on the bailout, the sports world, and new beginnings...

I had a blog all ready to post this morning about how I was disgusted with the electoral process and the candidates' tactics to this point. In the interest of not revealing my ignorance of politics, however, I've decided not to reveal it. Suffice to say, I am tired of the whole race, I'm not sure that I'm voting for anything better than the cliched "lesser of two evils", I wish there more than 2 candidates to choose from (as Ron Paul states in this video clip), and we need someone who will give us solid answers, not "well, he did this, and I won't".

Sigh.

If I get enough requests, and if you'll all promise not to go too hard on me, I'll post it. Be warned, though--I ramble quite a bit. But, if you're interested in reading it, leave me a comment and I'll do my best to oblige.

Turning to ligher matters (for the most part):

-The Walton Family is gaining a new member, arriving in June 2009. I know, I know, we're nuts. But, whatever...we're also richly blessed. Becki's only 5 weeks along (we think), so, obviously there's really nothing to report right now, but we will update as we get news. We'd only been trying for a few weeks, so, uh, I guess everything works pretty well. When we get back from the hospital with our new little one, it's separate bedrooms. Not for the kids. For us!

-I'm not sure what to think of the sports world anymore, expect that it's completely on it's ear. In college football, upsets are the norm (expect in the Big 12, where Oklahoma and Missouri remain undefeated). USC, Georgia, and, yes, my Gators all upset pretty badly. In the NFL--hey, the Dolphins are actually fun to watch, and just doubled their win total from last season! And don't forget baseball. The Tampa Bay Rays--yes, kids, Tampa--are in the ALCS gunning for a spot in the World Series. At least the Cubs gave us some semblance of normalcy by collapsing in the playoffs.

-Fall is officially here. I guess. Here in Florida, we'll start feeling maybe in late December...just in time for the thaw in early January. Ok, I'm exaggerating, but Becki and I are making plans to spend a week--along with our families--in the mountains of North Georgia in January and can't wait for the cold! I would love to introduce my son to real snow, too...here's hoping. Anyway, how crazy is it to start thinking seriously about Thanksgiving and Christmas plans? Seems like yesterday we were celebrating July 4th...

-Isn't it great that we've been saved from financial Armageddon thanks to our elected officials' brilliant $700 Billion bailout package? I was really worried there for a while. Please note the dripping sarcasm. My buddy Scott has a great post about this subject here. And I thought Dave Ramsey had a fantastic alternative, in addition to some great comments. Too bad nobody listened. I'd ask what this is going to do for the homeowners--should I say soon-to-be-EX-homeowners--out there, but I already know. What it will do is distract us from the problems that got us here in the first place and help those responsible--yes, including the foolish borrowers--avoid responsibility. Not that "responsible" and "elected official" ever belong next to each other.

OK, so that last one wasn't so light. Good way to end, I guess...