I am a wuss.

doubt that spelling is correct, but whatever. last night, the family and I watched august rush. my kids were not impressed for the most part. devin found it to be boring. jon watched, but I don’t think it made any kind of impression. michele seemed to enjoy it. i found myself teary eyed. i love music. i need it around me. i always have. i tried that musical thing when i was a kid, spurred on by my mom. but, as kids do, i just thought that there were other things that were more important. and i left it in the dust. too bad. i believe in what august believed in. that the music is here, there… everywhere.

it was a good movie. one that I will watch again. and yes… i am a wuss…

tis the season to be jolly.

merry christmas to all.

from the ratcliffe family

what? wait. you have our money. and you won’t tell us where or how you are spending it? what?

ok then. sorry j.p. morgan chase. i had to spend what was going to be your payment this month. on what? sorry. i am not going to tell you.  since technically, because of the money that the united states of america (collected from the citizens, of the united states of america) has loaned you in order for you to stay solvent and get back to a profit so that you can impress shareholders (of which, based on the loan, i now feel i am) and payback the loan (by raising interest rates, and lowering credit lines of hard working americans, again, like myself) to the united states of america (and therefore, it’s citizens).

so.

i’m simply not going to tell you, cause that’s how you treat me.

After receiving billions in aid from U.S. taxpayers, the nation’s largest banks say they can’t track exactly how they’re spending …

Where’d the bailout money go? Banks aren’t saying
Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:04:46 GMT

from the crack me up line, here is just one of the many things that i am afraid of.

we, the american people, will use the money that we have paid our government to bail out the automakers in order to save them and the jobs of countless americans. it is not necessarily the right thing to do, in my mind, but it appears we are going to do it.

then, the automakers get a new lease on life, and without even so much as blinking, begin the work of building the same business back up that helped get us in this spot in the first place, and then, charge more for them, to increase their profits for the shareholders, on the backs of the people that helped get them out of trouble. this seems absolutely ludicrous to me.

if they want to help me, maybe shares of each of them, in my name, would help things along. then maybe i would get some of the cash back that i am going to give them to keep them from failing?

and, since i work for a marketing company that does work for the big three, as well as others, when we are in negotiations for contracts, they should look at it as paying us back, and just pay what we ask, without thought.

the whole thing has a smell to it. a bad smell.

2009: Slow Auto Sales, Higher Prices
Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:38:00 GMT

this was a solid week of interesting personal things. my server freaked, but it’s fixed, though i did loose some stuff, much to my dismay. i am certain that it was my own fault. bummer.

i learned a ton more about whs. helped a friend discover the benefits of it as well.

wrote some old friends.

made this years ‘tree’ based xmas card.

got batman in blueray. thanks mich!

cleaned some more stuff from my office, while helping the boys upgrade their rooms.

watched some exceptional movies.

watched the conclusion of dexter, which i love. survivor, which was one of the best ever.

i wasn’t fortunate to win the 207mil. that honor was reserved for folks in ohio. however, the lotto is still high. 20mil high. i’d take a piece of that.

that’s it. i guess it really wasn’t that exciting.

i have an hp mediasmart server. i love the thing, though recently, it and i had a falling out, but we recovered. for the digital home, it’s just the thing. and everyone should own their own variation of a server. all the things you can store, share and save. it’s just the best. and below, find the shameless plug…

i wonder about the rest of the teams, in an economy such as this… bummer…

Read full story for latest details.

Honda abandons Formula One
Fri, 05 Dec 2008 11:42:53 GMT

what a shame. it would seem to me that this would be the best time to break that tradition of years past. cio’s, ceo’s, hell, everybody communicates in some form of electronic format. people often go to the library to communicate. it’s just the way it is. more power to you o. i’m sure you’ll figure out a way.

NYT:  Sorry, Mr. President. Please surrender your BlackBerry. Those are seven words President-elect Barack Obama is dreading but expecting to hear, advisers say, when he takes office.

NYT: Obama saying goodbye to BlackBerry?
Sun, 16 Nov 2008 01:43:59 GMT

the family and i went to see the australian pink floyd show. it was fantastic.

work is going along, though things have changed, and not for the better, in my mind.

devin is headed back to a medicated state. it’s just not working without them.

my friend carol is back to being employed. i am so very happy for her!

my days are just days.

suffered from cancer and was unable to continue his fight against it.

he will be missed.