All homeowners can expect to have maintenance issues rear their ugly heads every once in a while, and our turn came around just the other day. Well, it actually came around a long time ago, but I put the repair off until it simply couldn’t be avoided any longer. What happened was the drain in our kitchen sink became completely stopped up, and no amount of Drano, plunging, or prodding with a plumber’s snake would unclog it. So what do you do when your plumbing skills are roughly equal to those of the family dog? Call in an “expert” of course!

My brother Glen is one of those people who can do most anything he sets his mind to, and do it extremely well. Although he isn’t a plumber by trade, Glen has plenty of experience with basic home repairs and plumbing tasks. We invited him up, and in no time at all he and his son Shannon had the clogged pipe replaced with a new one and the sink working like a charm.

Although I know it really wasn’t, they made the task look so easy that it emboldened me to attempt the next plumbing job that popped up all by my lonesome. Well, it didn’t take long for the next one to pop up…

A few days ago I heard Cheria yelling for me to come into her bathroom right away. When I got there I found the floor soaked with water, and more water was gushing out of the toilet bowl tank at an alarming rate. The “fill valve” had ruptured, and water was going absolutely everywhere. To make matters worse, the cutoff valve was stuck open and I couldn’t turn the water off! I quickly ran to the garage and grabbed a pair of pliers, and luckily they were just what the doctor – I mean plumber – ordered for stopping the deluge.

After we got the mess cleaned up, I sat down on the toilet (backwards, mind you) to evaluate the situation. The fill valve had indeed malfunctioned, and my chance to do a little plumbing of my own was staring me right in the face. I thought seriously about calling in “the expert” once again, but I figured that surely I could make such a simple repair myself. Well, this morning we took a trip to Lowes, and after doing a little research (i.e. asking for help), I purchased a replacement fill valve and water supply hose. Now the rubber was about to meet the road…

Back at the house, I opened the package and took out the new fill valve, then carefully read and re-read the instructions several times in the hopes of avoiding another Noah-scale flood. Step-by-step, I installed the new fill valve and hose. Finally, hoping for the best but expecting the worst, I held my breath and turned the water back on.

To my delight and surprise, I discovered that the water was going exactly where it was supposed to be going, and nowhere else. What’s more, when the water level reached the fill line etched onto the inside of the tank, the valve closed and the water stopped flowing. As simple as it was, I felt pretty good after having successfully completed my very first plumbing job! Depending on what it turns out to be, I might or might not attempt the next maintenance job that pops up. But all in all, today I was a pretty darn good plumber.

Presidential politics is really a very simple game. Every four years the two major political parties nominate a candidate, and an election is held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. On election night, whichever candidate reaches the magic number of 270 electoral votes is declared the winner, then he/she is sworn in as President of the United States come January 20.

This year our newly inaugurated President is Barack Hussein Obama, America’s very first black President, and arguably the most liberal President ever to take office. Why was he elected? Because the Democrat party nominated a candidate (Obama) who was a true Democrat, through and through. In fact, he is such a true Democrat that he borders on being a Socialist. The Republicans on the other hand also nominated a Democrat. Of course he calls himself a Republican, but John McCain is anything but. Although I believe McCain is a good man who served his country well both in war and peacetime, he is nonetheless a Democrat at heart. And therein lies the problem…

The Republican voters of this nation are by and large conservative, and a huge chunk of them will simply not vote for a liberal Republican for President. They don’t vote for the Democrat either of course – they choose instead to simply stay at home and do something constructive with their time. Whenever this happens the Democrat candidate wins more or less by default, and this time around it was Obama by a landslide.

The crux of the matter is this: If the Republicans want to win the next Presidential election, they MUST nominate a candidate who is a true Republican. Not a Democrat who calls himself a Republican, but a Republican. The vast majority of Democrat voters will vote for the Democrat candidate every time, so it makes no sense whatsoever to try and woo them by nominating a Democrat-like Republican. There are more than enough Republican voters in America who are ready and willing to go to the polls to elect one of their own to easily defeat most any Democrat opponent, but they must have “one of their own” to vote for in the first place. Otherwise it’ll be another four years of Democrat leadership (Lord help us!).

The Democrats always win easily when they run a Democrat against a pseudo-Democrat. Now it’s time for the Republicans to run a true Republican next time around. If they do, there is little doubt in my mind that they’ll win, and win big.

Now that President George W. Bush has passed the mantle of leadership of our great nation to Barack Obama, it’s time to discuss the impact he has had on our country while in office. In a nutshell, I would say his “legacy” is mixed, yet quite good in the two areas that are most important to us all.

First, the bad…

In my opinion President Bush failed miserably in his duty to properly manage the economy when it became obvious that skyrocketing fuel prices were driving us deep into a recession. The cost of fuel is arguably the most important factor in determining the costs of most other goods and services, and when the price of gasoline and diesel shot up virtually overnight to $4 per gallon he simply shrugged it off and decided to “let the market take care of itself”. The problem with this line of thinking is that fuel supplies and costs are not subject to the free market principles of supply and demand.

Rather than being controlled by normal market forces, the world’s supplies of crude oil and natural gas are controlled in large part by a cartel of colluding oil producing nations that would love nothing better than to see the United States of America go bankrupt. On top of that, here within our own borders the prices we pay at the pump are controlled to a great extent by speculators who add no real value to the oil they buy and sell, yet are out to squeeze every dollar they can out of each transaction regardless of the harm it might cause their country. And then of course there are the environmental nuts who are bound and determined to see to it that we remain dependent on foreign oil instead of developing our own vast supplies of oil, gas and coal.

President Bush could have stepped in and used his influence and power to help change the way we do business in the area of fuel production and distribution, yet he chose not to. The result is the worst economy the citizens of our country have had to endure in decades, and one of the worst in our nation’s history.

And then there is the war in Iraq. I believe he made the right call in sending our brave men and women over there to remove Saddam Hussein from power, but he left them there far too long. That campaign in the War on Terror should have been decisive (and it was) and over very quickly (but we’re still there). We should have gone in there, got the job done, and then left the task of re-building to the Iraqis and their allies. Instead, Bush made the decision to stay there until  Iraq was “safe for democracy”. What he failed to understand is the fact that countries with Moslem populations always seem to choose the most fanatical among them to be their leaders. Apparently he learned nothing from the way the Palestinians chose Hamas to be their leaders instead of their more moderate counterparts.

Yes, the “surge” worked, and things are much better in Iraq than they were before we sent in the extra troops. But mark my words…when we do eventually leave, the country will once again descend into a downward spiral of oppression and brutality. Count on it.

Now, the good…

For all of President Bush’s faults (and he has many), he absolutely excelled in two areas that are of extreme importance to our nation’s long-term security and freedom: the overall War on Terror and the makeup of the Supreme Court.

Even though he made some serious mistakes in regards to his attempt to engage in nation-building in Iraq, his overall efforts in fighting Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations have been overwhelmingly successful. Pretty much everyone in America fully expected the terrorists to strike us again soon after 9/11, but thanks to Bush’s non-compromising stand against them they have failed to do so. Al Qaeda now finds itself struggling for leadership, money, and influence, and their capability to cause us harm has been greatly diminished as a direct result of our campaigns in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other parts of the world. Yes, the aftermath of the war in Iraq was bungled beyond belief, but the war itself was a huge success in the overall War on Terror.

But even more important than his great job of keeping the terrorists at bay was his outstanding choices to fill the two Supreme Court seats that became vacant during his time in office. His nominations (and the quick confirmations) of Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito have gone a long way towards ensuring that the Court will “lean to the right” for the foreseeable future, perhaps even decades. And now that ultra-liberal Barack Hussein Obama is President and both houses of Congress are controlled by the Democrats, a conservative Supreme Court is an absolute necessity if our Constitution is to remain relevant in our lives as American citizens.

So there you have it. I believe President George W. Bush’s legacy will be viewed as decidedly mixed, yet very good in the areas where it really counts. How about you?

Back in the 1970′s many scientists were predicting that the earth was heading into another ice age. After all, the mid to late 70′s brought one record low after another as well as record snowfalls for many places around the globe. I guess you could say that back then the scare was “global cooling”.

Well, that’s all changed now, and the current scare is global warming – something that our friends in the Upper Midwest and the Pacific Northwest would probably be happy to see right about now.  Washington State has received record amounts of snow this fall and winter, and just this morning the fine folks up in North Dakota and Minnesota saw the mercury dip to around -36 degrees Fahrenheit, breaking a record low that was set during the aforementioned global cooling period (1979).

The mass of extremely cold air that moved into the upper Midwest from Canada yesterday is heading our way, and my neck of the woods is looking at temps in the single digits in the next day or so. Break out the winter parkas and thermal underwear everyone. Apparently global warming is taking a little winter vacation.

Do you remember when…

• drinking water came from a spigot, a well, or a spring?
   
• music came on a record album, cassette, or (gasp) an 8-Track tape?
   
• we listened to music on an AM radio, a record player, or a tape player?
   
• dad and mom ruled the household instead of the kids?
   
• the only things kids had to worry about at school were making good grades, making the team, and being liked by members of the opposite sex?
   
• virtually all kids rode to and from school on a big, yellow bus?
   
• teachers could be trusted to watch over their students and to avoid taking indecent liberties with them?
   
• Christmas gifts were real treats that were appreciated and treasured for years?
   
• you could help out a stranger in need without having to worry about being robbed, car-jacked, or worse?
   
• products marked with “Made in America” were ubiquitous, and instilled a sense of pride and quality?
   
• products marked with “Made in Japan” were rare, and instilled a sense of inferiority?
   
• products marked with “Made in China” were simply unheard of?
   
• every school day began with a reading from God’s Word and/or a prayer?
   
• every school day ended with the kids lining up to get on their respective buses?
   
• election day was treated as a celebration of our treasured freedom to pick our own leaders and an opportunity to do our civic duty?
   
• we were satisfied with the election results even if “our guy” didn’t win?
   
• our elected leaders were more concerned with doing what was best for the country than in using their position to amass a personal fortune?
   
• our men and women in uniform were greatly respected and the war effort was supported by virtually everyone we knew?
   
• the Bible was considered holy and preachers were highly respected, even by those who didn’t consider themselves Christians?

How many of these things you can remember will vary according to your age. If you can remember all of them, you were probably born in the early 1960′s or before. If not, I can tell you from personal experience that things were pretty good “way back then”.

If you’re like most people, the only meteors you ever see are faint, fleeting streaks of light that zoom across the night sky so quickly that you rarely get a chance to see them very clearly. But many of the folks who live in the vicinity of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada got to see one up close and personal on November 20, 2008. Numerous reports of the bright fireball and massive “explosion” poured in immediately after the meteor made its dramatic trip to the region.

One of the startled individuals who saw the desk-sized meteor in all its fireball glory was an Edmonton police officer, and as luck would have it the dashboard camera in his cruiser caught the action in real time. Check out the amazing video below to see the action for yourself!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2009 turns out to be the best year ever for you. Now that 2008 is behind us, let us all look forward and try to do our best to make the world a better place.

Thousands of our brave men and women in uniform are still far away from home and in harm’s way as we begin this new year. I hope we’ll all keep them in our thoughts and prayers as we live our lives in the relative safety and comfort of home. Thanks to them, we live in the most free society on the planet. Without them, we can only imagine how bad things could get in a hurry. To each and every one of them, here’s a big THANK YOU!

Happy New Year!!!!!!