I Really Should Have...

I don’t know about you, but I have a tendency quite often to step back from what I’m doing or thinking or saying, and ask myself if it really makes any sense. I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, a common thing or uncommon thing, but I do it a lot. Some of my friends tell me I think too much. (Is that possible?) But maybe they’re right. I know it brings to my mind a lot of really strange thoughts.

Like this one. I remember one time I was mowing my lawn. As I was mowing, I saw my neighbor just finishing a run. I hadn't run that day yet, and there was a good chance I wasn't going to have the time. And I remember thinking “Man, this lawn could have waited. I should have gone running instead.” I felt kinda irresponsible for not running.

Fast forward about a week. As I’m returning from a fairly long run, I see my neighbor mowing his lawn. And I remember thinking “Man, this run could have waited. I should have mowed the lawn instead.” And I felt kinda irresponsible for letting my lawn grow.

Now, I quickly realized this logic made absolutely no sense. And as I started thinking about things I do, or don’t do, I came to an odd, and somewhat troubling, conclusion about myself: No matter what I’m doing, I tend to feel I should be doing something else.

If I read a book, I get mad at myself for not being more productive. If I work real hard, I wonder why I can’t just stop and relax, maybe read a book! If I go on vacation, I wonder why I didn't stay home and get something done. If I stay home, I wonder why I can’t travel a little and enjoy myself. If I write this blog, I wonder why I’m not working on other things. (Things that really matter!) But if I do those other things, I wonder why I'm not spending some time on the blog.

This list goes on and on. It’s an incredibly frustrating way to live, that’s for sure! I have no idea if this is normal for your average human, or if it’s just me. I just know it’s annoying.

Of course, if I didn’t think so much, I guess I’d never even know.

The Best Care Money Can Buy

I was recently reading about Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. And about how she’s making great progress after that shooting. That even with the incredible brain damage she suffered, she’s improving with leaps and bounds. She’s even considering a run for the senate. That’s pretty cool.

Last week a friend was telling me about her cousin who is in her 40’s. She suffered a stroke, I believe, and was left with significant damage to her speech, her motor skills, and her thought processes. She had a couple of therapy sessions, but then the insurance ran out. The family doesn’t have much money, so she’s done with therapy. And this is probably just about as “healed” as she’ll get.

I find these two cases interesting. One woman gets the best health care money can buy. And is recovering. The other one gets, well, NOT the best health care money can buy. And is NOT recovering.

Now if I have a better job than you, if I make more money than you, then there’s a good chance that I’ll have a better car than you. I’ve earned that, by virtue of my income. We all understand that.

So, is health care like a car? The people who make more money, the people with better jobs, get better health care? Well, apparently, it is, at least in this country.

But should it be? I’m not sure. I know we can’t afford to pay complete health care costs for every single individual in this country. I understand that. I'm not saying we should have free, unlimited health care for all. That I'm not sure about. Yet, somehow it seems that good health is somehow different from a Mercedes convertible.

At least, you would think so. 

I’m Sure I Can Get this Camel Through that Needle!

I really have to be careful on this one. Because it’s a difficult subject. With no real simple answer. Also, I’m not a Bible scholar, by any means. But I've read a little. And I listen to the Gospel (usually) on Sunday mornings. And while I don’t know the whole thing, I think I've read or heard enough of the New Testament to at least get a “feel” for the kind of guy Jesus must have been. And I’m pretty sure He wasn't about rules. In fact, he seemed to go out of his way to break a lot of the rules. And he was proud of it. No, he wasn't a “rule” guy. He was an “accepting” guy.

He accepted anybody: the poor, the sinners, the tax collectors, all the people in society that the “Very Important Jews” looked down on. He even hung out with a lot of those people. And while they may have been sinners, he accepted them. Because that’s what he did.

But you know who he had real trouble with? Rich guys. He had a lot to say about those guys. Remember this one? “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”  That was Jesus himself talking. Now I suppose you can argue that he technically never said being rich is a sin, but he does say a rich man is not going to heaven, so I think it’s a safe assumption to say he didn’t think being rich was a good thing.

Yet, so many of today’s “Very Important Christians” are extremely wealthy. Somehow, they don’t think of that as a sin. Because if they did, they’d give everything away. He said this to a rich man once: “Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me. “ Wow. We just kinda ignore that one.

I find it strange that many Christians who think wealth is OK, are very strongly anti-gay. Because if we look the other way on the rich thing, we definitely should treat homosexuality the same. Keep this in mind. There are over 1,000 references in the Bible instructing us to help the poor or needy or oppressed, and Jesus himself backed this up grandly. And you know what he said about wealthy people. But Jesus never said a word about homosexuality. Not once. Of course there are other places in the bible that condemn it. But way less than 1,000. And Jesus himself never mentioned it. Maybe he forgot about it. It could have just slipped his mind maybe.

Yet many of us latch onto the “Homosexuality is a sin” thing, and just kinda ignore the “Rich man and a camel” thing. Personally, I find that odd. You may, of course, have a different word for it.

Like I said, it’s not a simple topic. You can think what you want. Honestly, I’m not sure how I actually feel on all this, so try to refrain from sending me hate mail. After all, a sin is a sin, I think. Feel free to check out my ideas, dispute them if you want, and maybe you can prove me wrong. Like I said, I’m no expert. But I know what Jesus said. And what he didn’t say. 

And so do you.

Of Scientists and Politicians, Revisited

I have to admit, I’m biased. I’m a science guy. I’m not a politician, and like most Americans, I don’t especially care for politicians. So maybe my bias is getting in the way here. Maybe.

I recently read a study that says 97% of climate scientists presently engaged in active atmospheric research believe there is global warming going on, and that humans are a significant cause. Yes, 97%!

Now of course, they’re only scientists. But our representatives in Washington, and a significant portion of our population, think they know better. They think those foolish scientists are wrong. Or maybe they’re all bought off. (Or at least 97% of them apparently) Or maybe they’re all just stupid. Or something.

It reminds me of the woman I heard complaining about how her stupid doctor was making all the wrong choices: diagnosis, treatment, everything. And of course this woman, a music teacher, was convinced she knew better. She had no college, no medical school, no training, and no experience, but she was sure SHE was right on everything, and the doctor was wrong on everything. But what I found even more troubling was that everyone she was talking to, believed the woman. Why, I have no idea. Except that they wanted to.

Now back to the climate. Let me repeat. Ninety-Seven Percent believe global warming is a human problem. But because some guy on the radio or TV or in the senate says it’s not, we believe THEM? Does this make any sense at all?

Well, I suppose you could attack the survey. Maybe the questions were biased. Or maybe they lied about the results. Yeah, I’m sure that’s exactly what happened!

I get it, to a point. I mean, none of us WANT there to be global warming. Because the solutions to it are not easy, they’re not painless, and they’re not cheap. But just because we want something to be, doesn’t make it so. We can all close our eyes and wish real hard that the earth isn’t getting warmer, but that doesn’t make it true.

Argue all  you want. Listen to the politicians, and ignore the climatologists. But really, unless we’re 100% sure greenhouse gases aren’t a problem, do we really want to take a chance? Nobody can predict exactly what’s going to happen with the warming, but none of the predictions are good.

So go ahead. Deny it. Say all the scientists are wrong or lying. Say it’s all some socialist plot. And while you’re at it, next time you need to go to the doctor, save some money and just have some music teacher treat you. That makes just about as much sense.

Girl Scout Cookies are Here!

It’s that time of year. My Girl Scout Cookies have arrived.

I’ve always thought this was an odd time of year to be selling cookies. This is exactly the time when so many adults are trying to lose some of their winter weight before summer. Yet, right in the middle of prime weight-loss season, 8 boxes of thin mints, tagalongs, and various other cookies arrive to test my will power.

Well, I have a plan. See, each cookie is about 40-80 calories, depending on which variety you’re munching on. I suppose I could muster the will power to eat a cookie or two each day. (Actually, no I couldn’t, but it sounds cool to say that.) But even if I did, I’d be eating cookies for weeks, absorbing all those extra calories, and completely ruining any attempt at becoming one of the beautiful people by summer. Well, you know what I mean.

Nope, that’s not my plan. My plan is I’m going to eat them all. I mean all 8 boxes. In one day. Really. Think about it. It’s somewhere around 10,000 calories. I’m not a physiology expert, but there is absolutely no way that my body can absorb that many calories in one day. Just impossible. We’re not designed for that. I mean, when Joey Chestnut eats 66 hot dogs in 10 minutes, does he absorb all that? If so, he’d gain about 5 pounds right then. And that guy’s pretty skinny.

Just so you know, I have absolutely no data to support this plan, but it makes sense to me.

Tomorrow is going to be a good day.