The SoapBoxers

I’ve never written anything related to music or an artist, and I am by no means a professional critic, but I do listen to music throughout my day and I know something is good by the amount of time I put into listening to it. What I’ve been listening to most is an album by Jason Aldean….My Kinda Party. Yes, it is country, so if you’re not a country fan at all then you’ve surely never heard of him. Or, maybe you have…Dirt Road Anthem, anybody? Definitely the biggest single off this album to date, Dirt Road Anthem mixes Aldean’s country background with a little bit of hip-hop/rap/pop (whichever you prefer to call it), but nonetheless, a great song. I’ve been an Aldean fan for a few years now, but hearing this song off of his latest (ok, it was released in late 2010 so I’m a little behind) album really got me listening to his other songs.

In the past few years, I’ve found myself actually listening to the lyrics of songs and trying to understand what they really mean. Call me crazy, I know. I have no idea what triggered it, but it really has made music more enjoyable for me. Possibly my favorite song on My Kinda Party is track #5, Fly Over States. If you get a chance, listen to the song, and try to understand the words. It’s a song about what the title says, Fly Over States – Indiana, Oklahoma, etc. Farms, back roads, highways, “small towns with funny names”…it all makes perfect sense. Not many people fly to Indiana, or downstate Illinois, or Oklahoma, where farmers are “bustin’ their @$$ for you and me”. I’m not trying to sell anybody on anything, but take 3 minutes and listen to the song. It really does make sense.

The rest of the album is upbeat, partyin’ country and slower country that has meaning. This summer, I heard Aldean was coming to the Illinois State Fair…just a short drive from me. Definitely was not going to miss it…and I was not disappointed. It sometimes can be hard to put on a show at a state fair, but Aldean found a way to do it. It was obvious which songs the crowd wanted to hear, and when it was Dirt Road Anthem time, the crowd went crazy. Possibly because it’s the song that’s easiest to connect to? In short, it talks about what you did growing up (in his case, in the country). It talks about memory lane, and “reminiscing about good times”.

I know I’m not coming anywhere close to doing his music any justice, but I have to say if you like country music at all, give him a shot. Listen to the words, connect to it, and you won’t be disappointed. I guarantee it.

I’ll start by saying that I’m biased – I’m a Randy Moss fan.  I have a #84 jersey in my closet.

I’m not going to say that Moss is a saint.  Clearly he’s not.  He ran into legal issues in high school (although race did play a role in the most prominent incident) and had had issues with marijuana.  He had a number of incidents while he was in the NFL.  He certainly wasn’t the best teammate in the world – but were some of the events overblown?

• There’s the negative perception of Moss taking plays off.  I’m not completely convinced that this is a terrible thing.  I wonder how many players take off plays but use a different phrase to describe it.  If you want to have fresh legs in the fourth quarter, it might make sense to conserve some energy in the first three quarters – especially if you can drag a couple of defenders away from the ball by acting as a decoy and using 50% of your energy.  But I’ll conceded this point and agree that it’s bad for Moss to take off plays.  In spite of this, he had 153 touchdowns and nearly 15,000 receiving yards – he was incredibly productive most years. 
• One of the more famous incidents is the mock mooning of the Packers fans in 2005.  Joe Buck about had a heart attack when this happened.  Seriously, Joe?  Moss didn’t actually drop his pants, he just pretended to – and he was parroting the actions of Packers fan who greet the opposing team bus with a real mooning.  I’m not going to say this was in good taste, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as Joe Buck would make it out to be.  Much ado about nothing.  Also, when Joe Buck is against you, you must be doing something right.  Most overrated broadcaster out there. 

While Moss was getting trashed in the media for taking off plays and pretending to moon people, here’s what some other NFL players were doing:

• Rae Carruth (former Carolina Panther wide receiver) had his pregnant girlfriend killed
• Michael Vick killed dogs
• PacMan Jones was charged with felony coercion and misdemeanor counts of battery and threat to life related to a strip club shooting that left a man paralyzed (and has bounced between the suspended list and the active roster like a ping pong ball over the years)
• Ray Lewis was convicted of obstruction of justice following a murder
• Two seasons after finishing his NFL career, police found 213 pounds of marijuana in a van owned by Nate Newton.  Incredibly, a month later,  he was caught again – this time with 175 pounds of marijuana in the van (give him credit for being persistent, I guess)
• Twenty five years after being bounced from the NFL, Art Schlichter is still popping up on police blotters.  You can wade through his mess of a life on Wikipedia
• Ben Roethlisberger has been consistenly guilty of, um, “conduct unbecoming a gentleman”

This is the tip of the iceberg.  You don’t have to do much work to find a list of NFL players with long rap sheets, including violent crime.

So, what’s my point?  Keep things in perspective.  While Randy Moss may not be remembered as the best teammate ever, he’s often portrayed as a bona fide “bad guy”, and I’m not sure that’s the case, especially when compared to the list above.  Off the field, Moss is active in charity work, but you wouldn’t know it by reading the press clippings.

This is my 100th article on the Soap Boxers. We have had a number of milestones over the last few weeks. Johnny had his 100th article two weeks ago and Kosmo posted the 1000th article for the site last week. I was originally brought on board for two reasons that I remember; to write about writing and to help fill in as a regular while Johnny was on a leave of absence. Although I have strayed into politics and sports on occasion, I have been regular in my postings, published articles on writing and provided short stories and chapters from larger works. It is almost two years since my first post, and if you search back into the archives, that post was to publicize an annual writing event called National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo.

It seems appropriate to return to that beginning. November is National Novel Writing Month. It was not designated by congress, nor is it recognized by any religious organization that I am aware of. It is a competition established by the office of The Office of Letters and Light. The idea is rather simple; during the month of November write a novel or at least part of a novel. The goal is 50,000 words in 30 days. If you succeed, you get some pretty nifty download stuff; icons and logos to show off on social media and an official winner’s certificate. No money, just the reward of actually writing, and some electronic recognition and bragging rights.

So why would anyone want to do this? That is also simple; to write just to write and have a lot of other people doing the same thing at the same time. NaNoWriMo has a community of other writing enthusiasts in regions across the globe. There are local groups who get together at coffee shops to provide companionship, encouragement and generally hang out. Registering is easy, you provide as much information as you are comfortable with and you write. I would recommend signing up now so that you are ready to hit the road running on November 1. You can participate in regional activity at what ever level you desire, attend all the meeting live or go it alone. Periodically through the month, and defiantly on the last day, you paste you work into a word counter to get an official tally and earn your rewards. None of what you copy into the site is saved, so you work is yours and yours alone.

The completion is to get people to write. Publishing is your own responsibility, although there are several helpful articles to get you going in the right direction. I have personally participated for the last two years and succeeded in getting to the 50,000 goal both times. My first effort will be released here on The Soap Boxers before Christmas (I know I have been promising release for a year now). My second effort is still a work in progress. Although well past 50,000 words, it is still far from complete.

Reaching the goal of 50,000 words is not as hard as it may seem. First, remember that everything you write does not have to end up in the final product. The idea is to encourage writing, even if some of it is trash. To make the goal, you have to average 1667 words per day. That may seem like a lot, but consider that this article is well over 800 words and it has taken me less than an hour to write. The beginning of the effort may be a struggle, but once you start putting words together and a story or multiple stories start popping into your head, it will get easier. In several of my earlier articles, I have put forth suggestions for plot development, character development and fighting writer’s block. If you have trouble writing one night, just start itemizing your day. In this way at least, you will be adding to your word count and practicing writing and who knows, some of it may end up in a best seller!

I hope that many of you choose to take up the challenge. Even if you do not formalize your writing efforts through NaNoWriMo, I hope that you try your hand at writing. At the very least, take the opportunity to post comments on the various articles here on The Soap Boxers. Each of us has written at least one controversial or at least provocative article over the years. What ever your passion, there is always something to write about. In his 1000th site article commentary, Kosmo related that I had stated that I should be paying him for the opportunity and forum that he provides for my writing attempts. I do believe that I owe him much more that he owes me. He provides this platform, not just for me, but for all of his writers and for all of the visitors to the site. All you have to do is write.

No new episode of Treasure Hunt today.  My creative energies have been diverted elsewhere this week.  A secret project is underway – more about that next week (hopefully).

If you’re thinking of buying a Kindle, check out my review from a couple of weeks ago.  I touch on the pros and cons of each model.  What’s great for you might not be a good fit for someone else.  If you like the article and decided to take the plunge, consider buying through the links on the site – we’ll earn a small commission on the sale.

You can now check out Kindle books at many public libraries.  Check out this feature!  I’ve been making slow progress on the print edition of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest and downloaded the Kindle version from my library.  You can’t use 3G to download, needing instead to use either WiFi or USB to transfer the book.  Nonetheless, a cool feature.

This is article 1002 for The Soap Boxers.  Want to see them all?  Explore the archives.

The World Series is underway.  It’s currently tied at one game apiece, with the Cardinals taking game one and the Rangers game two.  A huge play in game two occurred when Elvis Andrus moved to second base on  slightly errand throw.  Albert Pujols touched the throw from the outfield ever so slightly, slowing its path to catcher Yadier Molina and making it impossible for Molina to cut down Andrus as he tried to advance.  As a result, the double play was no longer in order.  Making the situation even worse for the Cardinals, Andrus moved to third on a the run-scoring sacrifice fly by Josh Hamilton.  Had he been at first base when Hamilton came to bat, he would have been unable to advance on the fly, and the throw from right field to second base is much shorter than the throw to third.

Last Saturday, Chad Dawson scored a controversial TKO in a boxing match against light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins.  The key sequence in the match involved Dawson lifting Hopkins into the air and throwing him to the canvas.  An injured Hopkins was unable to continues and the bout was called.  On Tuesday, the WBC declared the match a technical draw and reinstated Hopkins as the champion (the reigning champion must LOSE in order to lose his belt; he retains the title in the case of a draw).  This is an interesting – and seemingly correct – decision.  I’m not much of a boxing fan, but find it interesting to see the result of a contest changed after the fact.  This simply doesn’t happen in team sports.

As a lover of Tigers, I was saddened by the shooting of 49 animals – including 18 Bengal tigers – after their owner opened their cages and committed suicide.  I fully understand the decisions that authorities were faced with, and can’t fault them for their choice.  I place the blame on the owner, Terry Thompson, who put the animals in danger by released them.  Thompson had been convicted of animal cruelty in the past.  While the Bengal Tiger is the most common of the Tiger subspecies, there are fewer than 2500 of them in the world, and the death of 18 in one event is a blow to conservation efforts.

On Thursday, we heard reports that Libyan leader Gadhafi (Qaddafi) was killed in a crossfire between his troops and those of the National Transitional Council.  His death ends a 42 year reign over the African country.  Observers wonder if this will embolden rebels in other countries, such as in Yemen, where rebels have called for the resignation of president Ali Abdullah Saleh.  For some interesting insights into Libyan/American relations, I’d suggest Nelson DeMille’s novel, The Lion’s Game.  It’s fiction, of course, so you can’t treat it like a history book (although many of those books indeed contain fiction), but it’s an entertaining introduction to the culture.

As you know, I’m not an exclusive Soapboxers writer. Kosmo doesn’t pay me enough…or at all (insert donation button here, Kosmo). But, hey, we’ve known each other for a long time (I first met him when I was in HIGH SCHOOL), besides, he has given me a great place to voice my opinion, whether he agrees with me or not.

However, I was recently approached (or as they say “targeted” but I try to avoid aggressive rhetoric) with Yahoo! News to write a “blog sounding” article about Iowa politics. Yeah, that was right up my alley. So I wrote this. Just a story about me being an undecided voter in Iowa. It’s dangerous. Especially with phone calls at bed time. I almost said the candidate that doesn’t wake the kids gets my vote. But that’s not entirely true. So I didn’t write it. But almost…so I submitted the article, crossed my fingers and went about chasing a toddler who needed a diaper change.

And it got published. Color me surprised. So I was asked to write another blog post about a “timely news event”. What’s better than the Occupy Wall Street drama?? The other night I was staying up (way way) too late and got sucked into twitter. I suggested the Occupy Iowa people get a job. Apparently I hit a nerve. Someone I don’t know, who ISN’T an in-law created the twitter hashtag #antisarahbowman (when I’m not Crunchy Conservative, I go by that name). And that got me to thinking…wow. Either these people have nothing better to do than cyber bully and protest something they really don’t understand or….well, sleep outside on the lawn of the statehouse. But thank you, anti-Sarah Bowman people, for giving me a topic to write about. So I wrote this.

Again, I crossed my fingers and went to bed. Imagine my surprise this morning when I woke up and thought “Eh, I’ll see if Yahoo! News has posted my article yet?” And then I find 5 tweets, 54 Facebook recommends and 51 comments! Woah. I hit a liberal nerve. I have told my mom NOT to read the comments, because, no mom likes it when someone calls her kid a “F**king moron”.

So yes, twitter IS worth something…whether my husband believes it or not. If you want to know how I feel about the Iowa caucuses or the Occupy Wall Street “people” view the links. And comment…and re-tweet. And link back to this article. But not while you’re on the clock…and if you’re not on the clock and actually “occupying” somewhere? Get a job.

Today is the 1000^th post for The Soap Boxers. (Technically, we’ve had more than 1000, but a bunch of them had to be deleted after I discovered that a writer was plagiarizing). It’s been three years since the blog was launched. Has it been successful? Depends on what you’re trying to measure.

Financial Success

Regardless of how you measure financial success, the answer is probably no. My business first appeared on a schedule C for the 2009 tax year. The business recorded losses for tax year 2009 and 2010. Things have turned the corner this year, and I should make a slight profit. Still far below minimum wage, but black ink nonetheless. If things continue down this path, profit-sharing for the other writers should be triggered next year.

The core business – The Soap Boxers blog – still doesn’t generate significant revenue. I change the mix of ads, to no avail. I flash reminders of people’s favorite online merchant – Amazon.com – to no avail. I don’t even want to think about how many hours I’ve spent screwing around with the ads for the site. Definitely a poor use of time.

That’s not to say that there’s not money to be made. There’s fairly strong demand for my talents as a personal finance blogger. This is somewhat strange, due to the fact that I never set out to be a personal finance blogger (and have never actively sought any paying gigs in this niche). I knew that I didn’t want much focus on financial topics on The Soap Boxers, so whenever I had an idea for an article, I’d place it as a guest post on some other site.

From a pure dollars and cents perspective, it’d make sense to shutter The Soap Boxers and take on as many freelance gigs as possible.

But that wouldn’t be as much fun.

Fiction Writing Success

A major reason I started The Soap Boxers (or The Casual Observer, if you remember the old name) was to refine my writing technique in anticipation of a novel.

Is the novel done? No. But I’ve written more than 100 short stories, and I feel that my technique has improved greatly over the years. In the early days, I’d often crack out books on the craft of writing, to figure out how to attack a certain writing problem. I haven’t dusted off any of these books in a very long time. I’ve found my own writing style, and many people seem to like it.

[Looking for a collection of those stories? You can find my collection Mountains, Meadows, and Chasms in Kindle format. The fan-acclaimed short story The Cell Window is also available as a stand-alone Kindle book (it is also included in Mountains, Meadows, and Chasms).]

I also led a fiction writing seminar last spring. I had the intention of turning this into a recurring paid gig, but wanted to test on the process first, so I solicited a few students to join the first class, which would be free. It was supposed to be four students, but scheduling issues for one student caused the class size to drop to three. I quickly discovered that trying to provide analyses of several stories with a quick turnaround was difficult. The course ended up stretching much longer than expected, mostly due to my inability to meet the timelines. It was smart to pilot this idea with one non-paying group – I learned that, at this time, the fiction classes are not something I can commit to. However, the course was interesting, and I think the students got benefit out of it, so it might pop up as a future venture.

A Forum For Other Writers

I started out running a one-person blog. Eventually, I brought on Johnny Goodman to cover sports. That may have seemed a bit like taking coal to Newcastle, considering that I’m a huge sports fan. However, I wanted to free myself up to write more about baseball and dump the other sports on Johnny.

Since then, the group of writers has grown, and at this point nine writers are contributing on a regular basis. These folks are working for a share of profits. Since the venture hasn’t turned a profit yet, it means that none of them has earned a penny from their writing … yet. I doubt any of the writers will ever retire from the money they make from their writing on The Soap Boxers, but I am confident that there will be profits to share in the future.

So I’m a bit like Tom Sawyer, getting my friends to help whitewash the fence. However, the writers do get a benefit. I give them a soap box to jump onto, allowing their opinions to reach more people. During lunch on Monday (at a local BBQ joint) Martin Kelly commented that he sometimes feels that he should pay me for the privilege of writing on the site. That’s crazy talk, of course, but gives you an insight into the mind of many writers.

Friends

I’ve met a lot of interesting people along the way – both readers and other bloggers. I can’t possibly name everyone (and I’m sure to forget someone important) … but special thanks go to Evan, Barb, Lazy Man, SVB, Baker, and Mrs. A. (Yeah, you too, Johnny Sacks, even if you do cheer for the stinking Yankees).

1000 down … one million to go!

If you’ve been paying attention over the past few years, you might realize that I’m a baseball fan.  I love the playoffs and World Series, even when my team isn’t in it (sadly the case this year).  The World Series is my Super Bowl (times seven!)

This year’s matchup pits the St. Louis Cardinals from the good league versus the Texas Rangers from the inferior league.  The Cardinals are my second favorite team, so I’m naturally pulling for them.  It’s been a strange journey for the Cardinals, who had to make a miracle run in September just to get into the playoffs.  Early in the month, I commented to Bob Inferapels that while that Phillies had an insurmountable lead over the Braves, the Braves likewise had an insurmountable lead in the wild card.  Well, the Cardinals surmounted it.

This is a team that lost co-ace Adam Wainwright in the spring, had Matt Holliday knocked out early with an appendectomy (and other various injuries during the year), and lost Albert Pujols for a while due to an injury.  They did catch a couple of small breaks when Holliday and Pujols returned earlier than expected, but for much of the year it was guys like David Freese carrying the load.

A few years ago, many critics said that Matt Holliday was simply a product of Coors Field and would flop anywhere else.  While he hasn’t been able to duplicated the crazy numbers he put up for the Rockies (not even I expected him to), his numbers the past three seasons (OPS of .909, .922, and .912) still place him along the elite hitters in baseball.

The Rangers road the bat of Nelson Cruz into the series, returning to complete the unfinished business from last year.  They lost Cliff Lee as a free agent in the off-season, and very nearly traded away an at-the-time disgrunted Michael Young in the spring, but put those events in the rear view mirror early in the season and roared to a 96 win season.

Some of the Rangers players have faced a lot of struggles in their lives.  The most notable, of course, is Josh Hamilton.  The former #1 pick was always an elite talent, but his struggles with drugs and alcohol nearly cost him his career.  This season, Hamilton faced a tragedy when a fan fell to his death trying to catch a ball Hamilton had tossed to him.  It’s very common for outfielders to toss a ball to fan in the stands.  Shannon Stone was simply the unfortunate victim of a freak occurrence.  It would be nice for Hamilton to finish the season on a high note.

Pitcher Alexi Ogando had been invited to Spring Training in 2005.  However, when he arrived in the US that year, he was taken into custody for his role in a human trafficking ring.  The gist of the operation was that young baseball players were marrying women who had been denied visas, in order to allow the women to gain entrance into the country.  Ogando was banned from entering the United State for five years, derailing his Major League career.  Ogando started the season strong and cooled in the second half (likely due to a large increase in innings pitched), but still finished with a 13-8 record and a 3.51 ERA.

Even if the east coast media market doesn’t like this matchup, it should be a great World Series!

The college football season is roughly at the halfway point and many conference battles are starting to sort themselves out. The arguments are flying each and every way as to all the possible BCS scenarios, which team is the best, who has the toughest schedule and it goes on and on.

This week I will look at Johnny G’s Heisman candidates.

Everyone has Andrew Luck on top of their list. I do not buy into that hype. While I am a guy that fully understands his current talent, and NFL future potential, I think the Heisman trophy should be awarded to the person that is most valuable in all of college football, who is a person that is a complete difference maker as part of their teams success, and a person who basically single-handedly is a reason that teams is winning more games than they should.

1. I go with Russell Wilson – Wisconsin – The free agent hired gun who played most of his career in the SEC graduated thereby not having to sit out a year in order to transfer and winds up at the land of cheese and honey. The Badgers have no chance to be in the National Title hunt this year with a first time Freshman or redshirt Freshman quarterback. Wilson also provides an element of elusiveness that has never been seen before for WISCO. This guy is the reason they will go undefeated this year and he gets my vote.
2. Robert Griffin III- Baylor – What is Baylor without Robert Griffin? They are bad. He makes them a top 25 type of team. His statistics are sickening with a 78% completion rating. 22 touchdowns to just 2 interceptions and a passer rating of 200….yeah…I said 200. If you didn’t see this guy when we was a Freshman- pre knee injury, you just don’t get it . While Griffin is fast, before the injury he had world class speed (actually was at Baylor for Track and Field as well as football).  His “slower” abilities are still eye popping.
3. Andrew Luck – Stanford – Hey the guy is good, but I am not sure he adds as much for his team as the two guys I have mentioned above. Not trying to slight Luck as in the media’s eyes (and hey isn’t it the media ( errrrr…..ESPN….. that basically “announces” to the world who should win the Heisman anyway?) He is the poster child this year. Something special in reality will have to happen for someone to overtake him.
4. Kellen Moore – Boise State – I think Moore is good, really good, the problem is he gets to pad stats against teams that are mainly soap scrimmage caliber while he is surrounded by a lot of NFL talent on his roster. His games are like the varsity playing against the jr high teams. This makes it tougher to put him any higher up on the list.
5. The Medical staff at the following Universities – Oregon, South Carolina, and Michigan – Players that were on “the list” including Le Marcus James, Marcus Lattimore, and Denard Robinson all get moved off of the list due to getting nicked or dinged up, (some worse than others) James and Lattimore’s immediate future is in question and Robinson proves again that he is fast, he is cagey he can put up huge stats against MAC teams, but when it hits BIG 10 conference time, he is somewhat of a glass Joe.

6-10) In no particular order some folks to keep an eye on include: Trent Richardson from Alabama – Justin Blackmon from Oklahoma State – Case Keenum from Houston (everyone has forgotten about this statistical hound) Ryan Tannehill from Texas A&M – and Frank Broyles from Oklahoma who this past week set a number of career receiving records and still has many games to play.

Until next time – Stay Classy Roseville, Minnesota!

There is a lot of praise and condemnation of the Occupy Wall Street group and other groups like them springing up around the country. Even in my small middle America town there is a group, although they go home at night and to their jobs on week days. There is a lot to like and dislike about them. They are not the demons or saints that the various bloggers, reporters and talk show host make them out to be. They are typically law-abiding people with a complaint that they do not think is being addressed by our governmental leaders.

First, the name of 99%ers. The right wing complains because they have defined that label as a claim to represent the views of 99% of the population. This claim and accusation are equally absurd. The people have identified themselves as part of the 99% of people below the highest wealth group of American society. This is an accurate description.

Second is the message. They are mad about the bailouts of companies that have outrageous bonus and pay structures for their executives. They are also complaining about a lot of other perceived injustices that can hardly be considered a cohesive or comprehensible message. I agree with the complaint about the bail outs. A lot of our tax money was spent to save failed businesses. If you are rewarded for taking risks with large salaries and bonuses, then why are you rewarded when there is no risk? A risk is an action that could result in loss. In these cases, the “risk” was to spend someone else’s money, but get paid whether you succeeded or failed.

I find it interesting that the targets are just some of the executives, not all, and that the decision makers, our elected officials, are not the targets. These protests are very similar to the Tea Party protests last year, only the identified enemy is different.

I have seen signs complaining about large loans. Why did you take out the loans in the first place? I have seen signs complaining about large debts from college. Why is that the fault of the banks? I agree that there is a problem, but the problem seems to be in our own ability to identify the root cause. If you are deeply in debt, it is you fault. You never have to take out a loan. If you college education cost a lot and you can’t get a job, blame the university, not the bank.

I was lucky, I got an education back when it was reasonably priced. I lived in my parents’ home, went to the state college, and got a degree that had the potential of resulting in a job opportunity. I have kids in college right now. Both my wife and I are working to help keep the final debt to a minimum, but it is not easy. The cost of a college education has gone up many more times than the potential income boost of having that education. Since we do not live near the state school that has the career degrees that my kids are perusing, they live in a dorm. They do not have cars, TVs, IPods, IPhones, IPads or spending money. They work every summer and some during the school year. They have cell phones, the cheapest on a family plan. They do not have texting or unlimited anything.

We own a home. We did not spend anywhere near the amount of money that the bank suggested, instead we looked at what we could afford. We own a car, but we did not start off with a new one and we drive our cars until they are too expensive to repair, not until they are out of style.

So I do agree with the 99%ers. We should not be bailing out the banks, car companies, investment firms, or governmentally sponsored mortgage organizations. I disagree with them in other ways, and I cannot tell how many I actually disagree with because of the confusion of demands. I do not believe that we should forgive any loans. I was distressed that I had to explain to my youngest child why that was a bad idea. I believe that I will repeat it here, since many of the protesters do not understand how basic banking works. If we forgive the loans, we are stealing from every depositor to that bank. That’s right, stealing. Every dollar that is loaned out comes from the pool of money that depositors have put in the bank. Apparently, the protestors think that the banks just have the money from some magical source. So if we forgive the loans, grandma suddenly has no savings.

I do agree that college costs too much. I do not agree that this is the fault of the banks. The only people you can blame are the colleges themselves. The banks do not set tuition rates. I am especially aggravated with state schools, which take tax dollars and still raise the rate at more that inflation. I am not in the business of education, but there seem to be a lot of courses and degrees that do not lead to employment. Sure you may feel good about yourself for delving into some niche group study, but if it forces up tuition that much, is it worth it?

To keep my message at least somewhat coherent, I will not even address some of the other complaints.

Cheryl sighed, and pulled herself out of the soothing bubble bath.  If she stayed in the bath much longer, the wrinkles in her skin would become permanent.  She dried herself off and changed into a pair of comfortable sweat pants.

This was the life, she thought.  She didn’t have to wait tables, didn’t have to waste time putting on makeup, and could sleep in as late as she wanted.  All she really needed to do was kill time while the rich boys tried to figure out where Nate has stashed her.

Where had he stashed her?  That was a good question – and one that Cheryl didn’t have an answer to.  Toward the end of the long plane ride, she had been blindfolded before being shuttled to a secret location.  While she had been getting comfortable in her new home, Nate made his escape … but she had no idea how.  She hadn’t been able to find a door, nor were there any windows.  She was essentially trapped within the building.

It made sense, she admitted grudgingly.  If she could just pop out and waltz around town, it would destroy the integrity of the game.  She would be forced to spend the duration of the game inside.’

The freezer was stocked with food.  Not just TV Dinners and frozen pizzas – although Nate had included some her favorite junk food items.  The bulk of the freezer contained meals that could be popped into the oven with no prep work.  Defrost for a day in the fridge, pop in the oven for 45 minutes, and she had a nice “home cooked” meal.

There was no internet in the house, since this would be an easy way for Cheryl to cheat by contacting one of the players.  Cheryl admitted that she could probably do without Twitter for a little while – especially with the amount of money she was being paid.  There was a TV, but no cable connection.  She was limited to watching DVDs.  This wasn’t as much of a hardship as it seemed, as there was a massive collection of movies.

Finally, Cheryl had brough about a hundred books with her.  She’d been trying to catch up on her reading for years.  This seemed like an optimal opportunity.  She lay down on the couch with the book she had been reading.  With any luck, she could stay in the same position until she was hungry for another meal.  Whether the next meal would be breakfast, lunch, or dinner was up for debate.  After a couple of days, she had tossed her watch into a drawer.  Time was of no consequence here.

The light in the corner of the room flickered before turning a bright red.  This was an indicator that the video cameras would turn on in a minute, unless she reset the timer.  Cheryl got up from the couch and set the timer to 180 minutes – the maximum allowable time.  If she failed to reset the time, the video cameras would be activated and Nate would be able to see her every move.  The exception, naturally, was the bedroom, where the time could be set to ten hours. 

Cheryl knew that this was a safety mechanism, alterting Nate to possible trouble she may be having.  Cheryl wasn’t sure how much good it would do to alert him three hours after a heart attack, but sometimes life had risks. 

TO BE CONTINUED