 

I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off? I don't think Gay people choose to  be Gay, but I damn sure think druggies chose to take drugs. And I'm tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana. 

I'm tired of illegal aliens being called "undocumented workers," especially the ones who aren't working, but are living on welfare or crime. What's next? Calling drug dealers, "Undocumented Pharmacists"? And, no,  I'm not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic, and it's been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion.  I'm willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person, who can speak English, doesn't have a criminal record and who is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military.... Those are the citizens we need. 

I'm tired of latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear the uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their entitlement-handicapped kids near a recruiting station, trashing our military. They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second decisions under life and death circumstances, and bad mouth better people than themselves. Do bad things happen in war?  You bet. Do our troops sometimes misbehave?  Sure. Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty years and still are?  Not even close. So here's the deal. I'll let myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims, who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the
blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia, because the girls were Christian. Then we'll compare notes. British and American soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from in fear. 

I'm tired of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption. Read the papers; bums are bipartisan. And I'm tired of people telling me we need bipartisanship.  I live in Illinois , where the " Illinois Combine" of Democrats has worked to loot the public for years. Not to mention the tax cheats in Obama's cabinet. 

I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor. 

Speaking of poor, I'm tired of hearing people with air-conditioned homes, color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans didn't have that in 1970, but  we didn't know we were "poor." The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing. 

I'm real tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and actions. I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination or big-whatever for their problems. 

Yes, I'm damn tired. But I'm also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I'm not going to have to see the world these people are making. I'm just sorry for my granddaughter. 

Robert  A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran who served five terms in the  Massachusetts State Senate.   

[larryJ]

You are correct in that it is powerful.  Thanks, Judy, for posting.  I think his philosophy is great and I think a great many Americans feel the same way. 

Larryj

[Catwoman]

Hmmm....I'd like to add something to that list...

I'm tired of those who try to sound like experts on the field of education, when the only educational training they've received is that which they received from the very educators they're trying to malign so unsuccessfully...What's next?  They're going to start being experts on the medical field because they've sat in a clinic waiting room?

[larryJ]

No, Cat, you are misinformed.  We are all medical professionals with the advent of the Internet.  There are so many sites devoted to any one's particular illness or medical problem that we can literally diagnose ourselves before actually seeing the Doctor.   Who, by the way, will scoff at your computerized knowledge because he is the Doctor and you are not.  However, only he, the Doctor can order tests and prescribe medicines. 

I do have a more informed visit with my Doctors when I go, empowered with my recent knowledge learned from the Internet.  I feel that I know more about what they are talking about and I can (respectfully) carry on an intelligent conversation and even add in some concerns or questions that seem appropriate.  I don't try to make the Doctor look stupid which ticks them off and then they don't want to help you. 

As far as educators, are you sure they are trying to "teach the teacher" or, are they trying to pass on what they have learned to the next generation?  Wouldn't it be complimentary if someone learned enough from his teacher that he could feel confident in educating another?  Just asking.

Larryj

[srkruzich]

No, Cat, you are misinformed.  We are all medical professionals with the advent of the Internet.  There are so many sites devoted to any one's particular illness or medical problem that we can literally diagnose ourselves before actually seeing the Doctor.   Who, by the way, will scoff at your computerized knowledge because he is the Doctor and you are not.  However, only he, the Doctor can order tests and prescribe medicines. 

I do have a more informed visit with my Doctors when I go, empowered with my recent knowledge learned from the Internet.  I feel that I know more about what they are talking about and I can (respectfully) carry on an intelligent conversation and even add in some concerns or questions that seem appropriate.  I don't try to make the Doctor look stupid which ticks them off and then they don't want to help you. 

As far as educators, are you sure they are trying to "teach the teacher" or, are they trying to pass on what they have learned to the next generation?  Wouldn't it be complimentary if someone learned enough from his teacher that he could feel confident in educating another?  Just asking.

Larryj

LOL larry you are right. I pretty much diagnose myself before i even go to the doctor.  And usually with the information i have access to, I am 95% right.
Now whats interesting is, i suffer from CHF.  My heart is not good.  The last time i went in to the doc he did a ekg on me and he was looking at the printout.  I asked him if i could look at it.  I took a look and said to him while pointing at the signal that there was a abnormal dip in my T factor.  I said that tells me there is a blockage in a artery.  He looked up and kinda had this look on his face and said yes your right. 

Uhmm i'm not a cardiologist But I know more about my body than the doc does.   And if your smart, you learn all you can about what ailment you might have.

I learned a long time ago that the EKG signal that is printed is a electrical signal that travels from the left side of your heart to the right side.  It is measured in 1 waveform.  A waveform is like starting at zero risign up to 10 then dropping to -10 then rising to zero.
The Q is the peak and the T is the end of the signal. 
ANything that happens in between the Q and the T shows what goes on in your heart.
in a ideal signal it rises falls and rises to zero and should remain at zero til the next Q starts. that period is a rest time for your heart.   IF it flucuates in either direction theres soemthingwrong.  It can go down or up. In my case it went down slightly and then rose and went into the Q.   That ment i had a artery clogged up on the backside of my heart. 
IF it rises in that rest period it usually means there is a clogged artery in the front of the heart.

Now if somewhere between the peak and the lowest point of the downside has a wiggle in it, it means the signal from the left side to the right side is interrupted.  This can be caused by scarring on the heart from a previous attack. 

Needless to say when i go into the cardiologist i always try to get him to teach me something new.

[srkruzich]

As far as educators, are you sure they are trying to "teach the teacher" or, are they trying to pass on what they have learned to the next generation?  Wouldn't it be complimentary if someone learned enough from his teacher that he could feel confident in educating another?  Just asking.

Larryj

You know larry what is sad, I could teach technolgy blindfolded to people. I have more applicable experience under my belt than any phd teacher out there.  YET because I DO NOT have the paper that says i am qualified, i cannot in a school.  You would think that schools would be beating down the doors of every person that is a professional in that field with or without a phd or masters or bachelors and bringing them in to teach. There a thousands upon thousands of people like this that either are retired, or out of the business that would be willing to do this but they are prevented due to lack of papers.

[larryJ]

You are so right on.  There are millions of people who have the utmost knowledge of a subject, but are not listened to, or trusted, because they don't have a piece of paper that says they can or do.  "Hand me down" information is generally better than book knowledge because things change and "hands on" information is usually more accurate.  There is a saying, (did I post this in the quotes?)-----anyway, it goes:

Education is what you get when you read the fine print, experience is what you get when you don't.

Larryj

[srkruzich]

You are so right on.  There are millions of people who have the utmost knowledge of a subject, but are not listened to, or trusted, because they don't have a piece of paper that says they can or do.  "Hand me down" information is generally better than book knowledge because things change and "hands on" information is usually more accurate.  There is a saying, (did I post this in the quotes?)-----anyway, it goes:

Education is what you get when you read the fine print, experience is what you get when you don't.

Larryj

A while back i looked over the course's for IT at a few colleges, and found that not one of them is even close to being current on todays tech.   I know that what i was doing 10 years ago, they haven't even developed a course for it.  And most college courses still teach cobol and assembler languages as a requirement.  Uhm you know, unless your developing PLD's or writing specific code to operate a chip, you don't use assembler.  Almost all programming is done in C language and interpreters like Java or perl script.  While i have the ability to write code in assember, it is not something i would wish on anyone. Its slow going. But it does have its advantages.  I can write a program that does the exact same thing as lets say Microsoft Office and i can fit my program on 1/3 of the disk space that Microsoft products take. 

If i were a young kid, just graduating from highschool, and had average computer skills, and the ability to learn new things on my own, i would get me a copy of unix and learn to install it and use it.  Once i did that i would go to a temp agency and get a job as a Unix admin.  Get the job, learn as much as possible on my contract then next contract i would add the new skills to my resume and get more pay and more opportunity to learn.
In 2-3 years, you can have the equivelent of a Masters Deg and in 4-5 years you can have the equivelent of a PHD in that field.  Bypassing all of the "institutions' that waste your time having you go through hoops.
I used to go on job interviews and the prospective employer would say i have you and one other guy who are applying. Why should i hire you when i have this other guy that has a bachelors deg.  I would answer him.... This other person with a bachelors is probably just fresh out of school and at the most has 1 -2 years of working experience. I have 15 years working experience and proven results.  If you wish to take the next 15 years to train this individual to get what your paying for then that is your perogative, but if you want the job done and done right from day one then you will hire me the guy who has the experience and the knowledge that the experience gives.  No school can give you that in 4 short years.

[Varmit]

I'm tired of those teachers and folks who say that they are experts in education, just because they sat in a classroom that was led by a teacher that taught them to be "experts", and then gave them a piece of paper that says "Congraulations! You are now an expert." 

[larryJ]

In defense of the teachers on this forum and teachers everywhere, and "me own sainted mother who was a teacher", the certificate given to the teacher allowing them to teach is a recognition of the fact that they attended higher education classes to learn to teach and satisfy government requirements.  This is done not so much to say that these people are "experts", but that they are qualified to teach as opposed to someone who may not know how or what to teach.  I would much prefer a certified teacher over someone that I don't know has the ability to teach.  I think the point here is not so much as whether that person is an "expert", but that an expert should be recognized with or without an official piece of paper in their hand.

Larryj