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I went and got new glasses today.  The old ones had gotten really scratched up and the left eye just wasn’t very sharp.  After two years, I figure it’s time to go get some new ones.

I normally go to Dr. Crook, who has known my family since I was a wee one in Nebraska.  He wasn’t there today and I got seen by a doctor who I swear couldn’t be much past drinking age. I kept getting the feeling he was about to ask me if I could score some weed for him.  That’s the kind of guy he looks like.

He pumped up the prescription on my left eye some and I can see much better than before.  But the new strength gives me that aquarium effect where it seems like the world  starts to distort at the edges.  If you wear glasses, you know what I mean.

Hopefully I can get used to these new glasses before I bust my behind.

I’ve been reading a fair bit about this book hyped by Oprah Winfrey called “The Secret”, I had never heard of it until Dave said something about it in and IM of ours. He, in fact, has a post up about it right now. I agree with much of what he says.

Here is what Rhonda Buymystuff, the author of “The Secret” says:

Rhonda defines The Secret as the law of attraction, which is the principle that “like attracts like.” Rhonda calls it “the most powerful law in the universe,” and says it is working all the time. “What we do is we attract into our lives the things we want, and that is based on what we’re thinking and feeling,” Rhonda says. The principle explains that we create our own circumstances by the choices we make in life. And the choices we make are fueled by our thoughts—which means our thoughts are the most powerful things we have here on earth.

She says she discovered this after her dad died of cancer. She needs to watch what what she thinks. I hate that she did that to her old man. Or did he do it to himself? Either way, somebody needs to find a happier mentality, that is for sure.

I admire many things about Oprah Winfrey. I admire her continued fight against the sexual abuse of children. But according to her new philosophy, they must be inviting on themselves. “Like attracts like”, right? She herself could’ve avoided the abuse if only she had been thinking less promiscuous thoughts, I guess.

Seriously, this kind of idiocy can only be believed by two groups or people. The insane and the filthy rich. And they can believe it because, in their own private Idahos, it is true.

If a crazy person wants a different reality, all he has to do is think it and Voila!, there it is. If he decides that the sidewalk is actually a beach, so be it. Why not, he’s crazy.

Billionaires are much the same way. If Oprah wants something, all it takes is a thought and some portion of her cash and there it is. Does she think all those statues in the garden are real people that chat with her on her evening strolls? They can be, if she wants to write the check. Does she want that sidewalk to be a beach? It can be.

Positive thoughts are a great thing. And they surely have a nice spot in life. But without positive actions, they are truly meaningless. If wishes were horses and all that.

Here is my “secret” to a good life: Do something good today and some good will get done today.

Now how do I stretch that out to about 150 pages and make a gazillion dollars off of it? Let me think about it.

When you are playing good poker, there are a few constant overriding themes to everything you do.

First, you take advantage of favorable situations and avoid ones that could get too tricky.

Second, when you are in a favorable situation, you press hard and try to take make the most of it you can.

Third, if your favorable situation turns bad, you try to minimize any further impact.

Fourth, and perhaps most importantly, doing everything right doesn’t always guarantee success in any one instance. But, as long as you keep doing things right, you are always guaranteed success over the long haul.
Not too bad as a life philosophy either, is it?

So the wife and kids are off to Savannah this weekend.  I stayed behind because I have loads of work to do that would have distracted me from any fun I could have there.

It sucks when they are gone. Maybe I’m just completely domesticated now, but man, I wish they were here.

I am now the owner of an Ex-Shuffle. May it rest in pieces.

I had it in my backpack last night and accidentally dropped said pack. Twice. During one of those drops it managed to come apart in a manner that suggests it will never go back together. Ever ever.

So now I am iPodless. The question at this point is what I will replace it with. I liked my little shuffle. But a video iPod might be nice.

Any suggestions?

Good movie, in a beautifully badass sort of way.  The visuals are absolutely stunning.  The fights are magnificent bits of violent ballet.  The evil things are either hideous to the point of making you want to avert your eyes or beautiful to the point of not being able to.

The story, well, the story is pretty simple.  Not much development on the whole political scene that leads to the 300 doing what they did.  Of course, with that included it might have been a 4 hour movie.

I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It is no cinema veritae, that’s for sure.  But a good romp into the violence of Greek legends?  Oh yeah.

I have been spending all of my time working.  All of it.  When I’m not being a tire monkey, I have been remodeling my in-law’s bathroom or any of a thousand other things.  Relaxing has become a fond memory.

I was finishing up some stuff for the day at my in-law’s and preparing to go home to change out the motor mount in Marilyn’s car when Emily started begging me to let her go with me.  My first reaction was to tell her no, because really, what business does she have playing around a car while I’m workong on it?

She started giving me those sad eyes and pleading.  I began to think about all the times I have said no.  I began to think about what it would be like if she quit asking. I didn’t like either of those lines of thought.  So I said yes, packed her up and headed for the house.

It was an absolutely beautiful day.  I set her to playing in the back yard and I changed out the motor mount.  She would come over and ask questions (mostly about whether I was done yet).   I changed the mount out in short order and cleaned up my tools.

Emily saw me do that and asked, “Daddy, now will you play with me?”

Of course I will.

We played freeze tag and swung on the swingset and drew stuff in the dirt with sticks and had a grand time.

Later that night, as we were preparing for bed, Emily gives me a smile.

“Daddy, today was a swell day.”

Yes, baby.  It was.

I won a live poker tournament last year.  Today it was held again.  This time, however, I didn’t make it back into the winner’s circle.  So my $50 by-in was down the tubes.

I did, however, learn something from my trip to the casino cruise in Savannah.  When I got into a cash game afterwards, I was just in it to make money and not to try to win some sort of championship or dominate anyone.

I won $37.50 back, so I got to play for 5 hours for $12.50.  I’ve spent more for much less fun.

The latest from The Onion: Terror, Drugs, Poverty Redouble Efforts Against U.S.

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